Is it worth it to deflate the tires on FSR?

[alexboyprin]

...my tires are inflated at 50psi all the time. this is for a F-150. when I am on FSR with lots of sharp rocks I am afraid of bursting a tire. Also, It make the ride a bit rough. I wonder if it would be a good thing to deflate the tires once in the forest and if so, how low the pressure should be?

Thanks for all positive comments!

Alexboy

[jtred]

I've never bothered and so far it hasn't been a problem. The only time I've had a flat due to sharp rocks was on the Dempster highway, the flint sticking up out of the road could be as sharp as a knife. I spent a year in Australia working my way around the country and I often let some air out of my tires for more flotation and traction in sand, it was kind of a pain since you need to carry a portable compressor that plugs into your cigarette lighter or attaches to the battery. I've now been hunting and exploring the Kootenays for over eight years now and every flat I've had was caused by nails on our construction sites.

[Wentrot]

I wouldnt bother for the most part. No issues yet. Like he said^^^nails and other crap will be the main culprit

[Big Lew]

You don't say if you're carrying much weight in your truck or not.
You also don't say what type of tires you're running.
I do a lot of gravel and dirt road traveling, including up north,
and have run the Demptster.
I have a 2005 Nissan with heavy duty 6 ply tires. When carrying
quite a bit of weight I have the tires at 45-50 lbs....when running
light I reduce them to 36-38 lbs. otherwise the rough roads pound
the heck out of the truck. Never have much problem with sharp shale
etc....only with the occasional nail or metal shrapnel from construction
or logging trucks.

[604ksmith]

I have a Nissan Frontier with Load E tires. It's overkill for such a small truck, but I wanted bombproof tires.

I run at 30psi on bad FSR's, 35psi when on good FSR's, 45psi on the street. I think it makes a noticeable difference and it's worth the hassle of airing up or down for me. Also, if you're only going from 50 down to 40, you could drive home like that with no adverse affects, then airing up at the gas station when it's most convienent.

[250 sav]

my experience is underinflation equals cut sidewalls

[nature girl]

In all the years going on fsr we have only cut our tires once. And we go on some nasty stuff at times. Just make sure you have a spare tire and your good to go.

[keoke]

to really have any benefit from airing down your tires for traction purposes you would have to drop them below 20lbs and would only recommend this with a true off road tire with side wall protection. Personally I think you run too much air in your tires in general and should go by what is recommended in the sticker of your door jam.

[HarryToolips]

my experience is underinflation equals cut sidewalls

Exactly...

[.330 Dakota]

E rated tires are good enough for a 1 ton, so I think your Nissan is just fine at 50psi although if you drop to 40psi it might ride like a Nissan and not like a mid eighty's Dodge Cummins...lol....I run my 04 Cummins at 40psi with E rated tires,,no prb at all.
I think the OP said he had 6ply, which IMO is fine for that truck,,,35-45 should be lots for a decent ride and handling as well as loads that it would carry