Airing down your tires prior to hitting the trail is important for your overland vehicle. You’ll get a smoother ride and much improved traction. If you haven’t aired down and are stuck in the mud, snow or sand, you might want to get out and air down – quite often that alone can get you out of a predicament.
We use a Currie tire deflator tool (amazon) which is the same as the ARB deflator too. Using this tool will save you tons of time and headaches with trying to just pinch the valve open with a finger nail or screwdriver or something else. When using a tire deflator tool, be sure you’re familiar with its operation as to not have a valve stem pop out on you and get lost.
Keep a close eye on your tire deflator tool too. A lot of other people on trail runs don’t have one and it gets to be a popular shared piece of kit!
There are a lot of different views on what you should reduce air pressure down to, so I won’t get too detailed on that. It does vary on your setup somewhat. But in the VagabondExpedition Jeep, I typically go from 30-35psi on highway, down to 18-20psi for most ‘average’ trails. You can go lower, but run the risk of blowing out the tire bead if too low unless you’re running “bead lock” wheels (amazon).
Of course, airing down is only good if you can get air back in your tires after your off road excursion. Be sure you have a good pump too! I use the ARB single compressor (amazon)which I’ve installed under the hood, but there are a wide variety of options available including more portable options (amazon).
