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You are here :Home Freek Garage Pressure Situations

Pressure Situations

April 6, 2011 by JPFreek

Most commonly you see a Jeep with beadlocked wheels. These are rings that are used with a specially modified rim to pinch the bead of the tire directly to the wheel. Bolts are used to hold the ring and tire in place. Some drawbacks include: You are only pinching the outer bead (the inner bead is still capable of peeling), the rings tend to hold mud (or small rocks) that will require some extra work to clean out, and most beadlocks are not DOT approved (meaning you cannot legally run them on the road).

One DOT approved solution is “internal dual beadlocks”. It is a heavy duty inner tube that has its own valve stem (you are required to drill a hole in the rim during installation). Once the tire is seated, the inner bladder is inflated, forcing BOTH the inner bead and outer bead against the rim. Air pressure can be controlled in the tire without affecting the bead, because the inner tube is holding the bead in place. You still need to air up for highway speeds because the tire and tread have to carry the load, but the issue of peeling a bead is significantly diminished.

Speaking of load carrying, another tire pressure question that often comes up in class:

If the tire says 50 psi on the sidewall, can you run them at 35 psi on the road or is that not good for the tire?

The sidewall pressure number is the psi required to run the maximum weight rating of the tire. Most Jeep vehicles do not weigh anywhere close to that max (even when loaded with all your gear). The best way to KNOW how much weight you run is to take your loaded rig (plus fuel and passengers) and visit one of those truck stop scales. Take your weight and divide it by 4 (assuming all 4 tires are on the ground) and make sure you are under the weight carrying capacity of the tire. I know a lot of people tow their Jeeps to the trailhead and some seriously overload their tow rig’s tire capacity. Running these trucks at anything less than maximum pressure decreases the safety factor even more.

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Filed Under: Freek Garage Tagged With: 4x4, Jeep, JPFreek

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