Tyre presssures over rocks??

[LR Max]

Airing down to the correct pressure is better for preventing punctures. The Duratrac do have a reputation for weak sidewalls.

As far as "correct" pressure. Measure the sidewall height at road pressure. Air down until the sidewall is 75% of that height. That is your minimum general safe pressure to run at. You can't just choose a pressure as different tire sizes and vehicle weights make a big difference in what is safe. As far as I'm concerned everyone should always air down off road. It is safer and the upsides outweigh the downside by a large margin.

Yes. With street pressure, measure the distance between the ground and the bottom of your rim. Now take 75% of that. Air down until you reach this figure. Record the air pressure (both front and rear) and there ya go. If I had an LR3/D3, this is what I'd do since the low profile tires change the airing down game.

 

[zimm]

ive had 2 sidewall punctures on duratrack load e 285 75 r16's. one was a pinch flat and one was a cut. pressure was the same as bfg at's i ran for years.

i think the sidewalls are less resistant to cuts. merely anecdotal, but im not using them anymore.

 

[JimBiram]

IMHO, 90% of damage to tire sidewalls is from driver error in not picking a good line. Two ply vs three ply may matter to get some more "forgiveness" but not necessary.

 

[Gren_T]

Hi, I don't think airing down will help in your case as there are very few areas in the UK where it is of benefit, - some beach runs like Morecome bay are the exception, the likely cause of your flat was sharp rock, a better line would be preferable to a softer tyre.
especially with running on 18's - don't beat yourself up about it.

I've run khumo KL71's on my 90 for the last 40k miles, mostly on road pressure (32psi) over many varied tracks in the UK/Europe and only airing down to 17psi in and around the dunes in Morocco, but aired up to 30psi when back on the mostly stoney piste.
No punctures to date, though that could be due to luck.!

The issue of tyre pressures is very subjective to the environment and vehicle, in the UK you have very short stretches "off-road" from a few hundred yards to a few miles all connected by sealed roads & each of these tracks can have many different types of surface, it is impractical to change tyre pressure to suit each surface. As with tyre choice, pressure is a compromise mitigated by experience.

regards all
Gren

 

[mpinco]

Thinking for 19/20" wheels you may want to increase tire pressure to prevent side wall damage. Sounds counter-intuitive but I've seen many recommend this strategy.

As for those who move to 18" or smaller, tire choice is critical. There's a good review of all-terrain tires in Overland Journal Summer 2014. Pretty good review with some surprises. They did note that they have been abusing a set of General Grabber AT2's for over a year and had not experienced any punctures or other failures. (disclaimer - no relationship to General Tire). I run AT2's and so far, no issues.

 

[A.J.M]

Hello all.

Nwoods, after emptying the boot of the luggage/spares kit etc. The wheel dropped down fine. We opened the passenger door and hooked a hi lift jack to the slider's tree bar and lifted the car up to change the wheel. Had to use 2 people to work the lever due to the D3 being a touch on the heavy side though.....

For some of the worst parts, i had been using a spotter to minimize the chances of tyre damage. Good to see that worked...

I'll need to get a back issue of the OJ. Been meaning to sub to that.

I'm still at a loss with what other tyre gives the ability they have.

 

[expedition4x4]

Goodyear. Thats a large part of the problem. Never again.

and duratrac sidewalls are even worse