I finally took my uncle's advice about tire pressure on the trails

My uncle Bob told me years ago to drop my tires down to 8 psi when I hit muddy logging roads up near Timmins. I always thought he was crazy and kept them at 15 like the manual said. Last fall I got stuck three times in a single afternoon on the same trail near Kapuskasing. Finally tried his way this spring and I rolled through that same mud pit without even spinning. Anyone else find that dropping tire pressure makes that big of a difference on wet trails?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly_coleman617d agoMost Upvoted

Right there with you, @xenar14. Uncle Bob sounds like a guy who's been around the block a few times. I had the same stubborn streak with my old Jeep, kept it at 12 psi because some forum post said that was the sweet spot. Then a buddy who runs a guide service up near Cochrane told me to go down to 8 and I got through a stretch of bog that used to be a guaranteed winch-out situation. It's almost ridiculous how much grip you gain, it's like the tires turn into big sticky paddles instead of hard little hockey pucks.

xenar148d ago

Lol well there you go, Uncle Bob knew what he was talking about and you were out there getting stuck like a sucker for years. I dropped mine to 10 psi once on a wet trail near Sudbury and it felt like cheating, just floated right over stuff that would've swallowed my truck before. Guess manuals are good for highway driving but trail wisdom wins every time.