Thread: Tyre pressures for offroad.

18psi sounds like a good starting point but don't forget/neglect to also reduce the pressure in the camper trailer tyres.

Make sure you've got a good compressor also as you may find that 18 or so is OK for most of the island but it may be necessary to go lower to get through a short soft section after which you should reinflate back to 18 or so. It's not wise to be running around on extremely low pressures when it's not necessary.

I've had limited experience with Freelanders on sand and I'm not sure of the safety bead on the Freelander wheels but would suggest that 10psi would be about your lower limit but for short periods only - as mentioned above.

Drive carefully, have a good safe trip and watch out for the washaways along the beach.

Originally Posted by spelchek

Hi all,Taking the family to Fraser in 2 weeks (insert Homer happy dance). Am taking a Freelander2 and towing a soft floor camper trailer. I'm trying to find some info on recommended tyre pressures and having no real luck.
I'm running 245/65r17 Bridgestone Deullers and am htinking I'll let them down to 18psi. Is this too much or to little pressure as a start point?
What would be the 'next step' in letting them down if 18psi is too hard? How far can you let them down?
Sorry if this ha been covered here - I did do a search but didn;t find anything of use. I guess I'm looking for a 'newby guide to off-road tyre pressure' type thread Thanks in advance.

When i was a young lad i owned a 87 T 4runner.
I did a few Camping trips to Fraser Isl & many many many Camping trips to Rainbow Beach.
All camping equipment was loaded in the back of the 4Runner , no trailer to spread the load. While traveling around the Island i carried with me 2 Jerrys of water & 3 Jerrys of fuel.
What i had was B DD 10" tyres, I Never deflated my tyres always had my tyre pressure at max psi. Never got bogged, came close a few times in the soft section of sand going from the hard sand on the beach to tracks inside but that was about it, nearly everyone will at one point.
But yes always a but somewhere, when i decided to go down to 9" tyres & a more road based tread WOW that mad so much of a difference it was not funny on road & Off Road. it was not the same 4bee any more

I guess i'm saying is dropping the pressure down & how much will depend on a few factors, tyres weight ect, trial & error

If U r traveling with a mate all the better, so U can help pull each other out of trouble.

Have a safe & wonderful trip, on your return let us all know how it went & a few picture too

• i am no expert I played & learnt through trial & error.

Hi Spelchek

I'm no expert, particularly with Freelanders, but after a couple of trips to Fraser (one SeriesIII, one Subaru Forester) I do have the following tips:

1) All statements about pressure are estimates, and conditions and driving style will have as much or greater effect

2) I use pressures around 20PSI as a starting point. Better to be low initially as nothing is more frustrating than sitting behind someone who keeps bogging due to running 40psi ... 35PSI ... 30 PSI ...

3) Fraser beaches are fine at road pressures except for the Rainbow Beach barge landing.

4) Inland tracks should be expected to be soft sand and low pressures are required.

5) Low pressure = low speed.

6) With a reduced clearance vehicle (I think the Freelanders are not much better than the Forester) the inland tracks are not much fun and impossible to turn around on. Plan ahead and go with the beach if you can. The corduroy southern barge access road is an exception - it's murderous corregations whether in a lifted Defender or a "soft-roader"

I would go as far as to get the whole idea of gauges and pressures out of your head and just go with what you see and feel.

I use to be paranoid with tyre pressures on the sand until I just started lowering the tyres until they started to flatten out whilst in the sand then off I went. If I had any further traction isssues coming across softer sand then I would repeat the procedure and lower them some more til I could see a nice big footprint. After you have found the spot at which your tyres are happy then I would get out the gauge to see where your'e at and then keep that reading in the memory bank for next time.

Run low pressure and get a gauge, don't read above post, uneven pressure can lead to different ride heights, uneven steering and wrong pressures when re-inflating. Wow, what a load, a pressure gauge can be most used tool in your car on an island trip.

Freelander is a softroader and try with 18psi, slow down, slow down is a must as handling is greatly affected and slow down so not to roll the wheel off the rim.

Hopefully your trailer will have same wheel-base as your vehicle, makes it much easier to tow.

Above all, just enjoy the trip, there are plenty of vehicles there that just love to help a fellow traveller out.

Thanks for the replies all.

Will 18-20 psi be ok on the hard sand of the beach or should I re-inflate to a harder pressure (say ~30psi?).

Not sure about the Freelander but I'd go about 20 on both vehicle and trailer and be prepared to drop to 16 if necessary.

Sorry cant agree with rockyroad at all. I use strahn deflaters set at 18 and thats what I do the whole island at for 1-2 weeks BUT I do take a 12v compressor just incase. I got completely bogged on Moreton in the 200tdi many years ago, used my GUAGE (the tyres were almost buried in sand) and took the pressure down to 15 and the camper trailer, shovelled some sand ,drove out and have never bogged since. --- no sharp turns though.