Before starting on a trail

Dustless

New member
Ok this is a really noobish questing, I have only been offroad twice sence i have bought my jeep back in march.

My question is when starting out on trails and such what all steps do you take?
What all should you disconect, what tire psi should you drop your tires?

Do you lower your tire psi everytime you go off road on a trail wether there are rocks or obsticals to go over or just bumpy parts?


So far the one trail that i have done is a really laid back and easy one, to big rocks or anything just a few switch backs and turns that make you lean a little and some rocky areas.
Rocky areas have rocks not much bigger then a soccer ball but on the first attempt going up it made my jeep shake and bounce to the point while having the kids with us they didnt like it and we had to turn around and go back down.
Second time up, was just me and the fiancee' and we made it all the way up but we bounced around on the rocky parts really bad, we didnt do anything before going up and left tires at normal psi. is that all normal and should be expected? or would things have been a bit smoothing with less psi in tires?:idontknow:
 

OverlanderJK

Resident Smartass
Air down yes if the terrain is worthy of it. If you air down in mud you probably won't do too well. Check and make sure you have everything and that all your luggage is secured. The last thing you want is to have something from the back fly up and knock you out.

You could do more depending on your rig and your needs. Sometimes remove the doors to prevent further damage. You could give your rig a once over but I would do that once or twice before I left home. Turn the music off and put your seatbelt on. :thumb:
 

Dustless

New member
Yeah I do all of that, check and check again, I just dont know what to air down to or when to do it.

The trail i did has 3 or 4 spots where the trail has rocks ranging from the size of a basketball being the biggest and down covering the trial from left to right and in stretches of 30-40 feet to the longest area being about 100 feet i would have to say and my Jeep bounced around as if it was going to raddle apart lol
 

Dustless

New member
15psi is a good number. You have a way to air up right?

Yeah, its far from anything special!!! its just a simple air pump that hooks up in the cigerette port, it has a guage and light on it and takes 5-10 min per tire.
I dont have much in good things for my Jeep as I am short for money tell just after the start of next year because of child support and other things but once that is all taken care of I am will have a jeep fund and be able to do alot more, thats one major reason why i am sticking to easier trails right now because of money issues :shock:
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
If it's a "trail run", I always air down if for no other reason than the fact that it'll soften up the ride and make it more enjoyable. Sure, it's a pain to air up afterwards but, it's better than getting beat up all day long. For trails like this, I usually air down to about 16-18 psi. If the trail is going to be tough and I know it, I'll go lower. Without beadlocks, down to about 12 psi and with beadlocks, down to about 8 psi.

I only disconnect if I know that I will need the additional flex and then, only the front. There is NO need to disconnect the rear and I would not recommend it. The factory rear sway bar is typically very soft and will not limit your flex or, enough to matter. What it will give you is stability.

If you had locking hubs, I would lock them up before heading out too.
 

ssgp2

Member
Books/DVD?

Like the OP, I am looking for info on basic technics and know how for engaging different type of terrain and situation/weather.
I appreciate the info on this forum but, having some books/DVD would be easier to assimilate/organize all this knowledge.

Addressing the pros and cons on all the modifications available, for the casual off roader to the hardcore type, would be a big help for a newbie like me.
:)

Thanks
 

Tranquillity

New member
Yeah, its far from anything special!!! its just a simple air pump that hooks up in the cigerette port, it has a guage and light on it and takes 5-10 min per tire.
I dont have much in good things for my Jeep as I am short for money tell just after the start of next year because of child support and other things but once that is all taken care of I am will have a jeep fund and be able to do alot more, thats one major reason why i am sticking to easier trails right now because of money issues :shock:

Have you tried your pump when you were down to 15 psi ? Because if it's a car pump it will mostly take 30 min per 35" tires, wich will break your pump. If money is a problem id go with 3 cheap pumps as there is a couple of 12v ports... Just saying
 

JKAnimal

Caught the Bug
Like the OP, I am looking for info on basic technics and know how for engaging different type of terrain and situation/weather.
I appreciate the info on this forum but, having some books/DVD would be easier to assimilate/organize all this knowledge.

Addressing the pros and cons on all the modifications available, for the casual off roader to the hardcore type, would be a big help for a newbie like me.
:)

Thanks

Here is a great book a buddy of mine gave me. It will tell you nearly everything you need to know for basic knowledge of off-roading. Then all you need is experience.

If you don't have much experience make sure you don't go off by yourself! We ran into a couple this September going up Devil's Punchbowl (rated difficult) that got stuck (in the narrowest rockiest spot). Their front diff was stuck in a rock crack and without a high-lift they couldn't get out and honestly even if they had had a high-lift jack they probably wouldn't have known what to do. Anyway.... It was a guy with a bum leg and his girlfriend. They didn't have any self-recovery equipment, food, radio, etc. The guy had let his girlfriend drive because of his leg and she had NO experience. The weather was rain/sleet and the rocks were very slippery. They had been there a few hours already. If someone hadn't come along they would have spent the night there and very easily been popsicles by morning...

Long story short don't go off alone and make sure you tell people where you will be. Safety first!
4wheelbible.jpg ISBN.jpg
 

Dustless

New member
Dustless when we going for a little run?


I hope soon!! Need to get together for a meet and greet and do a trail for utah people and anyone else who wants to join in! I am going to be able to do a little more here soon as one more paycheck back child support paid up all the way again, UGH stupid EX:mad: so yeah going to have to plan something for after christmas maybe in mid feb or something for us all to get together as i am sure we all must have lots going on right now :yup::thumb::rock:
 

Dustless

New member
Have you tried your pump when you were down to 15 psi ? Because if it's a car pump it will mostly take 30 min per 35" tires, wich will break your pump. If money is a problem id go with 3 cheap pumps as there is a couple of 12v ports... Just saying

I will have to look into that as yeah it might take longer on my 33's
 

Dustless

New member
Here is a great book a buddy of mine gave me. It will tell you nearly everything you need to know for basic knowledge of off-roading. Then all you need is experience.

If you don't have much experience make sure you don't go off by yourself! We ran into a couple this September going up Devil's Punchbowl (rated difficult) that got stuck (in the narrowest rockiest spot). Their front diff was stuck in a rock crack and without a high-lift they couldn't get out and honestly even if they had had a high-lift jack they probably wouldn't have known what to do. Anyway.... It was a guy with a bum leg and his girlfriend. They didn't have any self-recovery equipment, food, radio, etc. The guy had let his girlfriend drive because of his leg and she had NO experience. The weather was rain/sleet and the rocks were very slippery. They had been there a few hours already. If someone hadn't come along they would have spent the night there and very easily been popsicles by morning...

Long story short don't go off alone and make sure you tell people where you will be. Safety first!
View attachment 9027 View attachment 9028

Thank you i am going to have to look around and get me a this book or a book like it to get some more knowledge or get to a point where i can go out more with people who know what they are doing and learn first hand!
 
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