Airing down in snow???

Hey Guys,
Quick question. Im wondering what a safe PSI is to air down to in snow? On my tacoma I have the Dean Back Country AT's.

Thanks

 

I have done some snow wheeling this year finally!

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 265/70/16 are what I am running in winter, I have gone as low as 14 PSI front, 12 PSI rear.

 

Just be conscious of the fact that the drive at speed to the trail will heat tires up (and the air inside) while you air down before the trail.... Airing down to 15-20psi on hot air will net WAY too low of psi's once those tires hit cold cold snow. Seen a bead or two pop due to this and when checked the tires were 10ish psi less than what initially set at the trailhead.

 

Are you going off-roading in the snow? Like deep snow? Or just asking if you need to air down to drive on roadways where it’s snowing?

 

Snow is not like sand. You don’t air down for snow. Slapping a set of chains on is what you do.

Deep snow is what I’m talking about.

 

I am not sure you are correct.

The video I posted is over 2 feet of snow. No chains required.

 

On road? Never heard of people airing down, in fact, aired up thinner tires seem to do better in snow on road since they can cut through the snow down to the blacktop easier.

 

I usually drop to 12-15 cause my onboard air can fix it quickly.

 

Deep snow is not like sand - the threshold for flotation is much lower and any normal AT/MT tire is going to break through regardless of PSI. The best bet is tall/skinny tires that break through the snow and get to hard ground - but even then, once your front bumper starts pushing snow you will not be able to accelerate any more.

You need really, really wide tires (like special built for the Arctic type stuff) to float on snow - a standard AT/MT tread tire is going to sink in soft snow regardless of PSI. You will arguably be better off aired up, as your tire will stay a wee bit narrower/taller - assisting you in getting to hard ground.

 

Chains are for ice, not snow.

What many people fail to realize is that not all snow is the same. Up here, early winter snow tends to be pretty fluffy. Like the post above, it makes for great pictures and videos because it looks really deep and you can rally through it. You don't really need to air down a lot of the time because you're really just driving on the ground while pushing the snow out of the way. It can be pretty fun.

I really enjoy spring snow wheeling around here. The snow has added up by that time and is much denser than early winter. With 255/85/16 tires at 12-15 psi, I can drive on 3-4 feet of snow on unmaintained forest service roads. For this type of driving, I envy the PNW for their dense snowpack. Those guys drive around on 12 feet of snow. Totally jealous.

For on road winter driving I do air down slightly so that my tires have maximum contact with the road surface. I'm not trying to float, just get more tire on the ground. In the summer I run 40-45 psi. With those same tires, I run 35 psi most of the winter. During a storm, I may drop down to 30. This is what works best for me, with my tires, in northwest Montana snow. It may not be what's best for New England, Arizona, Colorado or Washington - or wherever you live. It's just what works for me.

 

Deep snow? Wet snow? Powdery snow? Crusty snow? Drifty snow? Warm snow?

Too many variables.


I’ve never aired down though, no compressor. Chains, shovel, locker, excessive skinny pedal and getter like Dale.

 

I tend to be in 4 low first or second gear for the majority of what I consider snow wheeling. If I can do it in 4 high, I'm just driving around in the snow, not really wheeling.

 

My experience is mostly just driving around in snow, looking for lions but occasionally shit gets a little loose and have to gettter.


When you say driving in 4’ of snow how think is the crust?

Around during the later winter months we get a couple inches of dense crust and then a bunch of powder under it.
After you break through you’re done, switch in recovery mode.

 

There's fully 3 feet of snow under my truck in this pic. I was running 265/75/16s at this point and not aired down enough. My buddies Jeep is stuck a couple miles back. He was on 35s and refused to air down.

 

No crust. The snow has started to melt and has a high water content by the time I start snow wheeling.

 

Aforementioned Jeep

 

You can see , by the picnic table, that the snow here is much too deep for my tires to reach the ground. I believe this is 12 psi, and I'm about 15 miles from pavement. The winch is in the bed of the truck, just in case I need it.

 

The snow is much more predictable in the spring than the dirt

 

I run the Dean Backcountry MTs. Both are really good tires. I spent years on Toyo M55s. Before that, Dean Wintercats.

 

I’ve been thinking about getting a set of nitto trail grapplers (315-75-16) anybody have snow experience with these? Got firestone destination MTs that have had it