Air Down...Or don't..?

Airing down seems to be the normal habit of "overlanders" these days, and personally, I find it more of a trendy internet craze than actually beneficial...in most cases. Airing down is simply that. Stopping at the very beginning of the trail as soon as the pavement ends (what should be done according to the interwebs) and reducing the air pressure in your tires. I have heard every reason from "it saves your suspension" to "it saves your tires", or "it helps with traction" on well maintained dirt roads that have well packed surfaces.

In most cases I find it more of a waste of time, and not something I will do on a "trail" that is smoother than my driveway which is a combination of dirt and rocks that vary in size from pea-gravel to slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball. Am I really to believe that I should air down while pulling into my property? I have taken my 4Runner through as many various surfaces as possible, with the exception of some sand dunes, and very rarely do I even consider airing down. While there are some benefits in certain situations based on terrain and weather, there are some substantial downsides to airing down as well that I feel should be considered more than what looks or sounds cool on the internet. And I am not alone on this. The link below from fabfours.com covers some of what I will be discussing here, and their general decision and input on airing down is also shared by some of the industries top manufacturers, race drivers and actual full time off-roaders and overlanders.

https://fabfours.com/airing-down-your-off-road-tires-should-you-even-do-this/#:~:text=Can%20Airing%20Down%20Damage%20Your,tires%20run%20at%20recommended%20PSI

So when do I air down? What scenario or situation personally makes me feel its necessary to air down? That is going to vary heavily, and can change quickly with both the weather and terrain, but is solely based on traction or a determination if a wider footprint will help prevent me from getting stuck. During winter with heavy snow and ice covered trails is a good example, and one of the few times I will actually take the time to air down. However, I don't air down just because there is snow as snow itself generally provides decent traction with the right tires and provided there isn't a layer of subsurface ice, especially on rocks. A large area of soft or slippery mud, absolutely I will air down. Now that doesn't mean a 10ftx10ft puddle on a trail that I am doing 15-20mph on, I mean a straight line track of watery mud that is in excess of 50-75ft full of ruts and is almost as slippery as ice that reduces my speed to less than 5mph. Clean rocks that are well settled and don't move when you drive up on them? Nope, I'm not airing down for that, with the exception being if the angle is great enough to cause some tire spin while trying to climb, then there is a possibility, but is usually easily tacked by simply locking the diffs and going into 4-low, all of which is much faster than airing down. Now, taking weather into account, say those same rocks are wet from snow, or rain and even possibly covered in ice, then its gets everything from airing down to locked diffs if necessary. So the situation is going to change from one trail to the next, as well as one driver to another.

As the FabFours article pointed out, there are downsides, and tires are no small investment, nor is your suspension. But with that said, if your worried about some very minorly rocky road damaging your suspension while going 15mph, I feel you need to rethink your suspension choice more than being concerned with airing down. Yes a tire at 20psi on a washboard road is going to be slightly more comfortable than a tire at 36psi, but lets be really damn honest, are we going for comfort? That's the same as buying a 4runner, slapping a 3" lift on 35's and then being upset that your MPG went to crap. Offroading and expecting comfort is absurd. So why bother airing down just because you see a dirt road? The only time my tires have sustained any type of concerning damage occurred when I was aired down, which caused a good sized cut on my sidewall on some sharper rocks. Having repeated the exact trail where that happened, without airing down, I sustained absolutely zero damage to the tires. So from my personal experience it seems to be done more for hype and photo-ops than actually beneficial, again, subject to the situation.

Now I know it simply seems like I just hate airing down, and that isn't the case. I just don't deem it necessary as soon as the pavement ends. Yes, it can soften the ride a bit, but 20psi isn't necessary, maybe 30psi or even 25psi will be sufficient. On certain surface types such as sand (beaches or dunes), snow, ice and of course mud, taking the time to air down can be very beneficial. Dirt, dust, mud or snow/ice covered rock obstacles may also be easier to traverse when aired down, but will depend on the obstacle, the vehicle and the tires as well as the driver. I feel airing down is a driver judgement call in most cases, and if you find it beneficial to air down the instant you touch dirt, then by all means air down. I simply chose to do it when absolutely necessary based on the situation, which allows me to enjoy the trails longer.

And just for personal disclosure, I do my absolute best to not judge anyone and the things they enjoy or what they invest their time and money into, so don't take any of this particular post personally as its not meant to be judgmental. I simply have a different opinion on the matter based on my experience, and will continue to exercise what has worked for me and I will continue to voice my opinion when necessary. But the best advice I can give is to use good judgement when offroad. If airing down makes you more comfortable overall, or makes you feel safer when climbing a steeper obstacle, then do it! Take the time to learn when and where airing down works best for YOU and YOUR RIG. Don't take the internets word for it, go out and test it, repeat it and see how it works or doesn't for you. Gather the required information and knowledge based on your learning experience and you will quickly figure out where my opinion stems from as you will eventually form your own. But, word of advice from actual experiences, if you do air down (even if you don't air down) and traverse over any type of sharper terrain from rocks or trees, take the time to inspect your tires after your runs. Tire damage can happen, and if substantial enough, it could cause an accident. I will go into a pre and post trail checks article later on, but get out there and drop your tire pressure on various obstacles, surfaces and weather and see what works best for you.