Pajero Owners Club of South Africa

Hi All

I just need some general advice as to what is the lowest(and safest)recommended tyre pressure when driving on gravel roads. I have a Gen 2 3.5 LWB with 31x10.5x15 tyres (Duelers). Due to pressure being too high at 2 instances where I could not deflate it (more or less 2.2 bar) the centre part of my dash around the vents have come loose and my altimeter turned upside down. I have tested it at 2 bar and found it to be better but I would like to use the lowest and safest pressure.

Also, will gravel driving be improved by fitting new shocks?

Thanks in advance.

Hi there
I have been driving gravel raods for about 25 years, so I think that I qualify to give some advice.
At speeds of up to 100 km's I deflate all my vehicles to 1 bar. In all the 25 years I have not lost a tyre at this setting. It saves your vehicle and your insides as well. It is also much safer as the vehicle tends not to bounce all over the show and is much more stable.
A lot also depends on the tyres you have. I have found that the Goodyear Wrangler AT/SA tyres are about the softest and at 1 bar ride really nice. Also the faster you go over corrigation the less you will feel the bumps.
I at present have Bridgestone Dueller's on my Pejero and they are OK, but not as soft as the Wranglers.
Fitting new shocks will always help a lot, either on tar or gravel, so if yours are not too healthy, replace, because all your vehicle's handling and safety, is about having good shocks.
I hope that these few words will be of help to you. Don't be afraid to deflate.

Atzala,

This is actually very easy to answer

Every once of air you let out of the tyres will reduce the level of corrugation transfer into your car - until the rims start to bounce off the corrugation

The things I consider before letting air out, are the following:
1)The load I'm carrying
2)The maximum speed I'm likely to travel at
3)For how long will this corrugated road carry on
4)The type of tyre and more specifically the side wall of my tyres.

I normally tackle this job by first just quickly stopping and grabbing a little stone or stick and letting each tyre down for 20 counts (seconds). This makes a big difference already. If I see the corrugations are bad, then I'll stop and do a proper job and drop the pressure to about 1.2 BUT then I slow down and take it real easy.

I'm happy to cruise fast on top of the corrugations, but then I'll run at 1.6 bar and ofcourse general road conditions allowing a 90 - 100km/h run.