4x4 North

I got some 33x12.5 duratracs I have been using on my yota for a year. Aired down to 10-12psi there isn't much sidewall bulge or anything which is weird because they are Load C rating and the LT version.
My last pair of tires, bfg km1s 33x10.5 bulged like crazy at 10psi and were awsome for wheeling. Pretty disappointed with the stiff side wall of these duratracs. Maybe I just gotta go lower psi?
I dont have beadlocks so I'd prefer not to reseat a bead on the trail so I could probably go down to 8psi safely. I do have a viair portable compressor to air back up for highway driving to.

Should be able to run 8 if you are a "conservative" driver. Technicly speaking theres more volume in a 12.5 wide so they can hold more weight with the same pressure. In theory.

If they are brand new you will need to break them in a bit before they loosen up as well

Mr.gutsy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 06, 2019 5:07 pm If they are brand new you will need to break them in a bit before they loosen up as well

They are over a year old and about 5000km on them.

My rims are also 8.5" wide so the bead should be pretty tight i think.

A wider tire will need less air to do the same. I’m running 255/75r17 (32x10.5 ) duratracs on my daily and even at 35 psi I get a bit of flex offroad.

Here's a shot at 12psi



seems weird to me. My gauges are accurate to I double checked.

KM 1s had quite soft sidewalls. I think you just need to drop another couple PSI for similar results.

Toyota’s are pretty lite. I got iroks and there worn in for sure but it’s only 5 or 6 psi up front and like 4 in the back. Used to run 4 and 2 but knocked front bead off twice so went up a little.

I’d personally run them at like six after you blow the first bead. Then their broke in and I’d run them at like 12


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In the snow we run 3-5 psi without beadlocks and rarely have issues if you’re smooth and not rock crawling or slamming ruts. I think drop them way down 5 ish for a easy drive and they will behave differently after that.

Thanks for the tips guys.

Any tips on reseating a bead? Never had a bead blow off.

I have seen videos on the ratchet straps method but I don't think my portable compressor puts out enough air for that.

Then there's the brake clean method Looks a little sketchy but looks like the only way to seat them in the bush. I do know if you like your eyebrows you have to be careful with how much brake clean you put in the bead.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw2EUckj1Z8 ... zb5fonqlcy

Video showing how I used to straps to pull the outside bead on. My irok package the rims was slightly wider than the tire.

A lot of the time you can reseat bead with just a compressor and no strap if rims aren’t too wide.
I personally use ether and have a couple dozen times, but I don’t recommend it simply because you really have to know what percentage the ether your using has and also I’m a bush mechanic and have a slight death wish.
And be careful on using brake clean if it is the coordinated stuff because when heated it turns to a form of mustard gas and can kill you with one good breathe ***tech tip of the day*** lol

reseating a tire solo in the bush is the only time I wish for a onboard air tank, as it really makes reseating the bead so much easier. The strap method is my go too. even at the shop with say a tow-in where a customer has hit the ditch and pull a bead off its quicker to reseat the bead then swapping over the spare especcially with a tank on hand. Ive wasted hours sitting on a trail while the guy blocking the trail wastes a can of either trying to reseat a tire end results he has only one eyebrow and we seat the tire with a strap and a compressor

My steel wheels I ran two valve stems so I could run 2 smittybuilt compressors which helped. But most times with one compressor it’s not bad on the skinnier setups like the 12.50 on an 8 wide rim. With the straps like I had the tire popped on at 2 psi on the iroks.