ZUKIWORLD Online | Suzuki 4x4 Editorial and Forum
ZUKIWORLD Discussion Forum => Suzuki 4x4 Forum => Topic started by: MB on February 04, 2004, 03:47:38 AM
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Is it air up in snow or down? Seem to me up, but yet it makes sense to go down like driving on sand?
Geeesssee Me so confused ???
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Always air down for better traction(unless you have a flat :P). It softens up the tire allowing a larger contact area with whatever you riding on.
Zig
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I kinda figured that, It make sense to me
Thanks Zig u the man! :)
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;)
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Well, it depends - if you want to cut through to get traction on the road surface, less surface area (thin tires, high pressure) is better. Notice how the rally guys use really thin tires when they want to get down to the road surface through the snow.
However, if you are playing in DEEP snow and want to stay on top and get through the drifts, more surface (wide, low pressue) is called for. But on road, this can cause a lot of 'hydroplaning' as the snow builds up under the tire.
Just Remember whenever driving on snow and ice - it's not the going, it's the stopping that's hard, so be careful out there! ;)
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Ya I take my 31's down to 7-8 psi when I go playing in the snow. It gives the truck awesome traction, plus it saves your back on the washboards. :P
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Driving in snow is not a simple concept nor discussion. There are several factors to the snow, ambient ait temp and the tire. Most tire manufacturer's use a certain consistency to the rubber compound on the road service of the tire to get traction and to survive heat and cold of the tire on the surface. This makes the tire last longer in terms of mileage. If you put a certain brand tire on your truck, and have an exact truck in a different location of the earth (cold vs. hot), the tire will have different length results.
Then there is the consideration of the snow, and it's consistency. Dry snow is more of a powder, whereas wet snow is more watery (dah). Now, it's been claimed, today's technology can provide a tire with a rubber compound which has a characteristic of friction for cold dry snow conditions. I'm not in the tire research business so who really knows.
All I know, in the environment I drive, wet or dry snow, it's the contact patch of the tire, and how the tire holds the packed snow in it and where the snow can go. For a dry snow, it's the friction between the snow on the road and the snow in your tire. (Think of making a snow ball, or rolling snow into a snowman concept.) So in this incident, it's best to get as much snow packed into the tire, even the side sipes of the edge of the tire.
Now if the snow is wet, it's the contact patch of the tire with friction on the road surface. It's best to have something with large voids to channel the wet snow away from the tire patches so that it can make contact with the road surface. (A good rain tire is this type, where the water has a place to go, thus giving the patches of tire to contact the surface, otherwise, you're just hydroplaning.)
All this is based on the road, in an off-road situation, it's a totally different scenario and again, different opinions for the local of wheeling, temps, etc.
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So then for running thru the woods today chasin rabbits I can air down? Snow is about 12" and wet today sunny skys.
Thats why we's huntin them waskly ribbits!
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So then for running thru the woods today chasin rabbits I can air down? Snow is about 12" and wet today sunny skys.
Thats why we's huntin them waskly ribbits!
yep
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Well, it depends - if you want to cut through to get traction on the road surface, less surface area (thin tires, high pressure) is better.  Notice how the rally guys use really thin tires when they want to get down to the road surface through the snow.
However, if you are playing in DEEP snow and want to stay on top and get through the drifts, more surface (wide, low pressue) is called for.  But on road, this can cause a lot of 'hydroplaning' as the snow builds up under the tire.
Just Remember whenever driving on snow and ice - it's not the going, it's the stopping that's hard, so be careful out there!  ;)
Also, what he said. ;D