Airing Down

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

The other day I went out to rescue somebody stuck in the sand. I didn't do it out of the goodness of my heart. I was headed out to the shop to work... and I didn't want to when I saw their post on a local fishing group on social media.

You can read about it if you want to here, but that's not the point of my post: https://www.tacklemaker.info/index.php?board=12.0

At one point I agreed grudgingly to try a pull from the top of a sand dune with my 3/4 ton truck. It was probably the best angle to get the guy back on the road. I knew I should air down, but I figured I could make a speed run to the top of the hill without doing so just to check it out. Plus, I didn't want to. Airing down 37 11.7 tires takes a while. (I think that's old school size. I know they are 11.7 anyway.)

I bounced up to the top of the sand dune, decided it was too soft, and buried it as I tried to back off.

The guy I was helping jacked up the truck and filled in the holes while I aired down. It took substantially longer to air down the tires to 12 PIS (my ideal sand pressure) than it did for him to jack up all 4 corners of the truck one at a time, shovel sand in the holes, and give me a nice flat run to back out.

I was wondering if there might be a simple screw on regulator I could preset to desired air down pressure screw one onto each valve stem and sit in the air-conditioned cab of the truck to sip a water while I waited. If there isn't one, just how hard would it be to make one? Well four... well eight. I'd like a set in the Jeep too.

For those who want to know how it went without reading my adventure story at the link above. With the tires aired down I made about 10-12 slingshot pulls with recovery straps from the top of the sand dune, only stopping when my truck stopped moving as it started to bury itself. With aired down tires the truck drove right out of its own holes every time. I took the 3/4 ton crew cab diesel 4x4 instead of the Jeep, because I figured mass was better than flotation for doing a recovery. It was.

[CNC Molds N Stuff]

... and there are.  I just had to look.  LOL.