Low tire pressure traction idea and new modification I put on my tractor.

So as many of you know that traction is key when offroading I remember I had on my jeep an onboard air compressor system to inflate and deflate my tires for rock climbing and snow wheeling. I recently aired my 2 rear tires on my craftsman down to 4psi and it performed very well in low gear. I decided to run a cheap walmart 12v air compressor off of my tractors battery so I could fill the tires back up again. The sidewalls of the atv tires will take a lot of abuse. Check out the video below at 2:00 in he plays with the tire pressure. Just another idea I figured I would add to my tractor. The compressor comes in handy to say the least. Will post photos soon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55-CNzP19ds

I also had an idea for a 4wd tractor using a hydraulic driven front axle. I was looking for a tractor with loader when I came across the ad below. I talked to the owner of the tractor who said that he was able to convert this 420 2wd tractor in to a 4wd unit using a hydraulic driven front axle. I know it would not be extremely hard to run a hydraulic pump off of the electronic PTO and that would enable a 4wd set up that you can switch on and off with the push of a button to activate and deactivate the pump. Anyway the guy said that the 420s front axle comes in handy in the snow and the front tires can spin no problem even under loads. Pritty cool?
http://rochester.craigslist.org/grd/3529897526.html

I like the idea of an onboard air pump. I plan on putting a 12v socket on my racer so I can use my battery for power accessories, and I had a 12v pump but I snapped the fitting off.

I bot one of those 'slime' kits - comes with a 12volt air pump - i planned on hooking that up on the GT . Only thing is itll be enough to add air, it wont be enough to pop a bead back on.

Im gonna hard wire it to the battery ( has its own switch).

I would put train horns on it if you have a compressor and a tank... That would be awesome

‎i dont think the 12v air compressors work to well(i never had luck with them, the most i ever got one to get upto was 5 psi, i had two so i took them and made the two into a steam engine but it didnt work out so well because i couldn't weld the aluminum well(kept burning through because it was to thin and wasn't that good of aluminum), then i tried welding a hole shut and blew through one cylinder head.
but the 12v air compressors i did use were used ones that i found so that's probably something to do with my luck also(the ring looks to be nylon so i don't think they are designed to last a long time).
maybe if i buy one i will try it out, what happens if you pop your bead out in the middle of the trail?

I had never had an issue with poppin my bead off while playing. I usually run my tires with about 2psi and don't have any issues with it.

W1ldyOvvnZ wrote:

‎i dont think the 12v air compressors work to well(i never had luck with them, the most i ever got one to get upto was 5 psi, i had two so i took them and made the two into a steam engine but it didnt work out so well because i couldn't weld the aluminum well(kept burning through because it was to thin and wasn't that good of aluminum), then i tried welding a hole shut and blew through one cylinder head.
but the 12v air compressors i did use were used ones that i found so that's probably something to do with my luck also(the ring looks to be nylon so i don't think they are designed to last a long time).
maybe if i buy one i will try it out, what happens if you pop your bead out in the middle of the trail?

Ive used ratchet straps to seat the bead of my Agway tires because ther im was too wide for the tire. It would work basically the same way but better fi your tire matches your rime (stretched tires are a paint to seat).

Plus its pretty hard to crack a bead. You would have to be running your tires really low and do some good damage go get it to pop off.

Doug Fackler wrote:

W1ldyOvvnZ wrote:

‎i dont think the 12v air compressors work to well(i never had luck with them, the most i ever got one to get upto was 5 psi, i had two so i took them and made the two into a steam engine but it didnt work out so well because i couldn't weld the aluminum well(kept burning through because it was to thin and wasn't that good of aluminum), then i tried welding a hole shut and blew through one cylinder head.
but the 12v air compressors i did use were used ones that i found so that's probably something to do with my luck also(the ring looks to be nylon so i don't think they are designed to last a long time).
maybe if i buy one i will try it out, what happens if you pop your bead out in the middle of the trail?

Ive used ratchet straps to seat the bead of my Agway tires because ther im was too wide for the tire. It would work basically the same way but better fi your tire matches your rime (stretched tires are a paint to seat).

Plus its pretty hard to crack a bead. You would have to be running your tires really low and do some good damage go get it to pop off.

i know what your talking about with the ratchet strap, thats what we do with out lawn cutting mowers(it always pops of the bead just sitting, the tire has a slow leak), when me and my friend were driving his mudding tractor through a feild we popped the tire off the bead(dont know how many psi were in the tire before we went out though, i just thought 4psi was on the low side but i guess if some ATV tires running pressure are 5 its not that low)

W1ldyOvvnZ wrote:

‎what happens if you pop your bead out in the middle of the trail?

Starting fluid & a lighter

If popping beads off is an issue - do as the offroaders do - bead locks. Shouldnt be that hard to do ( time consuming but not that hard).

dangeroustoys56 wrote:

If popping beads off is an issue - do as the offroaders do - bead locks. Shouldnt be that hard to do ( time consuming but not that hard).

Thats what i was thinking of doing, im not going to do it anytime soon because i have aluminum rims and i would like to see if i have issues with my tires and rims. and ive never really seen beadlocks in person, they have the outer ring on the outside of the rim and i assume the same on the back side?

Can you find/cut slash/modify/hack a set of ATV rims. They are beadlock style already, they are damn hard to pop a bead on. GT rims tend to pop beads, alot, especially under low pressure conditions,(ie flat)

ATV beadlock style rims have a standard bead and shoulder on the rim, and an inner raised rib on the inside of the tire bead ( as differntiated from the rim bead). believe me they take a machine to pop the bead. I've tried all the old skool trick to pop them and the only way I've found is to use a machine. They ncan also be bitchy to mount, but worth it.

ooh, you guys don't mean beadlocks like this?



What Chopperhed is saying makes me think the bead on an ATV tire is different then a lawn tractor tire and that is what you guys are calling a bead lock rim.

All my ATV tires are marked "to be mounted on beadlock rims only" or something similar. When I had the atv tires on my stock MTD tims, the beads would pop everytime the tires went flat.

W1ldyOvvnZ wrote:

ooh, you guys don't mean beadlocks like this?



What Chopperhed is saying makes me think the bead on an ATV tire is different then a lawn tractor tire and that is what you guys are calling a bead lock rim.

You can buy those very expensive aftermarket beadlock rims for ATV's and trucks.

The stock rims on my ATVs use a different style of beadlock, but is still considered a bead lock, and will hold even flat tires

My rims for mine had a raised ridge on it like that, although they werent very high. Made my life hell trying to get the tires off.

Doug Fackler wrote:

My rims for mine had a raised ridge on it like that, although they werent very high. Made my life hell trying to get the tires off.

\

They do make it difficult to swap tires, but the bead won't roll off in hard turns

theswampmachine wrote:

I would put train horns on it if you have a compressor and a tank... That would be awesome

Real "train horns" start around $5000 USD for a "kit". I have a buddy with a set, that's what he has in it.

TheEquineFencer wrote:

theswampmachine wrote:

I would put train horns on it if you have a compressor and a tank... That would be awesome

Real "train horns" start around $5000 USD for a "kit". I have a buddy with a set, that's what he has in it.

I have put two sets of air horns in my car and set them up with 2 high notes on one compressor and 2 low notes on the other compressor. My car now can sound like a British train with its tow tone air horns.

I have kept to stock horn in so i technically have 3 horns on my car
Check out my video of them here

With bead locks you really can run "saggy" tires

Beadlocks is a great idea.
I want to build a set for my mower.

What I have found for a good tire pressure is 8 PSI