Old mining road in Colorado taught me a tire pressure lesson

Took the rig up near Silverton last weekend on a trail I'd run before, but I skipped airing down since it looked dry. Ten minutes in, the rear end started sliding on loose shale over hardpack, almost kissed a rock wall. Dropped to 18 psi front and 20 rear, and the difference was night and day, it just planted and crawled. Now I keep a cheap pencil gauge in the glovebox so I stop being lazy about the 5 minute stop. Anyone else have a spot that humbled them into changing their routine?

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the_drew16d ago

That washboard section outside of La Sal last fall did it for me. I was running 32 psi because I wanted to skip the stop, and the truck was hopping all over the place, felt like the rear axle was gonna shake loose. Finally pulled over and took it down to 22 all around, and it was a totally different rig, soaked up every bump. Now I don't even debate it, I just air down as soon as I hit gravel, the ten minutes is worth not white-knuckling the whole way.