Tyre pressures in the outback

We have just returned from the Birdsville Races that weren’t (Who needs horses, lets party, & party they did!).
The main subject at the start of conversations in Birdsville was “How many tyres did you blow getting here?” I guess I heard about 20 odd blowouts! (S&M Black Cobra did one too) One caravanner had blown three tyres between Alice Springs & Birdsville. Why? Some clever person at Bridgestone in Alice told them to run 50psi for their Prado & Pop Top.

We also saw a Supreme “offroad” van 70km out of Birdsville that had a lucky to be still upright with the front drivers side wheel missing. This was driven by an outback novice, too much tyre pressure, and an un-noticed blow-out (The Simplicity suspension works well!). He had continued until the tyre shredded, then until the rim wore down to the brake drum. The first decent rut sheared the stub axle & the Simplicity acting as a plough stopped them. An unbelievable amount of damage inside, while the outside looked OK except for the suspension damage. I would guess a write-off.

The best advice I’ve received in the outback was from Adam Plate who runs the Ooodnadatta Pink Roadhouse & has lived out there for 35 years. His suggestion based on his experience is 28psi all round irrespective of load, & keep below 80kph while the tyre pressure is down.On some extreme sections we dropped the tyres down to 26psi

We’ve now travelled 70,000Km & almost every major outback desert road with our TOJO & BT, without a tyre problem.
You do need to be aware that the sidewalls hang down a bit & are succeptable to damage from large sharp rocks, so be aware & careful.

I don’t know how this formula would go with the “little” tyres on a F250, but would be worth investigating with outback experts such as Adam.

Neil