Traction Under Pressure
Four Wheeler|August 2020
We use General Grabber X3s to demonstrate the positive effects of low tire pressure off-road
Jay Kopycinski
Traction Under Pressure

It’s common knowledge that lowering tire pressure spreads your rubber footprint and can generally add traction. However, the effect of tire pressure can vary based on the surface you’re traveling over. Ride comfort, plus overall stability and performance, fluctuates as the pressure is changed. We set out to try and get a better handle on these characteristics by running a new set of tires at increasingly lower tire pressures.

We used a fresh set of General Grabber X3 tires, a mud-terrain tire available for light trucks and SUVs. The 37x12.50R17 Grabbers used for our testing were mounted on OMF beadlock wheels. Each tire weighs in at just shy of 80 pounds, and when mounted to our 9-inch-wide wheel, we measured it to be about 36.6 inches tall at street pressure.

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