Power Kite Forum

air pressure for BFs

revpaul - 9-4-2009 at 11:37 PM

i have Bigfoots/kadcats on the SuperTruck. i kinda remember two air pressure suggestions 5 lbs. and 8 lbs..
what is the one to go with (i'm 175-180 lbs and riding mostly on grass).
thnx,
Paul

BeamerBob - 10-4-2009 at 06:01 AM

I'm running 6-7 with mine and it offers a responsive ride but has some cushion as well. Your rims are wider with more tire volume though so you could run less than me with the same effect.

kitedemon - 10-4-2009 at 06:58 AM

I run around 6 psi on mixed sand. Just a note that with such low pressures the sun will heat the tire and the pressure goes up... a lot. I check mine that were inflated the night before a trip and when I put them back in the car after a hot day on the beach and found 7 (from the night before) turned into 11 after the heat of the day. Check the max pressure of the rims if you gain that much pressure you might be able to blow the rim. I have never heard of that happening but I personally don't want to find out! :shocked2:

acampbell - 10-4-2009 at 08:40 AM

I have been riding 7.5 this winter on the BF's with my weight 210 lb and I have felt a nice mix of traction and break-loose for scrubbing speed on the hard-pack when I want. I know that as it gets warmer now, I 'll have to be careful on the beach and start at 6, watching to see what happens in the hot GA sun. Yeah, rims can blow. And it's loud.

revpaul - 10-4-2009 at 09:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by kitedemon
I run around 6 psi on mixed sand. Just a note that with such low pressures the sun will heat the tire and the pressure goes up... a lot. I check mine that were inflated the night before a trip and when I put them back in the car after a hot day on the beach and found 7 (from the night before) turned into 11 after the heat of the day. Check the max pressure of the rims if you gain that much pressure you might be able to blow the rim. I have never heard of that happening but I personally don't want to find out! :shocked2:

yes, makes sense all right.
heat+big black surface=expansion. i'll for sure keep that in mind
thnx for the tip. funny what escapes our minds until mentioned.
:singing:

SCREWYFITS - 10-4-2009 at 10:10 AM

If you have access to nitrogen, fill and purge your tires a couple times with the Nitrogen and then fill them to the pressure you would like to ride... This helps with the expansion and contraction of the air inside your tires, but will "NOT" eliminate it, this is what is used on nascar tires so they can predict the size of the tire at temp...

Hope this helps, I know most don't have access to nitrogen... paintball canisters (make sure its a nitrogen one and not CO2) are available fairly cheap and could be filled for a buck or two... putting a tire filler on it might be the most complicated part...

I know this is probably overboard but that's why they call me "SCREWY"

acampbell - 10-4-2009 at 10:49 AM

My car dealership tried to sell me on a a plan of Nitrogen in my tires for life for $40.
I told him I use a special mixture that is over 78% Nitrogen.
He asked me what it was.
I said "Air", waving my hand in his face.
Yes, I know that racers, military and some commercial aviation fleets use it for the reasons that Screwy mentioned, and it's all good, but I could not resist the retort to a hard sell.

I never had a trouble running 20-25 psi cold in my 16" tires last summer in the hot GA sun, but will just watch the BF's a bit more closely for awhile.

arkay - 10-4-2009 at 11:13 AM

Costco fills tires with Nitrogen... don't know how much they'd try to charge you for such a little amount:)

Bucky - 21-4-2009 at 12:36 PM

They did mine for free. (Although I did happen to puchase my car's tires there) So there you go......all you have to do is spend $485 on a set of Michellins, and your buggy's nitrogen is FREE!!!!!! OH YEAH!!!! I'm the deal master!!!!!