Increased traction, reduced damage, improved handling and a smoother ride; you get all of this absolutely free when you lower your tyre pressures off-road using a Kwiky Tyre Deflator from Adventure Kings.

That’s why we’re going to show you how simple it is to find the perfect tyre pressure for any off-road situation. And because we know accidents can and do happen, we’ll also walk you through how to carry out everyday tyre repairs; like plugging punctures with a Hercules Tyre Repair Kit to handling severe blowouts and rolled beads.

Don’t worry; you don’t need to be the Michael Schumacher of mechanics to get your head around this. All you need to do is carry the right gear and follow these simple tricks. It’s that simple.

TYRE PRESSURES FOR EVERY TERRAIN

Prevention is better than a cure, as they say, and it’s the same for airing down. If you’re hitting the sand this summer, a good starting pressure is around 16psi. If you begin noticing wheel spin or your tyres start digging down, drop a few more PSI out. But remember, once your tyre pressures are that low, you need to drop your speed and avoid sharp turns, or you could peel your tyre right off the rim.

When it comes to corrugated high-speed dirt tracks, running around the 28psi mark and keeping your speed under 80km/h will help cushion the ride while still maintaining reasonable handling. 18-22psi is usually a good pressure to start with for low-range dirt tracks like fire trails, mud and water crossings. Rock crawling you could go a little lower, around 16psi is usually good, but remember, the lower the pressure the greater the chance of rolling a bead.

4PSI RULE

Because we all have differing tyre sizes, a pressure that works for you might not be the best for your mate. The 4PSI rule is a proven way to find the right tyre pressure for your tyres across any terrain.

Set your pressures roughly where you think they should be for the terrain using your Kwiky Tyre Deflator, and then drive for long enough to get the tyres warm. Check the pressures again, and if they’ve gone up by more than 4psi, the starting pressure was too low. If they’ve gone up by less than 4psi, then your pressures were too high and you should drop a couple of PSI out. It’ll help you figure out the correct tyre pressure for each terrain. After all, that’s the biggest contributor to tyre failure.

REPAIRING PUNCTURES

Small punctures can be plugged pretty easily with a tyre repair kit. The basic steps are; remove the cause of the puncture, whether it’s a nail, piece of wire or screw. Within your repair kit there should be a rasping tool (looks like a cork screw). Insert it into the hole, working it back and forth to roughen up the rubber. This provides a better surface for the plug to seal against.

Slide the plug into the insertion tool (the one that looks like a big threading needle); push it into the tyre half way down the plug, then remove the tool. The little slot on the end will allow the tool to be removed without pulling the plug back out with it.

Trim off the excess near the tread, re-inflate the tyre and check for leaks.

SEVERE BLOWOUTS

A severe leak like staking a sidewall happens with no warning and the gash is often too big for a regular plug. Here’s where carrying a spare inner tube comes in handy. They work the same as the tyres on your old pushy, so you just need to pop the tyre off one bead and insert the tube. If you don’t have one, another option is to patch the inside of the side wall. This takes longer and you’ll need to leave it long enough for the glue to dry before driving on it. Your last resort is to pack the tyre full of something like dry grass, twigs, clothing or even your sleeping bag. Sounds extreme, but improvisation is the key to bush survival.

RE-SEATING A BEAD

Most of the time when you roll a bead it’s a result of pushing the side wall up against an obstacle, so cleaning debris off the rim and tyre is the first step. Most of the time, dirt, mud or bark will be jammed up in the lip of the rim, so you’ll need to jack the old girl up, clean out the gunk before you attempt to remount it.

If you’ve only rolled one bead, running a ratchet strap around the diameter of the tyre will help to seal the tyre firmly up against the rim. If you’ve rolled both beads off, you’ll probably be better off removing the wheel completely. Lay the tyre on its side and let gravity do half of the work in resealing the bead for you.

Once you’ve got the tyre resting on the lip of the rim, all that’s left is to pump it full of air as fast as possible with a Thumper mkII compressor or even better the Double barrelled thumper MAX, keeping your fingers well clear. You’ll know the tyre is fully re-seated when you hear a loud pop.

WHAT’S IN A QUALITY REPAIR KIT?

If you don’t have them already, make sure you grab a Hercules Tyre Repair Kit from 4WD Supacentre, inner tube, a Thumper air compressor and a set of tyre pliers from your bushmechanic toolkit.