Stock P-Rated Tires on Colorado Passes?

[Martinjmpr]

Hi,
For what it's worth. A friend with a full size Dodge PU lost 2 tires on the Alpine loop back in 2010. One was flat before we even got to Animas Forks, the second happened on the road to Lake City. We had to throw the tires, and 4 kids in my Tacoma DC (E rated Generals) and drove into Lake City to the tire shop. Both tires had cuts that could not be repaired. Tire guy made the comment about C range tires should not run the passes. He then called Gunnison as he did not have tire to replace with. So kids and I stayed in Lake City (Nice park & rec center) buddy ran to Gunnison and back.
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2011
Back to the same area, Dodge friend E rated tires, another friend from France with a family in a rented Suburban Passenger tires. Has a puncture on the way up to Clear lake. Off to Durango as Silverton shop does not have a replacement and could not plug.
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Martin

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Did they air down, though? Bouncing hard-as-rock tires on sharp stone is asking for trouble. I'm guessing anybody with a rental is not going to air down because (a) it's not their truck and (b) they don't have a compressor to air it back up.
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Back in 2011 in Death Valley our camping group met a couple of women in a Suburban that blew 3 tires on the road from Teakettle Junction to Ubehebe Crater. This is a road that's routinely traveled by passenger cars and yet they got into trouble because - yup - they didn't air down on that nasty washboard.

 

[tanglefoot]

That's interesting. The off-road mags and how-to books tout the off-road advantages of airing down but warn that it makes the tires more susceptible to damage.

I would never replace new tires. There's just the practicality of it. Tires are darned expensive and they hold together much better than they used to. I've never had more than load range-C tires (for 15" wheels, that's about as high as you can get without going huge), and none of the tires on the 4wd were purchased new. I'm at one off-road flat in ~15 years of Colorado mining roads. I carry tire plugs but haven't needed them.

Regardless of tire, a finesse-oriented (as slow as possible, as fast as necessary) and strategic (careful line selection) driving style is certainly easier on all components (and is more comfortable).

 

[Hoosier 45]

The tires that were cut on the Alpine Loop were not aired down. The cut/puncture happened on the 2wd part of the loop. Someone said it comes from the graders knocking off the tops of exposed rocks creating fresh sharp edges which would make sense.

 

[TiFJ]

As long as there is no snow and ice, the trails you list (Black Bear and Imogene) as well as Alpine Loop, Engineer Pass, California Pass, Cork Screw Gulch, and Ophir can all be done easily with P-rated tires. The only ones in that last that I didn't do with my stock FJ were California and Cork Screw but according to http://www.fjsummit.org/trails.php, they are rated moderate (same as Black Bear which I would consider technically easy - they are pretty conservative with their ratings - with consequences for a mistake). Go have fun!