My 350 4x4 with IRS had 7lbs of air in all 4 tires from the dealer but the owners manual say's 3.6 for rear and 3.2 for front. I lowered the pressure down to 4lbs. and it seemed to have a lot of tire roll and difficult to steer. Does anybody have any advice on a good pressure for basic trail riding?

 

I run 4.5 psi in front and back.....perfect for me. Running more psi increases the chance of punctures.

 

Don't listen to the manual or the dealership. It's a matter of personal prefference. Figure out how you like it and stick with it.

 

Just run it where you like it and only use the manual as a guide to get in the ballpark.

 

In reality, you can run a lot more than the max PSI indicated by the manufacturers....

Most ATV tires have a beading pressure of 36psi, that means the tire will hold 36psi safely. Of course you don't want to run anything that high on an ATV.

However, as a rule, you can safely run 1/4 psi of total max pressure without compromising the integrity of the tire. In other words you can run 9psi in the tire, and still reap the benefits of full puncture resistance, and full "low pressure" handling response that ATV suspensions are designed for.

At that 9psi you are in the highest end of stiffness, anything more might be too hard. But I've seen guys who race MX run tires at 15psi and higher. A lot depends on the construction of the tire itself.

For your riding conditions, and machine, I would say if you liked it better with 7psi, put the 7psi back in. At that number you are not in danger of ruining the tire or your suspension. I usually run about 10psi in my Rancher, because one tire has a leak. Sometimes you can stop a slow leak with a few more PSI and in this case it works. If I put in 5psi the tire is flat in a week. If I put in 10psi the tire stays aired up for months.