"But, you could air down to a lower-than-you-go level, put the tire on a rock that you think would cause the condition - and get out and look (or spot someone to drive your jeep so you can see the overall motion)."
Good idea!
Today I put an artificial narrow obstacle under the width of a tire and reduced the pressure. The obstacle was 2-3/4" high and 1-5/8" wide. I didn't want to damage the tire with something narrower.
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Front |
265/60-R18 |
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PSI |
Rim Height |
Sidewall |
inch |
Percent |
35 |
178 |
108.0 |
4.3 |
100 |
30 |
172 |
102.0 |
4.0 |
94 |
25 |
166 |
96.0 |
3.8 |
89 |
20 |
152 |
82.0 |
3.2 |
76 |
15 |
130 |
60.0 |
2.4 |
56 |
The sidewall left over the obstacle really starts to diminish below 25 PSI. Only 75% at 20 and 55% at 15 PSI. This is without dynamic loads which would easily compress the tire further.
The picture is at 15 PSI, and it looks a lot worse in person. I think that is a very extreme sidewall flex - literally a "U" in cross section.