Guys, im trying to clear up this idea here

Many ranchers around here seem to think that for heavy mud, that skinny tires are BETTER IN THE MUD than fatter tires? The reason behind their logic is that the skinnier tires seem to sink down into the mud and grab the bottom layer of the mud and they also grip and spin less as well..

For sand, i know that you need a wider tire to stay on top of the sand, Being that most of my wheeling is done in sand, the 285's work great, just keeper going and you will be ok..

I dont know much about rocks or mud, but i do know that wheelspin is needed for mud, what do you guys think about the wider tires for mud?

would wide tires nessesrily be better off for rocks and hills as well?

Help me make sence of all this..

Tx

 

I believe the narrow tires are better for mud. If you drive like a maniac, get big wide mud tires, so you can spin, slip, and gouge the ground up at 4000 rpm's and 60 miles an hour while only moving 5-20 miles per hour. My Grandad had the VERY narrow tires on his *****'s, and that would go almost everywhere.
Also, Dad had a J-3000 pick up with VERY narrow tires, and that would go anywhere in the snow.
Mike

 

I've seen wide tires have trouble getting traction on grass/shallow mud where the narrow tires would keep going.

All my friends that live in the boonies in Colorado all use the narrow tires. The mud and snow gets pretty deep, and the wide tires just won't get them in and out like the narrow ones will.

 

from what i know. Light Truck - Narrow tires Heavy truck(maniac driver) wide tires Heavy truck - Wide tires or narrow tires

 

Wider= more float, good for bottomless mud.

Skinny is good when there is a bottom near the surface...

 

I have rolled down old muddy roads sunk all the way to the frames in the old army trucks, 2 1/2 tons and jeeps with those skinny tires and they never even slowed down. I run the big fat ones on my truck but that is strictly for looks. If you want to play like a pig in slop skinny is the only way to go.

 

I believe the type of tire is for what you're trying to acheive... It's obvious skinny tires grip better. I know that because in snow for plowing it makes it ALOT easier. That's why you dont see many people plowing with their dually's because chances are they'll either be getting a pull or will be out shoveling sand under their tires. But as it was said... if you want to stay afloat so you dont bottom out as quick, you want a WIDE tire with an AGGRESIVE tread. You have to keep in mind... skinny tires and whether they grip good is one thing but once your differential/axle gets hung up on something, you're there to stay. In another light, I bleive the type of tread is more important than whether it's wide or not.

Mike

 

Skinny tires are better.... look at a tractor set up for rice farming... rides on tall narrow tires!

 

It all depends on what the conditions are. Skinny tires grip much better, it's all about the lbs per square inch you are putting to the ground. They work great until the material you are driving on is soft enough to let you high center. Then you are done. Wider tires give much less traction but with a light foot on the pedal, or a heavy one as needed you can go much further in the really soft stuff. If the terrain is super slick and is solid go skinny but if it's really soft and deep your only chance is to stay on top. The key is don't spin them if you are not moving.

 

Look at the old model A tires. They could go through anything and they were rear wheel drive only and 45 HP. Skinny tires get-r-dun, but look like crap.

 

Growing up, my Dad, his dad and brothers were all big on Deer hunting, and with that, 4x4ing in very crappy conditions.
Deep snow on top of deep thick mud.
All of them had skinny tires up front and wide ones in back.
(all the same height of course)
They claimed the front ones dug down to the hard bottom and got traction, and the rears floated on top and got traction.

It seemed to work, as I don't remember any of them ever getting stuck, but do remember them pulling out others who had either just skinny or just wide tires.

Of course, I didn't heed that info, as wide tires look much better, but they suck on semi snowy roads, very hard to keep the truck in one lane, the fat tires up front grab the slush on the sides and pull the truck that direction.


phox

 

Hmm Interesting point Phox,

Just a quick question, dont different size tires on a four wheel drive cause driveline windup? Im just wondering because i was taught to always have all four tires as similar as possible on your truck...

Tx

 

You can have them as wide or skinny as your rims allow, but they all have to be the same height, how tall they are.

In the old days, before metric sizing, it was easy.
35x10x15 was 35 inches tall, 10 inches wide.
35x8x15 was 35 inches tall, 8 inches wide.
Now with the metrics, it's more work to find different widths that are the same tall.

Unless you specifically gear the differentials to allow different size tires, but that's way too much figurin'.


phox

 

In the northeast i have chosen against most of the grain and gone with narrow tires on my jeep. 33x 10.50's. they have better contact pressure, are less rotating mass to strat and stop, and are easier to fit. I do lose some stability and ruts are a bit harder to stay out of. a couple of times i have sunk the jeep but i knew when it was gonna hqappen. id say for me the narrow tires work better.

 

The difference between skinny and wide tires for mud depends completely on the conditions the vehicle must operate in, what the desired results are and what the objectives are. For getting to the bottom of the mud (where there is hopefully firm gound) to rely on traction, obviously, the skinnier tire will do much better.....skinny tires are the better choice for low hp trucks, too. However, there is no substitute for wider tires when there is no additional traction at the bottom of a hole.....increased contact pressure will only hinder forward motion in the thick soupy mud that is bottomless. This type of mud requires a tire which can displace as much mud as possible - usually a paddle/terra tire tread works best - like a Super swamper Bogger.....the wider this style of tire is, the more tread there is to grab and displace more mud. When the objective is to take as much mud from in front of the tire and put it behind it, the tire that moves (displaces) the most mud in one revolution will do best....wider = bigger paddle = moves more mud. Think of the tire as that of a paddle wheel on an old steam ship - the tire is literally paddling the truck through the mud. In cases such as this, digging to the bottom of a hole for traction that is not there will not help forward motion and in fact will typically impede it. These situations require trucks with more hp to swing these big, wide "paddles".

In most situations, either style tire is not a good substitute for the other and we typically see huge differences in performance when either the wide or the skinny tire is operating out of it's element.