Mud tire's for dummies !
Discussion
As a novice here Im noticing that mud tires always look so big on the wheel rims when compared with normal road/AT tires ?
You know, a normal 16 inch rim with a big ballon of a tire on it !
Is that design by purpose for getting traction in mud or a styling thing. Or a bit of both ?
Also you guys always talk about these tires in 31 or 33 inches etc. I understand tire sizes as its a 16/225/65 etc. How do you size up these things ?
Cheers
You know, a normal 16 inch rim with a big ballon of a tire on it !
Is that design by purpose for getting traction in mud or a styling thing. Or a bit of both ?
Also you guys always talk about these tires in 31 or 33 inches etc. I understand tire sizes as its a 16/225/65 etc. How do you size up these things ?
Cheers
pcn1 said:
As a novice here Im noticing that mud tires always look so big on the wheel rims when compared with normal road/AT tires ?
You know, a normal 16 inch rim with a big ballon of a tire on it !
Is that design by purpose for getting traction in mud or a styling thing. Or a bit of both ?
Also you guys always talk about these tires in 31 or 33 inches etc. I understand tire sizes as its a 16/225/65 etc. How do you size up these things ?
Cheers
Mud tyres can be bought in many different sizes, including the same sizes as normal road tyres.You know, a normal 16 inch rim with a big ballon of a tire on it !
Is that design by purpose for getting traction in mud or a styling thing. Or a bit of both ?
Also you guys always talk about these tires in 31 or 33 inches etc. I understand tire sizes as its a 16/225/65 etc. How do you size up these things ?
Cheers
The bigger the lugs the more aggressive they can appear, so might look bigger. And big lugs can certainly make them appear wider for a given width.
In terms of actual use, as a rule a large side wall (high profile) is desirable. As this partly offers protection for the rim, allows you to have additional tread extending onto the side wall and will allow for more tyre deformation over the terrain.
It is also common practice to run tyres at lower pressures off road, often 12-22psi range unless you use beadlockers to prevent the tyre coming off the rim. The reason this is done is it increases the tyres foot print on the ground giving you additional traction. It also allows increased sidewall deformation over the terrain (again increasing contact area) and allows more movement of the tyre relative to the rim.
Sizes are easy to work out. I'm not sure the origins, but tyre sizes are a miss match of metric and imperial, e.g.
235/85R16
235 = means 235mm section or width of the tyre
85 = this is the profile or the height of the side wall. It's a percentage of the width, so in this case 85% of 235mm, which is 200mm
R = this means Radial as opposed to crossply construction
16 = is the rim diameter in inches
This is the more common car tyre sizing these days. But it doesn't tell you a tyres overall height, to do that you have to work it out. So the rim plus the sidewall of the tyre at the top and bottom.
200mm x 2 = 400mm, converted to inches is 15.75" then plus the 16" rim for a total diameter of approx 31.75"
A lot of off road tyres, especially American ones might use this sizing
31.10.50R15
31 = this is tyres total diameter in inches
10.50 = is the width of the tyre in inches
R = this means Radial as opposed to crossply construction
15 = is the rim diameter in inches
Using this system you know the tyre diameter, but not the side wall profile. You'd have to work it out.
Overall both systems are handy with different pro's and con's depending on what you are trying to find out.
Some older sizing systems are even more basic, older Land Rover's would tend to be 7.50x16 or simple 7.50's.
In this instance the 7.50 is the width in inches and if there's another number (such as 16), it then corresponds to the rim diameter in inches.
BigBazza said:
normalbloke said:
Restraint.
What does this mean?
I'll also add that if you're serious about tyres, ignore the stereotype image of big chunky tyres. As previously mentioned, mud tyres come in all sizes... FWIW - I much prefer a narrow tyre (Michelin 7.50 R16 XZL) to let the tyre dig down to a firm surface.
M
camel_landy said:
I'm guessing that he was resisting the urge to flame as a lot of this stuff can be dug up with a quick search.
I'll also add that if you're serious about tyres, ignore the stereotype image of big chunky tyres. As previously mentioned, mud tyres come in all sizes... FWIW - I much prefer a narrow tyre (Michelin 7.50 R16 XZL) to let the tyre dig down to a firm surface.
M
never found much advantage with narrow does more damage to green lanes and on most boggy ground you run out of ground clearance before there is any solid grip!! I'll also add that if you're serious about tyres, ignore the stereotype image of big chunky tyres. As previously mentioned, mud tyres come in all sizes... FWIW - I much prefer a narrow tyre (Michelin 7.50 R16 XZL) to let the tyre dig down to a firm surface.
M
flotation is good and a bit of power to spin the treads clean about 31 10.5 15 is a good size for all round use for laning ,RTV trials.
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