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To all the off roaders, Skinny Vs Fatties


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First of all apollogies to the mods if this is right place to post thing, being new and all, din't know where to post this, if its not in the right place, mods please move it to the appropriate section. Thanks

Ok now that is out of the way, being a pretty long time off roader and there seem to be many here too, I was wondering what is the consensus or thoughts on skinny tall tires compared to fat/wider tires for driving in the sand.

Keep in mind when we deflate its not really the width of a tire that increases the foot print of a tire, but rather the lenght specially of taller tires

uk-trial.png
 

As you can see in this pic as an example I've posted the there is more surface created lenght wise than is width wise, specially if you have tyres with with lets say more stiffer or squared off shoulders, as in the pic above, there is almost 0 increase in width, BF Goodricjh tyres come to mind as an example I see many people use. 

While an argument can be made a wider tyre also adds to the overall, so whats the harm, but keep in mind that will also add rolling resistance. 

154-1105-04-o%2b154-1105-proper-tire-pressure-for-the-trail-under-pressure%2blow-pressure-tires.jpg

 

So is that added rolling resistance of a wider tyre a worth while compromise ?

What do you all think about this? Thoughts and opinions welcomed

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In my experience, having a bit more rolling resistance beats getting stuck every time. 

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Taller tires (less wider one) used in many stock applications, as manufacturers want to get best of fuel mileage, 0-100 response and less rolling resistance by a trade-off to the best desert experience. I have seen thin cycle tires on defender, wrangler, and people assume they are the best for the desert as they are OEM size. lol.

By increasing tire width to a reasonable size, you will have better flotation that will get you less stuck as treks mentioned and also give you bigger footprints for self-recovery if stuck. Cycle tires will dig deeper and deeper at the moment when you want to crawl out of the situation.

In my opinion, increasing OEM width by 10-15% is a good move and beyond that is also good but that comes with a bigger trade-off as too heavy tires will restrict your climb capabilities seriously. I had 4.5 SWB Patrol with 285 BFG and never climbed up Faya or Iftar Bowl, what I can do with my 3.5 SWB Pajero with 265 Geolanders.

Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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53 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

I had 4.5 SWB Patrol with 285 BFG and never climbed up Faya or Iftar Bowl, what I can do with my 3.5 SWB Pajero with 265 Geolanders.

What a crap 20 mm ( 2 cm) tire width can make a difference but when 1 liter bigger engine dispalcement has no impct

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6 minutes ago, Danny said:

What a crap 20 mm ( 2 cm) tire width can make a difference but when 1 liter bigger engine dispalcement has no impct

Itn't crap but it's a fact, as apart from 2 cm wider tire there were other lots of factors:

  • BFG is way toooooo heavy, as compared of Geolander
  • BFG have way too aggressive tread, good for the mountain but not good for desert hill climb with stock motor
  • 2006 - 4.5 SWB Patrol has 194 hp as VS 1999 - 3.5 SWB Pajero has 225 hp
  • Patrol has known issue with that year Manual gearing VS Pajero 4WD super select tranny has been proven a goldmine
  • Pajero is 100 kg lighter than Patrol

Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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See I was not talking of rolling resistance just on tarmac, wider tyres will also increase rolling resistance on sand too and in fact the increase will be many times over on sand than tarmac.

And less forget about rolling resistance for a while, with a taller but skinny'er tyres you get the increased footprint ( length wise ) than a wider but less taller tyre. 

Just thinking aloud thats all 

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I hear your point of longer footprints, but if you see those longer footprints are pretty much useless as the car will always move in front or back so actual tirestamp will be the same in thinner cycle tire, no matter how big footprint you get length wise.

It's the wider that makes floatation better and yet not too wide as I explained earlier. Just a tad wider is enough.

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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6 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

BFG have way too aggressive tread, good for the mountain but not good for desert hill climb with stock motor


Hmmm......not trying to be argumentative, I'm just wondering why would they be not good on stock motors but good on modified motors. I think if something was good on stock engines, the advantages would be multiplied on something like tyres

6 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

I hear your point of longer footprints, but if you see those longer footprints are pretty much useless as the car will always move in front or back so actual tirestamp will be the same in thinner cycle tire, no matter how big footprint you get length wise.

It's the wider that makes floatation better and yet not too wide as I explained earlier. Just a tad wider is enough.


I have to disagree with that line of logic. the direction of travel doesn't matter but rather the contact patch or footprint at any given time which spreads the load over a wider surface hence better "flotation" as you say 

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because (for ex) stock motor designed to push 10 kg tire per wheel and if you bump to 18 kg tire per wheel then it will slow down the car top speed, acceleration, and hill climb to a greater extent.

Bottom line, tire mod will be good if you do the engine or power modification too.

Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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25 minutes ago, Mighty Mike said:

I have to disagree with that line of logic. the direction of travel doesn't matter but rather the contact patch or footprint at any given time which spreads the load over a wider surface hence better "flotation" as you say 

 

Then feel free to present a better logic, I love to learn something new every day.

Above was my understanding based on my experience of 12 years in sand driving and seeing people around with what kind of rigs made to the top of the tallest dunes.

Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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