Outer Limits 4x4 Board

this has been an ongoing war between some mates and i about aggresive tires and beach work. by aggressive i mean jt2's, centerpede's, swampers, boggers etc. some claim they act like a paddle tire like the motobike guys use, and would work great on the beach, while others say they'll dig straight down.

so i'm after opinions from people who've run something like this before on the beach. how did it go? what sorta car? what sorta pressures?

i'm thinking of running my mongrels on the vit on the weekend at straddie just to give it a try.

I dont see why they wouldnt? but i know most of the surf life saving utes ive seen just run AT tyres. The most important is the longitudinal (cant half tell ive been studying surveying and cartography all week) spread of the tyre, more so that than width, which allows you to 'float' over the sand.

Try out the mongrels and prove your mates wrong

thats what i thought dj. they're an inch wider and 2 inches taller, so that will help, but they also bugger up the gearing being bigger and heavier to try and turn

Paddle tyres and the like are fine as long as you have the horsepower to drive them. If you don't they will just dig down slowly bogging you.

On a Suzuki I've found that a wide non aggressive tyre works an absolute treat on sand, especially aired down. But when i had the swampers on sand I really needed to keep the boot in and the revs up to have anywhere the same perfromance.

thats what i always thought grimbo. if the vit had decent power or gearing it'd go good with the mongrels, but i think the muddies will work better

Antt
If u still have a set of standard tyres I'd run them. I reckon you'll loose 2 much power with the 32's especialy on the vitara.


Just my 2 cents worth

i`ve run HT`s and MT`s in the same size in the sand

HT`s i could sit there spinning my heart out and plod along - with the MT`s i had to be careful not to bog myself, but i was going more places and getting there quickly

agressive tyre any day for me

Agree with gonzo here.

Michael.

mmmmm, i dunno what to do, i've run both my little bald 26's on the beach (fun with the locker ) and the 30mt's, maybe i should just give the mongrels a go

Heck have a look at some of the most dapable rigs on sand - Rails.......High HP, paddles, low weight & sometimes often 2wd.......
probably the biggest key...HP/weight.....

When I first bought the Paj it had the standard HT Yokohamas on it, and I could drive straight off the highway, onto the beach, up and down the beach all day, then off again, without touching the tyre pressures.

Once I put the Cooper's on I got onto the beach all right, but couldn't get off at highway pressures. At 24psi (swb=not real heavy) the Cooper's have been fine.

I think Gonzo has the key to it - the less aggressive tyres don't grip well, but they don't dig either, so you might be able to "creep" thru' trouble with the tyres spinning slowly. The more agressive tyres will either push you forward, or dig a hole.

At the end of the day, it's your call.

Cheers,

Scott

just an idea run your mongrels backwards so they push you up and don't dig you in

Stu

I've run JT2's on Fraser (inc Ngarla) and Stockton. I think the JT2's are the go in terms of traction and raw digging power.

Fathillbilly wrote:just an idea run your mongrels backwards so they push you up and don't dig you in

Stu

hmmmmmmm, now theres an idea

your mongrels will be fine on the beach. Air em right down to 15 and forget the donuts

Aired right down they'll float nicely but won't suit your vitara like 26" ht's do

i think i'll give em a go

Slunnie wrote:I've run JT2's on Fraser (inc Ngarla) and Stockton. I think the JT2's are the go in terms of traction and raw digging power.

To answer a little better.
Fraser in a fully loaded Disco (about 2.7t) at 12psi and went awsome, Stockton empty 2.3t at about 15psi and went ok

cool, i only usually drop to 20psi cause the vit is light, might try it at that then see how it goes lower

just try em and see, then let us know

Paddle type tyres are great if you can make sure you always dig forward 2 inches for ever inch you dig down and have ownership of a fuel depot.

I've never had problems with M/T's, but also my Landrover had good bar treads and bad, the good army issue ones were a soft compound but wore out fast, the others were 12ply and had sidewalls like steel so wouldn't bag out til 10psi.

we're not camping on the beach this trip, so thought it'd be the best time to give em a run and see how they go cause we wont be doing as much beach driving as usual

antt wrote:cool, i only usually drop to 20psi cause the vit is light, might try it at that then see how it goes lower

man, i go 10/12psi as the norm - have gone as low as 7...

cause the vit is so light, you need low air to make em bag

I run 35x11s at 8psi on the beach at Portland but have the ponies to turn them...they work fine... but we are usually there with the dune buggy club who run 2wd rigs with fat, fat...fat closed tread all terrains...and they hammer...

when me an yld04b used to head up the beach (when he had the old zook with 32' mongrels) i used to be able to out drive him quite easily both running 6-7 psi

they just used to dig like a biatch(mongerls) where mine will float along all day (MTR)

i reckon run the 30's

antt wrote:cool, i only usually drop to 20psi cause the vit is light, might try it at that then see how it goes lower

I'm lucky to reinflate my tyres back to 18 or so. Drop them about 8 - 10psi you should be fine

righto, you lot have convinced me to give em a try. it probably wont go as good as the 30's, but what the hell, you never never know if ya never give it a go

antt wrote:righto, you lot have convinced me to give em a try. it probably wont go as good as the 30's, but what the hell, you never never know if ya never give it a go

Exactly.

Wouldnt hesitate to take the swampers out when i get the chance to see how they perform on sand

TOM

antt wrote:righto, you lot have convinced me to give em a try. it probably wont go as good as the 30's, but what the hell, you never never know if ya never give it a go

I ran the mongrels on the beach (v. soft sand) and they dug in like a bitch. They were OK if you could keep some wheel speed to them. This was on my LWB Sierra which will be a little lighter than your Vit. Air them down plenty will be the key, I would definitly give it a go . Run them forwards and backwards for a comparo and post up the results!!

And for the record the best tyres I have used for sand are aired down AT's with about 25% tread. On my old zook I had no worries on the beach with these in 2wd.

Ran A/T's on some beach trips and they were great. Even towed a disabled vehicle 12km along Stockton at 18psi down to 15psi when I got stuck. Have done similar trips on the current Cooper ST's and they work OK but you just need a lighter foot.

we drove to all the lakes on fraser in the jackeroo
with 31" BFG all-terrains, an didn't air em down at all.

from what i thought square shoulder lugs dig like a dog?
thats why sand/road biased tyres work better on sand
is this true?