Thread: BIGGG Mud tyres :)

Highway treads are good enough for the sand. You just need low pressures to make the contact patch bigger to spread the vehicle weight over a larger area.

If the sand is really soft you will still get bogged.

James

If pennies are tight you might not want Biggg tyres.
You will end up with Biggg diff, Cv and Axle Bills.

I agree with JBM.
Road tyres are the go for sand, muddies will break the sand up and bog you.
Larger diameter tyres are the go to lengthen the contact patch.

What others have said mud tyres no good for sand, mud tyres are designed to dig down to the hard surface underneath. Problem is on the sand is you will run out of clearance before that happens. Street tyres or all terrain they are better on the bitumen too.

Thanks for the input fellas.

I've been offered some Mickey Thompson BAJA Claws which i'll hopefully collect tomorrow. I was up at Stockton today with my highway tires at 20psi and I just found that the defender was having such a hard time getting up the dunes. I was in low range for the majority of the day and kept throwing it into diff-lock with no luck. I was thinking its the tyres, perhaps I just need some driver training :P

Alex

Hi Alex,

For sand try the following :

Centre Diff Lock on all the time.

High Range not Low

16 - 18 psi if it's really soft.

The Defender's one of the best cars for sand driving, just work on the technique a bit, keep your feet off the brakes as much as possible, in soft stuff keep a straight line for better traction.

I run stock standard 750x16 xzl and go everywhere I need to without hassle , big tires are like phallic symbols
as stated above , big bills come with big rubber

As soon as you are on a surface where traction can be lost, be it loose/skittery gravel roads, fire trails, sand, rock, clay or mud, lock your centre diff. The centre diff is pretty tiny compared to axle diffs, and is strongest when locked. So you look after it by locking it when it is likely to spin excessively.
My rule of thumb is air down to 2/3rds road pressure for general off roading, half road pressure on the beach. Your mileage may vary.