Off-road MYTHS part 1

[RonD]

I think the first thing is that he is talking about having one set of tires that work on and off road
If you were building a dedicated sand or mud vehicle that you trailer behind a street vehicle or if you are buying a second set of tires to put on when you get to the off-road area then its a different choice

If you are like most you will have the one set of tires so there will be compromises like any "universal" use choice

So the points he makes are correct based on one set of tires for multiple terrain use, IMO

 

[gw33gp]

I usually take off-road trips a couple times a year ranging from a week to two weeks and have done longer. Many years ago, my wife and I did it by ourselves. Now, I run with groups ranging from 3 to 6 vehicles and some pull off-road trailers. This does not make me an expert but it has given me a lot of experience.

I can't argue with anything he says about off-road tires. I run narrow MT tires (10.5x33-15) primarily because I can do it without modification to my vehicle. I want the ground clearance the 33" tires provide but don't want to get into lifts. I don't air down as much as many people do but still run between 25 psi and 20 psi. I have never had a problem with sand but never felt I had an advantage with narrow tires. Then again I haven't run tires any wider than 11.5". I ran for many years without my tires aired down and got by just fine, so you can do it. Once I learned to air down, I found my off-road adventure experiences were enhanced.

Airing down for sure provides better traction but it also provides a smoother ride and that is most notable on washboard roads. I have on many occasions followed someone with a trailer and watched it bounce around like a basketball. I recommend they lower air pressure on their trailer tires and when my advice is followed I could see the difference right away.

I don't get in much mud but what I have gotten into has not been a problem. I do a lot of mild to medium rock crawling and feel so much more in control with aired down tires. The MT tires have performed better for me than AT tires but the difference is barely enough to put up with the loud noise of the MT tires. My next set of tires will probably have an aggressive AT tread or a mild MT tread.

 

[Dirtman]

Tires are often round.

 

[RonD]

Tires are often round.

I would say that would be based on your point of view

From the side of a vehicle they do have a round shape, but if looking from the front or back of the same vehicle they don't look round at all, more of a rectangle or square shape depending on how much of the tire is visible

 

[Dirtman]

Would you settle for cylindrical? Unlike a circle there is no two dimensional way a cylinder can exist so from any point of view it's still a cylinder.

 

[Snoranger]

Tires are often round.

 

[RonD]

I am 3 dimensional, well 5 dimensional because the clock is ticking

A 2 dimensional circle, O, looks like this from the side, l, so a line would be a cylinder in 2 dimensions IF it was a circle from the side, because a line must have a thickness to be visible, same as a circle has a height and width so would a line, so a cylinder, albeit a very thin cylinder, lol
Point of view

 

[adsm08]

They were too busy compensating for lazy incompetent drivers with gadgets and doodads such as blind spot indicators, lane departure warnings, cameras from every angle and more safety features...They cant fly, but they can stop and parallel park themselves....

But I can stop it on my own and I don't parallel park. But I can. And actually this week I have been at home because the usual parking area has been a mess.

 

[RonD]

I thought I knew how to parallel park until I moved near a big city with lots of one-way streets, lol

Parallel parking on the left side of the street is a learning curve
Not hard, but you do have to think a bit more those first few times

 

[Dirtman]

If I need to parallel park I obviously got horribly lost somewhere I do not want to be. I've parallel parked twice in my life, my driving test and once on a bet.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I'm apparently ok parking when wheel base is at 112" or shorter, the 4 door Explorers are cake, '90 Ranger is easy, Geo Tracker is easier than anything, the '97 extended cab Ranger I'm apparently not used to yet, and the F350 long bed crew cab is just a pain but it's I think 150" wheel base or something ridiculous...

I don't think width makes a huge difference, I don't think about width much, diameter is much more of a consideration... There's some truth to what he was going for, but air pressure is more important than anything. In sand I'll go to ~8psi on the regular, on a recent sand trip with bikes (quads and I was on the 3 wheeler) I took the '00 Explorer and the wife claimed it for the weekend, I had the tires aired down to 9psi and it just went. Aside from the broken passenger side motor mount bolts it did great, I just put it in low range and told her to avoid hitting the throttle in reverse , and the tires are dang near BALD 31x10.5 mud terrain's, I even pulled out a Toyota that was stuck to the rear axle in 2hi... thought it was 4 low but went to turn around and went to put it in 4x2 and it was already there...

 

[97RangerXLT]

Sometimes it is smoother off road. Also, here in SC we still have a lot of unpaved roads. I have experienced times when the ride smoothed out when the pavement ended. Im not so sure i really like roads.

lol truth on smoother offroad... the road to the off road park in Ohio was helluva lot worse than the actual trails in the off road park

AJ

 

[JohnnyO]

1. I think his assertion that narrow tires are better in sand is off. Wider tire still increases contact patch for better floatation and should be a good thing.

As far as I know, the only time narrower is better is 1) rain, 2) snow, and 3) swamp buggys. And if you're in seriously deep snow like the 'froaders in Norway do on glaciers then wider is better for flotation.

 

[sgtsandman]

I haven’t watched the video yet but for wide vs narrow tires:

When airing down you get more tire patch increase for diameter than width.

Aussies worry a lot about range because there is a whole lot of nuthin down there. There isn’t a gas station every 5 miles. One guy I follow down there on YouTube likes to have about 1000km of range when off-roading and he uses it. A skinny tire gets better mpg when not aired down.

Oversize tires are also heavily regulated in Australia. 235/85-16’s grow on trees for availability. I think a 33 is about it.

Australia is also pretty stoney, mud should typically have a good stone base under it. Here in Iowa you don’t go thru water unless you are loaded for bear because it’s a long ways down to bedrock and it is easy to lay frame trying.

Tractors are different than trucks. Although they both have tires things don’t really correlate between them. They are more worried about not compacting the soil while being able to pull massive loads... not float thru mud. Mud boggin in fields tears up land the and screws up the soil composition for years. You don’t do it... unless you are in a feedlot (4wd, no duals) or you are a kid that gets burned “testing the edges”

You should watch the video. He does touch on some of your points.

 

[sgtsandman]

I'm loving the commentary. Keep it up.