Ask the Editors: ATV Tire Tears
It is possible that aggressive riding on hard pack or pavement can result in damage to tire knobs/ lugs though a single ride in such conditions is an unlikely culprit. More likely you’ve simply been running too much air pressure in your aggressive tires on a daily basis.
The reason this matters is that all off-road tires are designed to flex to some degree so as to deform a bit when clawing up and over obstructions/ terrain. Going too high with the old PSI level stiffens up the tire while taking away some of this natural flex. Then factors like aggressive cornering, spinning take-offs and hard braking place a lot of force on the tire carcass itself. This force can often be strong enough to tear the rubber away at the base of the lugs.
Our advice would be to check your air pressure and compare it to the recommended PSI stamped on the tires themselves. We’re positive you’re going to find you’re over the max limit. Also note that depending on the severity of these cracks, you may not have destroyed your expensive tires at all. We’ve had success in the past picking up tubes to counteract any air that may be able to escape directly through the tire’s surface.
