I am going to put new tires on my P700 I have posted in a couple places to try and get suggestions from people who have experience with different tires. I want to try and stick to 25 inch tires to keep the performance and speed. I would like wider than stock tires that handle well, I am going to try and enter some hair scrambles this summer. I need the extra width for riding in sand and occassional snow. Have been looking at Bear Claws and Spider Tracs because they come in 25s with 12 inch rims and 12 inch widths. I don't have money for rims too, since I am going to buy progressive springs. I am not into deep mud so that really isn't a consideration for me. I don't want to buy tires and find out they just dig to china in the sand or that they can't handle trails with logs, rocks, roots, steep lose hills etc. I am open to using combonations different front than rears as long as they are close enough in height to not cause problems in 4x4. Thanks.

 

You should have my P.M....

As far as tires... there are basically 3 different treads that I've run, or race against in utility class Hare Scrambles... Big Horns, ATR's, & All Traks... The Big Horns of course are the new thing... Mike Pendland is racing with these, as well as the bulk of the Kawi teams... ( of course they are also sponsered by Maxxis, as well ), however, they have every indication to be a good tire for this purpose ( although, much heavier than I'd like to see... but if the weight offers unmatched flat protection, then it may be a good trade off )... everyone ( well almost everyone ( P.W....LOL... )), loves the ATR's... they had some manufacturing flaws in intial production, but warrentyed them & I haven't heard of any problems since... I personally have a love / hate relationship with my ATR's ( I only use the fronts )... If they are pumped up to 6-7 psi ( the pressure I like my radial front tires at, for stiffer sidewalls ), they have a high speed wobble... if I driop the pressure to 3.5 - 4 psi, they are smooth as glass, but I don't dare run them at that pressure on a non-beadlock rims, for racing... the Maxxis All Traks, while listed as a 2 ply tire, are way, way tougher than the stock Dunlops ( & personally don't know anyone thats had a flat during a race, that didn't also destroy the rim )... they have a tendancy to run smaller than the listed 25"... probably closer to 24" O.D. ... this can lower your center of gravity, & most users report them to be a great handling tire...

As far as the Bear Claws & Spider Tracs... IMO, these can make a great rear tire, however the tread pattern will be really lacking for competition including high speed cornering, etc. as found in hare scramble racing...If you were to use a tire like these on the rears, with something like a Titan 489XT on the front, that combo, IMO, would work better that the Bear Claws / Spider Tracs all the way around... I also feel that those two tires will out perform the 489 XT's on the rear...

If you want a few alternate treads to look at, look at these...
Other ( funky ??? ) tires to use... Fronts, ITP Mud lites,Maxxis C9207 Pro's, GBC Dirt Devils, Duro HF244's
Other ( funky ??? ) tires to use... Rears, ITP Blackwater's, Cheng Shin C828's, Interco TSL's, GBC Mud Buster's, Bridgestone DH14's

I like to throw on a set of 9" or 10" V Force rims, as they offer me alot more performace based tread patterns to choose from, & alot of times tires with rims this size are cheaper than 12" rim tires...

If you are going to drop the money on a set of front springs, I'd reccommend the Elka front springs, whick are a truely progressive spring set, made up of 2 different springs per strut...

 

Newbeatle, have you ran the All Tracs in loose sand and are they wider than the stock dunlops. The slightly smaller diameter wouldn't be that big a issue if they float better and solve some of my handling issues. I wondered about the C828s but haven't heard much about them I can get them cheap but only 10 wide. I have Mud Busters on the rear of my daughters Breeze they work pretty good on that little quad but ride ruff. Turned around they worked great in the snow I figure they would do well in the sand for her. Saw Chin Shen has a new radial out can get it 12 wide if I go up to a 26 inch tire, price isn't too bad. Haven't heard anyone who has seen them in person though.