I am looking at buying a sportsman 335 that has vampires on it already. Everyone is telling me how vampire tires tear up ATVs. The tire lugs do not give at all and you will mess up certain componets.
Anyone have any info or experience?
TIA
Dave

 

The vamp's are a great mud tire. Any time you increase tire size and weight from stock, you do run the risk of the problems you mention. I would not worry about it being specifically the "vampire tire", just any really aggressive tread, larger than stock tire in general. Unless you plan to do nothing but mud, tires like the Vampire and Outlaws don't offer as smooth of a ride as do a more "trail friendly" tire if you will. The larger lugs that don't cross the center line do great in mud, but ride rough. If that is the only thing holding you back, don't even worry about it. If you still don't like the ride, then I'd recommend getting a new set of tires and or wheels, ride the less aggressive trail tires during summer months, and swap with the vamps during the rainy season and winter time, where more traction is needed-best of both worlds.

Good luck with that,

mike

 

Hey cowboy, you seem to be pretty familiar with after market tires. Maybe you could help me out a little. By the way, thanks for the earlier reply. I have a 450ES with stock 25" tires and am looking at going to larger more aggressive tires. I live in Minnesota so I am looking forward to some serious snow riding. Have you driven tires like Outlaws, Titans, or Dirt Devils in the snow, or know someone who has? If so, what would you/they recommend? I know that tire size is the most important thing in the snow, but am not convinced that thread as aggressive as the Outlaw is required. What do you think? I was even bouncing around the idea of 28" Outlaws since I drive technically rather than just hit the hole hard. I guess that carries over from rock crawling with 35" tires and stock axles in a Jeep. But would any thread pattern in a 28" tire be better than almost any 27" tire? Feel free to drop me an E-mail as well.

G-Per@Juno.com
2001 450ES (stock)
1977 CJ7 (not even close to stock)

 

DRanged-
Sounds like you got a pretty nice jeep there! As for the tires, no, I don't think any 28" tread pattern will do any better for you in snow than any of the 27" tires available. Take a look at my "snow pics" under the link below. I am running the 27" Bi/Tri Claw Magnum series combo on my 'Cat and absolutely love them. Those snow pictures are in snow over 2' deep. I've driven in about 3' or slightly more, as when I stepped off, I fell clear through to my waste. The going is pretty slow in that deep of snow, but it does make it. Basically you're dragging skidplate, resting on the snow as the weight of your machine packs it down, and you sit on the skidplate, then the 'Claws just seem to grab what is in front of them, and pull you through. Once you get a trail cut and kind of packed down a bit, it really gets fun, except that you have to really hang on to the handlebars! Get going too fast in that "track" you just built, and if you don't steer exactly right, the machine will hit the sidewall and get "knocked" back into the track, you'll go flying off the side-though it was kind of fun the second time it happend! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

Not sure if you saw my post to Weedy (post by PrairieTy 4x4 tires?) or not concerning the 589s. My buddy GrizRick has them on his machine, they do great in all conditions, though we haven't had the chance to ride together in any snow yet. I know the stock 489s do OK, but not great. Basically they don't have enough lug to get them going, and once you're high centered, you're stuck. This isn't true with the 'Claws in snow, as once you high center, the 'Claws pull you through the stuff and on you go. When we do ride snow, I have to break the trail first for my Dad's stock machine to follow through-there is no way he can even think about busting a trail. Ground clearance is the biggest issue, as I have several inches on him, but tires are the other main factor-the stockers just don't have what it takes. I think the 589s would do quite a bit better, and perform probably similar to my 'Claws.

I don't think you need anything as severe as the Outlaws or Vamps though, as they might tend to dig more strait down-I don't know, just guessing on that one. The other thing is, both of those tires won't be very "trail friendly" once the snow melts and you're running mud, or other loose dirt, hardpack trails that you may run across. The 28" size will definately give you the most ground clearance, but again, with the 'Claws measuring in at 27 1/4" at recommended psi, you're only gaining a 3/4" overall heigth, which translates to what-about a 3/8" gain??? I don't personally think it's worth it myself. Unless you're doing nothing but pure mud riding, I don't see the need for the 28" Outlaws-but again, that's just my opinion.

I know for a fact how well the 'Claws do in snow, and every other condition for that matter-I have over 900 miles on mine, and yes, I would definately buy them again. The 589s I know do very well in all areas, except snow-I haven't ridden them in snow so I don't know how they will do there. I suspect they'll be just fine with the larger lug pattern, allowing for more snow to be moved with each tire rotation. As far as sizes go, the 'Claws are about the only tire I know of that are actually true to size when you get the tape out-mine measure 27 1/4" like I said at recommended psi. That was the one thing Rick was dissappointed in-the 27" 589s only measured around 26.2" if I remembered right. That may have a factor in your final decision, I don't know.

As for running larger tires, I'm sure you already know you'll most likely need a lift kit for them to fit. Highlifter is a good place to start for those. Once you get the tires, you might have a desire for performance gains, I don't know-again, pipe, jet kit, etc-all available through highlifter. I'm not saying you will for sure need those-I didn't on my 'Cat, but the lift is probably a must-I added spacers to my springs for lift.

Anyway, hope that helps some, and Best of Luck in the decision. Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. And-I wasn't sure if you wanted a reply here, or a direct email-if you prefer email, send me one and I'll reply to it, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other, whichever you prefer.

Best of Luck,

Mike

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. I sounds like I can go with a known performer (Bi-claws & Tri-claws) or take a chance on the unknown (Outlaws or Vamps). I think that I will go with the same tires you have and get the known result rather than experiment for my self. Were you able to use your stock rims? What about a lift and spacers? Where they both required? Your winter riding pictures look like exactly the same as what I will be doing. Looks like it will be a blast!

Thanks again,

DOC

 

DRanged-
Didn't mean to sound like you had to go with the 'Claws, was just trying to give as honest a reply as I can-hope I didn't throw you off in your original thought. Andy Bassham and Boner were the ones who originally talked me into the 'Claws. I was looking hard at the 589s and Mud Bugs, and after experience with both, and seeing what my 'Claws can do, I am VERY glad they talked me into the swap. I am amazed at how well the 'Claws do in all terrain-they are considered a "mud" tire for their huge lug depth and awesome tread pattern. You'd think they would rattle your teeth out on hardpack, but this just isn't the case. At speeds of 1-3mph or so, you can feel a slight up/down movement of the lugs, but once you get in the 4-5mph and up range, they are smooth as can be, you'd never even know you are on such a massive tire. You saw the snow (glad you like them by the way) pics, but I'm not sure if you looked at the "ride with GrizRick"-there, you'll see how they do in very loose dirt and lots of rock-excellent really. Those hills we were winching on were so steep though, we couldn't keep the front ends on the ground, the machines were trying to flip over backwards, so don't let the pic's fool you-it really was very steep! Anyway, I'm amazed at how well the 'Claws do in all terrain-a huge improvement over the stock tires.

As for your machine, I am fairly confident you'll need a lift. I made my own spring spacers to compensate for a lift kit on my 'Cat. I don't know if you'll need wheel spacers or not however-might have to ask a few honda guys. TEXMud would know for sure, or Trailboss450, but he's probably still on his big trail ride at this point. A few others may know for sure about wheel spacers. Boner probably does too-he's pretty much an "atv encyclopedia", so I'm sure he'd know. The guys at Highlifter can tell you, so if you call to order the tires, just ask them about the lift and wheel spacers. They will tell you strait up if you are required to have the lift kit, then naturally they'll try to sell you spacers too, but if you really do need them, they'll tell ya strait up, the spacers are required. If they are not, you will be able to tell right away-kind of a well, you know, we recommend them type thing. They are great guys and really know their stuff, so if they tell you for sure you need it, trust them and buy it.

As for the wheels, no, your stock wheels will be just fine. You could mount the full 28" size on your stock rims with no problem. I kept my stock AC wheels, mounted my 'Claws to them, and they fit perfect and work great. You don't need to buy extra wheels unless you want a second set of wheels and tires to swap back and forth with anyway. To me, it was just spending extra money that at the time, I didn't have. I will in the future buy another set of tires and wheels-another set of 'Claws after these wear down, then use the new ones for spring/fall and winter riding when you need maximum traction, and keep the old worn down ones for summer riding. I'm really surprised at how well these things wear-I have over 900 miles on mine, and no noticeable signs of wear-the stock 489s were showing wear at 300 miles! The two other benefits of the 'Claws are they are taller than stated heigth, so you will get more ground clearance out of them, than any other 27" tire, and if looks mean anything to you, you'll LOVE these things-they look bad _ss! Again, you could see from the snow pics, but if that isn't enough, look at the "ride with Grizrick", click on the "more rocks" pic-of me crawlign up a large rock with my right front up in the air, all you see is 'Claws and skidplate-pretty cool pic I thought! Anyway, the tires look massive.

Granted, I know I said I wasn't trying to persuade you into the 'Claws with the previous post, but as you mentioned them here, I'll give you an exact resonse as to what I think of them, and I honestly couldn't be happier.

Hope that helps, and Best of Luck!

Mike

 

Cowboy

Thanks for the info. I have heard going with titan 589s or mud runners would be good. Just not any swamper tire because the lugs will not give and something on the ATV will.
I guess I need to check on the size of the vampires.

I was checking out your rock pic.
Any good post or place to find out about what ATVs are locked and not?

Thanks
Dave