ok... i have been reading almost every tire post i can fine. is seems Swamp lites and Mud lites are really good. but I'm not a mud runner. i drive A LOT or rocky *** trails. i like a soft tire to help with the ride... i live at 7000Ft so we get alot of snow and i'll be plowing again this year..

then there is a question about weight of the tire, why is a lighter tire all that better? for power loss/gain? I'm not a hot rodder but wish my 400 AT was a little faster, my dads Kodiak 450 can almost out run me. on a 2 mile strait he never gets more then a bike length away from me. he goes like 54 i can do 53. lol...
anyhow.

please give me some ideas. I'm NOT buying new rims. i like the scratches on mine just fine.

so to sum it up i need a good trail and snow tire.
i have no complaints about the dirt hooks that came with is except they wore out in 2000 miles. is that to soon or good millage for these?

i like the looks of the swamp lites and the mud lites.. please advise..

oh and can i mount the tires to the rims myself or do i need to take them in? i used to be able to do it on my CR250 but that was a dirt bike.. never done atv tires... how hard is it.?

thanks again.

HR

 

I have had great service from my Dirt Devils. They are a all around trail tire, pretty good in mud, and smooth riding. I have ridden in all kinds of rocky terrain with them. No flats, no cuts. They are a 6 ply tire.
I would not go larger than stock on the 400 AT or you will loose some power.
There are lots of good tires out there but the only ones I hear complaints about are the ITPs. The sidewalls are very weak and easy to cut or pucture. Not just the Mudlites, but also the 589s and XTRs. I ride a lot at Windrock and have seen many of the failures. Check out their forum to see long topics about Mudlites.

 

I second the dirt devils, have some on a old TRX200 and they work great. I ride in a wooded area with lots of thorns and never had a problem yet. I would take them too someone to mount. ATV tires have a very tough bead and weak sidewalls which make them tough to deal with.

 

ok cool but who makes the dirt devils? i gotta see the tread

and i have been looking at the Kenda Bear claws they are a good looking tire.
how much do the devils weigh compared to the others?

thanks

HR

 

ok another thing i'm lookin at is the tread design...
where the tire roles into the sidewall some have tread there some have a space and kinda have tread on the sidewall part but not the corner... hard to explain...

look here
http://traxms.com/images/SwampLite_2_300W.jpg
the tire on the right you can see where there is not to much on the corner of the tread where it changes to sidewall

and look here
http://traxms.com/images/Kenda_K299_bear_claw_300.jpg

you can see where the tread is there..

what do you think how will the affect the ride better worse? i do alot of side hilling and think i would need that outer tread.

thanks for the info and thoughts.

HR

 

My experience has been that all those "mud" tires, don't do well anywhere in the arid southwest..........

I am running ITP Holeshot ATR's radials on some light alloy ITP 12X7" rims on my Rancher. These are good all around tires, and are particularly excellent in the snow. The rears are a little sketchy on hardpack in 2wd, probably because the lugs are so widely spaced. But, in 4wd the front/rear combination is absolutely outstanding.

What I really like is that the tires are wider than stock and the rims have a geater offset, so I end up several inches wider than stock for a nice increase in stability!

I ride lots of old Sierra mining roads that are pure rock, some of it so sharp you would swear it would slash any tire there is, and these tires don't have a scratch on them!

http://www.itptires.com/utilityatv/holeshot_atr.html

 

The Swamplites are an excellent choice. I ride MOSTLY rough rocky terrain, and they are superb. The name makes them sound like a mud tire, but they are actually a number 1 rated All terrain tire. You would be happy with them. I have about 1000 miles on them, with almost no wear. Look at my pics to see the tires, and good luck!

 

Swamp lites are awsome tires. Smooth ride and traction when you need it. I traided my ITP Mudlite xl's for the swamp lites and Im glad I did. The mudlite xl's were too agressive for the riding I do. The swamp lites do great in rocks, mud, hardpac. I have not had them in snow yet but that will be soon. Dirt devils are also good. I had a set of them on my poolaris and they worked great and wore great. I hear the bear claws are also good but have no experience with them. I recommend the swamp lites