I just got my Rancher yesterday and so far I am really impressed. I don't understand the point of the skinny rear tires though. Is it just to save weight? Or maybe to make the rear end easier to slide around in corners? To me it would seem that the traction gains of a wider tire would outweight the possible advantages of a skinny tire that I can think of. But maybe I am missing somthing.

 

true i wondered the same thing i have a orange 01 4x4 ES,an a new rubi,you are right about the lose of traction with skinny tires
in theory the wider the footprint,or available tread u get on the ground the more traction you will have.this is true in most cases,but if ur mud runin with mud that makes it to the gas tank
if you have narrow tires with agressive tread you can cut through the muck on top down to the bottom for solid ground,an traction
take the agri tire lift kit i think the footprint is that of about a rancher stock dirt hook
but it has about 2 inches of "trackter" tread
with a ground clearnce gain of almost 4 inches!!!!
but i found that my dirt hooks grip the best after a light rain just enough to get the ground wet,i dont think they grip all that well with dry dusty hardpack,but i am satisfied with my dirthooks

01 orange rancher ES 4x4
01 green rubi