I've been rock crawling the hell out of my '02 Prarie (bought it used about 2 months ago) every weekend on the Rubicon trail in Northern CA. I love the thing - it rock crawls almost as good as my Land Cruiser. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Anyhow, as with all hobbies, stock is never good enough. It's time to modify some stuff.... First things first - I need to put some tires on the thing - the stock dunlops are wearing quick, and I'd like to put something a little bigger on it. I have done some searching, but haven't found anything good as far as a good tire for crawling DRY west coast boulders. I will RARELY do mud, so dry rocks is my primary concern.

Tires like the Mudlite look bad ***, but I am skeptical that they would work well in rocks. Let's hear your opinions! Also if you can recommend me a tire, recommend me a place to buy them from. I would sure like to get some beadlock rims as well.

My quad now has 400 miles on it. I didn't get an owner's manual with it. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img] Yeah, I need to go buy one, but what kind of life can I expect out of the belt? I guess I need to do some searching on that - I read in a thread that there are some tricks you can do to get more life out of them. I take it the belt needs to be adjusted? Damn I need a manual....

Thanks,
Lance

 

We have a 1983 LandCruiser Diesel and we are Lookin for a gas tank? As for tires I love the 589 28" but BearClaws grip on the sides better. The muddrunners are my favorate and are really nice because of the runflats (but they are expensive). Mudlites here are having problems along the sides walls. No info on bead locks. As for the belt depends on how you use and mantain your bike, and how often you use low range and if you have like a black spring in your clutch. NYROC (on this fourm) has a maintance page that explains regular maintance.

 

Feel free to visit my Land Cruiser forum on my website: http://www.pirate4x4.com. I'm sure someone can help you out. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Do you have a lift to fit 28's? Seems like they would rub when turning/flexing the suspension...

 

It hits the cheap plastic once in a while. no lift kit.

 

Pirate4x4,
For your wheels you can get C-lock wheels from ITP. These are their C series wheels with Bead locks. I have a set and love them. I have done a little bit of rock crawling and I have 27" ITP 589's they have done real well up to this point. But a lot of my riding it mud and dirt. Hope this helps.

 

if you notice there's still a few trucks that insist that the boggers are good all around tires... I always liked the Mickey Thompson bajas or claws myself, ... but on your ATV, I'd run a set of Super Swamper TSL's, on 9" bead lock rims in the rear, & 12" in the front ... the 9" rims are available, ( thank you KFX 700 ) in your bolt pattern... these tires are a soft sidewall ultra low pressure 4 ply tire ( bead locks are reccommended for them )... the 9" rims will give you much more sidewall to wrap around the rocks, with out damaging the rims... the tread pattern is very similar to the boggers, but the overall tire is much softer & more plyable than the boggers ... I run a set of 9" X 9" baja series, with poor mans beadlocks ( 10 - 5 in each side, of #10 X 3/4" stainless screws in each bead ) then add a bottle of slime, & you are unstoppable in the rocks ... You might be wondering what a guy from Minnesota, would know anything about rock climbing... but 10 + years of Jeep racing ( including some very knarly tough truck competitions ), & a fairly big field rock pile just off my ATV trail & a love & understanding of the mechanics of traction, makes me feel qualified to help you out here... Have A Good One... WAM

 

Thanks for the replies, guys. I might be new to atv's, but I have been four wheeling (with a slightly bigger toy) for years.
I'll check out the c-locks, forge, thanks. Anyone got a good place to buy them from?

newbeatle - Boggers suck. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] But I do like other Interco tires (Swamper SX's on the big toy) though. I'll check out the Swampers for the quad. I assume the Vampires are a no good for rocks.

I do like the 589 M/S kit. The tires look like they might work ok on rocks. I think I could probably get the C-series rims beadlocked locally if the c-locks are too expensive.

So 27's or 28's? I do want reliability - It would really suck to bust a CV out in the middle of nowhere on the Rubicon.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

I'd look at the Holeshot radials

 

PIRATE... the Vampires are way too stiff a tire to use for real rock crawling, as are the Good year Mud Runners ( although I like these tire for nearly every other purpose )...I'd stick to the 25" tires to keep your overall gear ratio as low as possible, keep your center of gravily lower, & reduce drivetrain breakage ... the Regular TSL's in 25" X 12.5" X 9" rears, & 25" X 9" X 12" fronts, with about 3 - 4 psi locked to the wheels, would be serious rock climbing equipment... other wise one of the 2-3 styles of the radial tires would be another good option...WAM