I have some ITP 589 MS's installed on ITP type 5C wheels, great for mud and snow, too harsh for normal trail riding.

I'm looking for recommendations on 27" tires for all-around riding. I live in New Mexico, so mostly dry and rocks. I don't want to tear up the trails with the 589s, I'll use them mostly for wet season and winter. I need something that has good all-around performance for this type of terrain, but preferably in a 27" tire to keep up the ground clearance.

Any recommendations?

dave

 

Mudlites

 

I would reccomend the ATR's but I think the biggest is a 26". I do the same and run ATR's in the summer and just got ITP Wetlands for the winter. Used to run gators but they were just too agressive for my riding.

 

I'm not sure if the Goodyear Rawhides come in a 27". I had them on my old 700 and had no complaints, they went through the mud, rode well on the trail, never went flat and held up to a lot of road travel. The new Carlisle Badlands that came on the '4.5 700's were a huge mistake on Polaris' part and I quickly swapped them out to the 26" Mudlites. They run great on soft terrain but get a bit choppy on hard trails. Good luck in your quest.

 

For what it's worth, it sounds like the ATR would best suit your riding. But they do only come in 25 & 26.

 

I like the Goodyear Mudrunners. They ride as smooth as a stock tire on pavement. They have a very unique design and wear very well. They are aggressive enough for whatever you go through, yet gentle and smooth for the trail. They are truly awesome. For an all around tire I think they are the best. I had the ATR's before and they don't do nearly as well in snow or mud as the mudrunner. That's because of the design.

 

Holy crap I've go alot of tires and wheels. I went with the 27" ITP Mudlites. I talked to a distributor, he was running them on his rubicon. He said they still have a big lug, not as big as my 589's, they ride smooth and sling mud with the best of them.

So now, I'll have a full set of ITP 589's on Type 5C wheels and ITP Mudlites on Type 5C wheels. As well as the 26" stock tires/wheels which were actually pretty good, I'll still wear them out, well maybe, guess maybe I'll sell them....lol.

Thanks for everyones inputs. Have a good time riding this weekend....

dave

 

elkbow,
I have a friend trying to decide between 589's and mudlites. Please let me know your ride impressions whenever you have any.

Thanks

 

Jeff,
Depends what he wants. I think the 589's are better for pure wet terrain, mud and snow. The mudlites for all-around. The mudlites are much lighter than the 589's, so if he wants to keep the power up, he may want to go with the mudlites. Even with the 589's, I didn't notice a difference with power between them with the type 5C Aluminum wheels compared to my 26" stock tires and stock steel wheel combination.

Here are some weights of the different tires to see what I mean by the power difference that each could deliver:

25x8-12 15.1 lbs
ITP Mud Lite AT 15.1 lbs
Dirt Devil 18.2 lbs
Gator 19.9 lbs
Swamper 20.1 lbs
Mud Bug 19.7 lbs

25x10-12
ITP Mud Lite AT 19.5 lbs
Dirt Devil 24.0 lbs
Gator 26.4 lbs
Swamper 20.1 lbs
Mud Bug 20.5 lbs

26x12-12
ITP Mud Lite XL 26.7 lbs
Dirt Devil 29.1 lbs
Gator 30.4 lbs
Bear Claw 27.8 lbs
Mud Bug 29.0 lbs
Outlaw 34.9 lbs
Vampire 31.1 lbs
589 32.2 lbs
Mudzilla 36.3 lbs

27x12-12
ITP Mud Lite XL 27.8 lbs
Dirt Devil 35.7 lbs
Gator 35.6 lbs
Bear Claw 32.6 lbs
Mud Bug 28.5 lbs
Outlaw 34.3 lbs
Vampire 33.5 lbs

FRONT TIRE
ITP 589 M/S, 26X9-12 28.45 lbs
Mudzilla, 26X9-12 28.90 lbs
Outlaw, 26x10-12 29.15 lbs

Unfortunately, ITP is really trying to marke tires on their site and doesn't have consistent weights from one page to the next. Although pulling numbers for each page, I think these are fairly accurate. The don't have all weights like those of the front tires, etc., so couldn't post them. But looking at the numbers, the Mudlites are pretty light compared to others and still are 6-ply rated.

dave

 

I switched from Gators to Mud Lites on the same wheels and the weight difference is noticeable. I couldn't get the gators to wheelie and the mud lites were no problem. The LItes also did much better on hard pack and hard slimy surfaces while the gators did better in the deep mud and were more durable. The carcass was amazing I think the 589's are similar in almost all conditions to the gators however I have never beeen around them. I do belive they might be a better tire but thats just a guess.