O.K. I know that most radial tires can eventually sucumb to the abuses of hardcore wheelers. That's why I insist on having biased ply tires, usually of the TSL brand. This thread isn't for the Radial/Biased ply debate, so I don't want to hear from experiences about SSR/BFG/MT-R/etc. Those are all pretty good tires, just not my cup 'o' tea.

Has anyone ever damaged a biased ply tire beyond trail repair with on board air and tire plugs. I want to run a Bogger of the 37 flavor. Don't want to run a spare tire. I'm pretty confident that I will never have unrepairable damage on the trail. 4 ply sidewalls are pretty beefy.

BTW. Did a search and found one guy that went through 3-5 SX's bustin' out the sidewall on some sharp rocks. I've pretty much narrowed this incident down to it's own catagory. Name it what you will. :rolleyes: Thanks guys.

I put a good gash in my 38" SX last weekend. First one I've lost, and it's been through most of the hard AZ and Cali trails. Put 10 plugs in it, filled it with air and made it back to camp fine. It would probably take another 2-3 plugs to make it stop leaking completely, but I just changed it out at camp. I'm gonna throw a tube in it and replug it for a good spare.

nope not yet, im sure my day will come

I'm glad you started this topic. I am sick as shit of my BFG's weak ass sidewalls. Gawd they are pieces of shit.

I've got a friend with a 66 Nissan Patrol. It's got a SOA and a baby bronco drivetrain. He runs 36" TSL's (actually, he's never had it out on the trail, but from the previous owner) and has never had a problem with them. Apparently, the previous owner ran trails like Terminator, Highway to Hell, Woodpecker, etc. all the really crazy trails here in AZ, and never carried a spare. Told my friend that he would NEVER need a spare with those tires. I believe it. TSL's are my next tire.

Do you know of any definite instances of anyone destroying an XL, XZL or XML Michelin beyond repair on a light vehicle (anything we drive)?
Charlie

Yes, Michelin does make some pretty beefy tires. But how well do they flex? I havn't done any research on them except for the Mog axle swap. I was under the impression that they were like 8 ply and up. Not uncommon to find them in the 12-16 ply. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Daniel? Anyway, I guess there is an exception to every rule/situation. Thanks for all the input guys. Keep 'em coming.

They flex great because they're radials. Of course I'm running sizes like 11.00R16 on an M37 and 325/85R16 on a F350. But I'm sure 14.00R20 on a buggy or SWB 4X4 would flex at 5-10 psi. A lot better than bias ply anythings. Construction is 1 ply steel sidewall, 4 ply steel tread. Very thick sidewall rubber.
And they are starting to be available at reasonable prices "slightly" used.
Charlie

Anyone who runs without a spare off-road should NEVER expect someone else to loan them one or run into town to get one for them.

That compares to someone expecting someone else to let you use their tow strap and then not have any tow hooks to hook it to so you end up wrapping the strap through itself and fawkin it up...

It sucks when people show up without the basics.

Explorer. Thanks for your insight. I very much agree with you 100%. :)

I carry a heck of a load already in the way of on board air, 75lb tool box, fire extinguisher, tuffy drawer full of straps/chain/shovel/oils/spares, and a lot of other things I'm probably forgetting. I guess that's why I can't wheel a smaller jeep like a TJ that I so desperately want. I need the room.

This brings us to my original question about biased ply tire damage. Running out of room, I'm looking for options and a large spare that never gets used is taking up a lot of space. So far in my own experiences I've never come across a biased ply tire/wheel that is beyond trail repair with on board air and tire plugs.

So my quest continues. Great feedback so far. I havn't run a trail spareless yet, just considering it. Any more stories of broken trail dreams due to failed biased ply tires? Thanks.

I've put a hole in my TSL's before, and it was repairable. I have seen ALOT!!!! of damaged bias ply's on the trails and they've always been repaired just fine.

As for radials, I've seen alot of these damaged on the trail that could'nt be repaired, and that can be a real bummer! It's hard to carry a 38" or larger spare on the trail, but if you have like a 35 or smaller, most racks fit them, so I would carry one.

Jeff

hey, there's this guy and i think his name is murphy.. and he wrote a law book.. or was a lawyer.. i forget?? but anyway i know he calculated the probability that you will destroy a bias ply tire increases 90-fold if you don't carry a spare.. just some solid, well-researched info for ya! ;)

I went with 35x15.50 SXs last week. I only bought four and I kept one of my 35" MTRs for a spare. The MTR on the rim weighs about 40lbs less than the SX and it's narrower which will help keep me from dragging the rear bumper mounted spare as often.

34x9.50x15 TSL Swamper on a 15x6" steel rim works great for a fairly large diameter spare. May not be quite same size, but works and is quite bullet-proof. I'm running these all round on my 81 yota p/up. Tey're bout worn ot, so I think that my next tire will probably be 36x12.50x15 TSL Swamper on 15x8" American Racing AR767 steel wheels (similiar to black Rock Crawlers). I can't afford beadlocks.

buy some 16.5 inch hummer wheels with some 16.5 inch TSLs and use runflats. that way even if you rip the side wall out of one you can still limp home on the runflat. I know that wouldn't be great on the road but it would get you off the trail at least. Just an idea.

Nate C, how did you like those 34x9.50's? They seem like such a thin tire to me. How do they work in the rocks?