ok, i'v read just about all the reports on them and everone seems to say something different.......... some say pretty good tire and some say shit....... so lets hear the truth about these tires from the people that run them or have run em........
i'll be going after the 35x13.5 bias, or maybe the 35x15.5 bias........ probility the 13.5's though......
how are the side walls??? easy to slice em???
flex good on a light weight rig such as a sami????
how are they on rocks and in mud, i'v heard their pretty good for rock and sand but never heard anything about mud yet..... up here we have a pretty decent amount of rock, but mostly mud........ no sand at all .......
thanks.....
-Mike

I ran into two TJ's running 'Claws at Tellico a couple weeks ago. The rig's owners said they did Great on the rocks, but did not like their performance in mud. They said they slick-over quickly, and allow for a lot of side-slippage. No sidewall punctures to report. (However I did see 2 occurances of sidewall cuts to SSR's)

Stay away from the radial claws, IMO. If you see any mud, your money is better spent on the bias tires. I bring up mud since you're in canada, and would see quite a bit of it. A buddy of mine runs radial claws on his CJ7, and we run lots of mud. They load up like a drag slick at low rpms (by that I mean, as fast as my 22RE could be able to crank them) and do a nifty drag slick impersonation. I know you didn't ask about the radials, but I thought it might help...

That buddy, though, has a Ford 302 under his hood (used to run it in his mustang when it ran low 12s in the quarter), so he can spin about anything fast enough to get it to clean.

IMO, if you see mud, the TSL (or SX) is the best tire tire for a smaller engined rig like a Zuk or Toy. Claws look like they would perform a lot like boggers. Boggers aren't the designed for slow-speed trail riding, and it shows... boggers take a lot of tire speed to get them to clean correctly - since the tread pattern is actually much tighter than that of a Swamper.

TSLs will clean out with much less tire speed than boggers - especially if you air down to no more than 8 PSI. If I were you, I would be thinking TSLs simply because of $$$ - The Mickeys are a significant price jump over Swampers that I can't see making for a tire whose performance I have never personally seen.

My .02

Quite a few of my buddies are running claws and they all like em alot. They all have Toyotas or fullsizes though. They all have bias ply tires and they seem a little too hard. Maybe they're just scared to air em down enough though.

The Toyotas seem too be able to clean out the mud once they goose it. Sidewalls are tough too.

I have to say that a 35 x 13.5 doesn't look as big as other 35's though.:D

Originally posted by jonesk9


I have to say that a 35 x 13.5 doesn't look as big as other 35's though.:D



Yah I'v heard that too.. seen a bunch of people complain that its more like a 33

i'v heard the radials really suck thats why i didn't ask about them....... but the bias........hmmm...... never heard much about em....... i ask about the claws because someone told me they may be able to get the NEW ones that had a defect to the thread or a boil inside that arn't recamended for road...... but i only want them for off-road tires, i run 31" trail masters for the road......:D

Here's my take on them. (http://www.azrockcrawler.com/_images/2002/2-02tiretest/2-02bajaclaw.html) Haven't tried them in mud. Sidewalls are very tough. Memorial Day weekend, some of our milder trails claimed 4 BFG M/T's and an MTR. Been running these for months on much harder stuff and they are holding up great. They do flex good under a Zuk and they hold their bead well thanks to their flexible sidewall. They are short, the 35's are 33's. I am hoping the 37's come down in price by the time my project rig needs shoes, if not I'll just go 38 x 12.50 tsl's for cost reasons.

ok chris, so which would you say is better for the rocks???? your old SX's(when they were in good shape) or the claws????
thanks, and great pics of the tire...... the side bitters look huge...... i'd like to know how good they are in the mud too....... anyone?

Claws are better for the rocks because they flex under the Zuk. The SX's did not flex much, even at 4psi. I doubt new SX's would do any better becasue they still wouldn't flex. TSL's are another story, never tried those on my Zuk yet. Too bad you can't test a set, I got this set just to see how a larger, skinnier tire would work, wasn't planning on buying them.

yeah, well around here theres 3 people in the entire provence that i know of running swapmers....... (35"sx's, 36" TSL's, and a chevy running 38" tsl's)....... and i'v never seen claws....... but they tell me they sell em in halifax(5hours away) for a cheap price, they have some kinda defect and arn't recamended for road use.....
so good enough for my zuki.....:D
thanks...