Any hardcore atv rock riders on here?

[gotmuddy]

I like riding rocks almost as much as mud on atvs. What kinda tires ya'll running? I am thinking about the GBC version of the bighorn, because it is bias ply, not radial.

[atvobsession]

I am. You can watch our group rock crawling in Mountains and Mud II at www.tahoefilms.com

I've been rock crawling on my 700 for 4 years. The whole time i used ITP 589's....mainly because they are bias ply. They are a GREAT rock tire...especially on the granite we have here.

That said...I recently got an 800 and when it came for tires...I REALLY tossed around on what to get. A few guys have Bighorns and they love them....I thought about GBC's, but in the end I decided to try the Bighorns. I just put them on a couple months, but the Rubicon is filled with snow, so I haven't gone yet. I've ridden in Nevada (some smaller rocks), snow and mud. So far...I'm extremely happy with them....but they have YET to pass the rock test.

What I can tell you about the Radial version....they ride great on trails, grip well in mud and do not dig in snow. They ride "big" and at 4lbs...have a soft feel...but unlike most radials....keep their height. The radial version runs big...26 is 27. They look HUGE compared to my 26" 589's with the same amount of air.

I'm going to Moab next week and probably to the Rubicon in 3 weeks....so if you want to wait for an opinion....I'll tell you the real deal. I've been DEAD set against radials...and really went against my better judgement. I had radials on my 47 Jeep..and it was HORRIBLE on the Rubicon. I have Bias ply back on there, and they are awesome. So, for me go for the Bighorns...I've been getting a good ribbing from my buddies. So if I say they're good on rocks.....I'm no HOMER. I will have to be convinced.

Feel free to look at the videos and pictures on my atvobsession site....TONS of rock crawling videos and pictures...all free.

[gotmuddy]

Thanks for the reply. I have a 2004.5 sp700efi, and we have lots of limestone here. I want the bighorns but don't want the radial. Originaly I was planning on running a 25, but now I am thinking of going with a 26/27 and running them with no air.

Here are some vids me and a buddy shot near my house. I am riding in 3wd(had a busted cv):

http://www.gotmuddy.com/modules.php?...ownload&sid=24

[atvobsession]

Cool..watching some now.

Here's the trailer...

http://www.tahoefilms.com/item_detail.php?item_key=75

Here's a shot of me in the film...you'll see the 589's on the granite.

[gotmuddy]

How is the gearing on your sportsman? I am thinking of gearing mine down. It is possible to gear it down to 10:1 in low range, right now its 7.5

[atvobsession]

Ummmm....I ride on the Rubicon and Fordyce..arguably, the hardest rock trails in the US....there's a couple spots that a little slower would be better ...mostly winch hill #1 , #3 and #4 on Fordyce.

The main reason I HAVEN'T researched it....all 3 of those spots have extreme vertical spots and after years of doing this, I have one theory....GO FASTER than the quad can decide to go another direction on it's own. Basically, when I get setup for these spots...I hit the gas and go.....the quad doesn't have time to flip over, cause I don't stop. My Willys, has a completely different tip point...so 5:38's make sense. When you slow, or stop...now the quad has time to think....I've only had it go over...one time.

[gotmuddy]

different riding styles I guess. One thing to consider with gearing it down is that you still have a low range capable of 15-20mph because of the belt drive.

I prefer rockcrawling on my sportsman, but prefer hillclimbing on my 300trx. It is much lighter and has better weight distribution than the 700.

[KS Toy]

I have not done a bunch of rock riding with my cat but I do love my 589s.

[atvobsession]

Originally Posted by KS Toy

I have not done a bunch of rock riding with my cat but I do love my 589s.

I have nothing bad to say about them. Nearly 2000 miles, most of it on the Rubicon and only 1 pinched sidewall due to too low airpressure. The only weakness they have is snow...they just dig too aggressively.

[spencurai]

I love my interco swamp lites. I do very little mud riding, mostly sand, dirt, and rock so these tires rock for me. I did a lot of snow wheeling this winter and they do great on snowmobile trails but they do dig when you get to the soft stuff.

Sand...they are like paddle tires!

Rock...the larger lugs do good job of biting on the rocks. I am headed to Moab in a few days after the EJS crowd gets lost so I will let you know how they do on the slickrock.

I did make it down around the Vernal area and got some boulder crawling in. I didn't get too crazy since I was 5 or 6 hours walk if something went wrong and I was riding solo.

This was an interesting area that spanned inter bedded shales and sandstones. The shales are the worst because they attack the sidewalls as you drive by but the swamp lites took the beating well.

[gotmuddy]

how well do the swamplites flex.

[spencurai]

They feel pretty good. You can go between 7 and 4 psi and get a completely different feel from them. I run them at 7 and they are nice and squishy. The call them the lites because they are lighter than most other tires. I haven't weighed them in but I do have them on ITP type 7 C series rims which is a lot heavier than stock but I love them so far.

[sucmah]

i have always been impressed with how well the atr's do in the boulders in oregon, i run vampires myself but a friend with 26" atr's does extremely well in the crawling department.

[gotmuddy]

ATR's crossed my mind but I dont want radials. I have some radial outlaws on my rhino, and with 0psi they pooch out real good, but they provide no lateral traction.

[CHRIS SHELBY]

Nice vids and pics ... I enjoyed looking at them.

[gotmuddy]

Originally Posted by CHRIS SHELBY

Nice vids and pics ... I enjoyed looking at them.

thanks.

[VerticalTRX]

I've been fairly big into ATV rock crawling for the past few years. The tire that I've found that grips the best on rocks were the stock Bridgestone Dirthooks that came on my rancher. For a while I ran custom beadlocks with 24x9-11 and 24x10-11 Dirthooks at about 3psi, they hooked hard on the rocks. After running this setup for about a year I was having trouble cutting the sidewalls out of them, flats in general, etc (they were only 2plys, hence why the also flexed so well).

This past summer I went with 25x10-12 Mudbugs all around and I have been fairly surprised at how well they do in the rocks. I have them aired down to about 2psi to get them to flex. When I get some extra time and my trail rig isn't needing attention I'm going to build a set of 12" aluminum beadlocks and will then run them at 0psi.

[gotmuddy]

Your badhonda2wd arent you?

[VerticalTRX]

Originally Posted by gotmuddy

Your badhonda2wd arent you?

Yup, but I haven't been on the Highlifter forum in about 2yrs or more. I feel like the average age on there is about 12 and the average IQ is about 70 nowadays.

[gotmuddy]

How you been? I got banned from HL for some bogus bullshit about a month ago, was supposed to be unbanned last week but I havent. I like pbb alot more anyways because they dont tolerate retards. When you gonna make me some beadlock rings

[VerticalTRX]

I've been pretty good, keepin busy that's for sure. I haven't been playing with the Rancher as much lately since I finished the '79. I need to get back to it though, the Rancher will OWN the '79 in the rocks any day, lol. As for the beadlock rings, I moved about 500mi away from my source of CNC flame cutting, so that's kinda went by the wayside. I did hear word that there may be someone around these parts that has a water jet CNC.

Quick question for anyone reading this thread, does anyone know if the ITP C-series are cast from a weldable alloy? I'm planning on basing my next set of beadlocks on them, and would rather not cut them up just to find out they aren't weldable.

[gotmuddy]

I wouldnt weld to them, but thats just me. Their rims are weak as hell. I want to make some beadlocks into billets. I have a SRA set collecting dust in my shop

There is a guy in town with a cnc plasma cutter, I am gonna give him a holler.

[rickibrat2]

have a modified KIng quad with lift kit and 28 inch 586 tires
with the clutch kits in it also

does great on the rock but keeps falling over so i built a formula toy

[atvobsession]

Originally Posted by rickibrat2

have a modified KIng quad with lift kit and 28 inch 586 tires
with the clutch kits in it also

does great on the rock but keeps falling over so i built a formula toy

We have a King Quad in our group. Works great on the rocks, but even stock being shorter and narrower than the Polaris, makes it much more "tippy", both side to side and nose to tail.

[atvobsession]

Just returned from a week of Rock Crawling in Moab while filming for Mountains and Mud III.(www.tahoefilms.com)

We spent Wednesday at AREA BFE tackling Helldorado. Here's a few pics..I have more, but I didn't have time to re-size them.