Best Sand Tire???

[5001craig]

PLEASE HELP! I've searched this topic until I'm just about to go crazy. I see everything recommended from bald to aggressive on sand. I know a guy that runs Boggers and some say they are not good in the sand but maybe it's his engine? He seems to do fairly well to me. I spend 10 days every summer with a possible second trip when I get her dialed-in at Silver Lake Sand Dunes and that's the majority of where I plan to spend my off-road time. The rest is just a short cruise to dinner or a friends house.

I'm putting a 408W in my '74 and it's supposed to have 415 HP and 430-450 ft. lb. Personally, I feel that an aggressive tread will work well in the sand IF there is enough power available to keep wheel speed up (hence paddles). I also want something wide and wide tires are not nearly as available as they used to be.

I'm looking at Interco SSR's in 33 x 14.5 x 15 on 10" wheels mainly due to their fairly aggressive tread as well as the fact that they are 14.5" wide plus I think they look bad-ass. These tires are not supposed to be quite as aggressive as the TSL's that have been around forever. I already have a set of four Weld forged 15 x 10" wheels.

I'm presently running 33 x 12.5 x 15" tires that measures 31.0" tall and the Interco website says the SSR's are 33.5" tall (and hopefully that will be close to what they measure when mounted). I'm also thinking about their SSR 35 x 14.5 x 15 that they say measures 35.2". Never really thought about going 35's. But I am going with a 2" BL (stock sagging body mounts presently) and more than likely a 3.5" lift as compared to my old 2.5" lift I presently have because I want to go with the Duff 4-link in the rear.

I have 3.55/3.50 diff gears and am going with an Atlas 3.0 which is on order. IMO, you need wheel speed in sand and I'm thinking this combination will work well for the 33"s but not sure about the 35's. I have a C4 and like the cruise RPM with the C4 at 1:1. Will the 33's look silly with a 2" BL and a 3.5" SL? I got a new laptop and am having trouble uploading a present pic of my EB--I believe I have some in my gallery.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks CB!

Craig

 

[brewchief]

Nothing will compare with paddles, downside to them at silver lake is getting from campgrounds to the dunes, I've run mine on the pavement back and forth but they are showing enough wear that I'm going to try to avoid it as much as I can in the future.

I run 35x12.50 bfg mud terrains right now and they work decent, I had 33x15.50 interco tsl/sx in the past and liked them.

With the horsepower you will have keeping wheelspeed up will make about any tire work decent.

Is the 3.0 atlas going to be to low to keep wheelspeed up in low range? I have 4.10 gears with 35s and lack enough power to run in high range so I end up in low range and 3rd or 4th gear, this is with a dana 20 and np435. If you can run high range(and I think you will have enough power) then it will be a non issue.

 

[BanditBronco]

Craig,

If you spend that much time in the sand, I would recommend getting a set of paddles. I have ran my rig both with mud terrains and with paddles at the dunes and feel that if you want to have the most fun possible there just isn't a comparison. I wouldn't worry to much about not having enough motor, I run a low compression 302 with aluminum heads and a cam, probably made less than 250 horses to the wheel and can spin a paddle in the sand just fine. Your gearing is a little light but with the atlas you can probably over come that. I run in 4low through the dunes spinning 5500 rpm having a good ole time. From my experience in the sand, wider is better! the paddles I run are about 33 to 35 inches tall and 20 inches wide. I ended up buying them off a friend who ran a jeep cj in the dunes during the 80's and 90's. Finding that wide of a wheel and tire combo is tough now a days but for my two cents, I vote paddles all the way.

 

[bronconut73]

Nothing like paddles.

But I was always very happy with BFG All Terrains in sand.
Being a central Florida native and soils engineer, I know sand, hahaha...
I noticed how my BFG Mud Terrains would dig in and sink into the sand a bit (not good) but my All Terrains would stay on top of the sand really well.
The All Terrains were down right confidence inspiring in the sand and as usual awesome on the road and in rain. The only thing they do not do well is mud.

 

[Monster Mike]

X2 for BFG all terrains. A word from Mr. James Duff himself, tire pressure is what will be the difference between floating on top or digging in. Play with the psi till you get it just right. 1 pound can make all the difference in the world

 

[Glass Pony]

I was pondering the same question a few years ago when I was getting ready to put new shoes on the Bronco as I use mine for surf fishing on the coast.
Here is what I came up with in a 33x12.5-15 radial. http://www.intercotire.com/tires.php?id=12&g=1
From what I heard they are not the greatest in the mud or rocks.
The dune crossings and areas away from the water's edge can get pretty soft and these work well, but after all it is a Bronco.
Good luck in your search.

 

[Jdgephar]

I've never had any trouble at SL with any of my trucks using whatever brand all-terrain tires aired down to somewhere around 8 to 10 psi. 33"x12.5s on a 15x10 rim on most of what I've used in the past. Destination ATs, BFGs, Kumho MTs, etc.

 

[welndmn]

I run the big sprint car tire.
Paddles take A ton of horse power that I don't have, heck many people that run paddles don't have it either.
The sprint car tires are 33" tall and I think 18-19 inches wide.
Normal times I run 33's in the front or when i know I'm going to play hard I'll toss some sprint car tires up front too.
I will normally beat most cars with paddles up the hills.
Sprint cars work!
I think the Rims are 15x16.

 

[Apogee]

I run the big sprint car tire.
Paddles take A ton of horse power that I don't have, heck many people that run paddles don't have it either.
The sprint car tires are 33" tall and I think 18-19 inches wide.
Normal times I run 33's in the front or when i know I'm going to play hard I'll toss some sprint car tires up front too.
I will normally beat most cars with paddles up the hills.
Sprint cars work!
I think the Rims are 15x16.

That's sweet...I've seen other guys running old Hoosiers at the dunes, and they've always done pretty well. Less hook than most of the paddles, but more flotation and it's much harder to dig yourself into a problem situation.

That said, a properly sized paddle tire should outperform anything else in the sand. I've seen a lot of guys running paddles with more paddles than they have power to sling per the comment above, so there is a happy place when it comes to power versus paddle count. The fewer paddles, the easier it is to generate wheel speed and get into the powerband of the engine, so the more power you have available, the higher the paddle count.

Low-pressure crawling works up to a point, but when the weight and angles of inclination increase, it's only a matter of time before you find the limits. My brother and I mostly run our ATV's and motorcycles in the sand, but when we've taken our rigs out with various A/T and M/T tires, the widths and pressures were more important than the tread with most sand conditions.

 

[5001craig]

Nothing will compare with paddles, downside to them at silver lake is getting from campgrounds to the dunes, I've run mine on the pavement back and forth but they are showing enough wear that I'm going to try to avoid it as much as I can in the future.

I run 35x12.50 bfg mud terrains right now and they work decent, I had 33x15.50 interco tsl/sx in the past and liked them.

With the horsepower you will have keeping wheelspeed up will make about any tire work decent.

Is the 3.0 atlas going to be to low to keep wheelspeed up in low range? I have 4.10 gears with 35s and lack enough power to run in high range so I end up in low range and 3rd or 4th gear, this is with a dana 20 and np435. If you can run high range(and I think you will have enough power) then it will be a non issue.

Craig,

If you spend that much time in the sand, I would recommend getting a set of paddles. I have ran my rig both with mud terrains and with paddles at the dunes and feel that if you want to have the most fun possible there just isn't a comparison. I wouldn't worry to much about not having enough motor, I run a low compression 302 with aluminum heads and a cam, probably made less than 250 horses to the wheel and can spin a paddle in the sand just fine. Your gearing is a little light but with the atlas you can probably over come that. I run in 4low through the dunes spinning 5500 rpm having a good ole time. From my experience in the sand, wider is better! the paddles I run are about 33 to 35 inches tall and 20 inches wide. I ended up buying them off a friend who ran a jeep cj in the dunes during the 80's and 90's. Finding that wide of a wheel and tire combo is tough now a days but for my two cents, I vote paddles all the way.

I've never considered paddles for my Bronco. I am not sure I want to take that plunge--maybe the title of the thread should have had "not including paddles" because we go to/from the campground (Sandy Shores) three times a day minimum.

I run the big sprint car tire.
Paddles take A ton of horse power that I don't have, heck many people that run paddles don't have it either.
The sprint car tires are 33" tall and I think 18-19 inches wide.
Normal times I run 33's in the front or when i know I'm going to play hard I'll toss some sprint car tires up front too.
I will normally beat most cars with paddles up the hills.
Sprint cars work!
I think the Rims are 15x16.

These are interesting to me.

What I really gather is that a lot of different tread patterns work well in the sand with the correct air pressure. I normally run 8-9 psi without beadlocks and have only had trouble once in my '06 Ram diesel and it was totally my fault.

I've ran BFG AT's and they worked well. I just really want to go with a 14.5" wide tire and the SSR looks great to me. I think there is one guy in our group that runs TSL's and they seem to work pretty good. The SSR has a little tighter pattern than the TSL.

Thanks a ton for all the input and suggestions.

Craig

 

[5001craig]

I was pondering the same question a few years ago when I was getting ready to put new shoes on the Bronco as I use mine for surf fishing on the coast.
Here is what I came up with in a 33x12.5-15 radial. http://www.intercotire.com/tires.php?id=12&g=1
From what I heard they are not the greatest in the mud or rocks.
The dune crossings and areas away from the water's edge can get pretty soft and these work well, but after all it is a Bronco.
Good luck in your search.

I've also looked at these TrXus STS and your pictures look more aggressive than I thought they were. AND they make one in 14.5" width. ;D

Thanks!

 

[sanndmann3]

is there a reason for 10" wide rims? with a 14.5" wide tire, you should be able to go 12 wide on the rim? might give you move foot print/flotation... of course you run the risk of pulling the tire off the wider you go...
i've got 15.5 Baja Claws on 10" rims. they do pretty good but always wonder about the wider rims...

 

[bronconut73]

is there a reason for 10" wide rims? with a 14.5" wide tire, you should be able to go 12 wide on the rim? might give you move foot print/flotation... of course you run the risk of pulling the tire off the wider you go...
i've got 15.5 Baja Claws on 10" rims. they do pretty good but always wonder about the wider rims...

12" wide rims sure look cool.

 

[zman1971]

I run the big sprint car tire.
Paddles take A ton of horse power that I don't have, heck many people that run paddles don't have it either.
The sprint car tires are 33" tall and I think 18-19 inches wide.
Normal times I run 33's in the front or when i know I'm going to play hard I'll toss some sprint car tires up front too.
I will normally beat most cars with paddles up the hills.
Sprint cars work!
I think the Rims are 15x16.

x2 and they are cheap

 

[welndmn]

x2 and they are cheap

That's the best part! 1/2 way though a season they are free!

 

[5001craig]

is there a reason for 10" wide rims? with a 14.5" wide tire, you should be able to go 12 wide on the rim? might give you move foot print/flotation... of course you run the risk of pulling the tire off the wider you go...
i've got 15.5 Baja Claws on 10" rims. they do pretty good but always wonder about the wider rims...

I own a spare set of 10" wide rims and thought I'd use them.

I'd go 15.5" Claws in a heartbeat if they were still available. Your truck works awesome in the sand.

 

[bronconut73]

I own a spare set of 10" wide rims and thought I'd use them.

I'd go 15.5" Claws in a heartbeat if they were still available. Your truck works awesome in the sand.

NTW has 36x15.50 MTz's.

 

[5001craig]

NTW has 36x15.50 MTz's.

That's awesome. 35.4" tall too.

 

[bronconut73]

That's awesome. 35.4" tall too.

Love me some MTZ's.

I put the 38.5x15.5x16 MTZ's on an F-250 a few years back. They wore like iron. I now have the 33x12.50x15's on my 96 Bronco. They will eventually go on my 73 early Bronco if I can ever wear out my BFG MT's.

 

[nvrstuk]

x3 on Sprint car dirt track tires... I've been on the dunes and watched how they outperform every tire out there but a dedicated paddle tire that you can't drive on the street (unless you buy new ones often)... they might look funny but it's like building a sweet looking rig...everybody will be looking at ya saying "no way" and then you blast up the dunes and everybody's saying, "How'd he do that"??