Length or girth?

Now that i have your attention.... This is my understanding of the tire's performance when off-roading. Height is great, obviously, since it gives you more ground clearance. Also, when playing in the mud, an aggressive tread is desirable for obvious reasons, you get more traction. However, no matter how knobby your tire is, in very muddy situations, all tires eventually become "smooth". When i say "smooth" i mean that the mud will eventually fill in all the the tread and your tire essentially becomes a racing slick (that may be a bit of an exageration but you get my drift) Anyway, to get to the point, since tread will eventually get "filled in", i have heard that it is more important to have a wider tire, than an overly aggressive tire. The wider the tire the more surface area your vehicle has so it tends to "float" more on the mud and is less likely to sink. Has anyone else heard this argument before? also, does anyone know the max width tire i can get for both stock height, or with a 3" lift? I still want some height, and some knobs, but i really want to get some wide tires

 

I have heard this before as well, but I don't have any real off-road experience. Most of the mud flinging I have done has been on a stock 2WD 94' Suburban. It makes sense to me though.

As for the max width on a stock config - I am curious about this one as well!

???

 

No, I have not heard that before, however for the max width, depending on the backspacing. I have a 17X9 (plus one size) Wheel and it looks great. I think you can probably put a plus 2 size on w/out a problem.

 

I don't know about that ? ND???? You have a bunch of different variables..

I think everyone would have different opinions on the situation, but I always look at what the military uses and / or used to use.. Look at the 1st jeeps, weapons carriers ( 1 1/4 ton PU ) and duece and halfs, they ran tall tires, but they were also on the skinnier side..

Weight of vehicle and the application you're going to use it in is a factor..

Heavy vehicle your goin 2 the bottom of the mud no-matter what.. I think you want to grab and go. Sand for instance, wider tire and to be honest tread don't really matter ( Pattern of tread ) just need to pressure down..

Snow ( and many people will tell many a different tale ) I find for myself I do not like a wide tire?? My 2 cents.. You are 100% correct though on the effect mud has on a tire when it slicks it, I've always looked at the old Bias Military tires on that and have to laugh when I see an old show on the tube and these guy's are tearing thru the mud like nothing with there old jeeps, Fj's, Land Rovers, etc.. It is a good topic or discussion though..

Double A

 

I read a long time ago that the area of the tire patch is exactly the same for a skinny tire versus a fat tire on the same vehicle because the tire patch has to support the exact same weight for that particular vehicle. The main difference is the skinny tire's patch is long and narrow versus the fat tire's patch being short and fat. It also said that the "fatter" the tire, the more side ways resistance it has because of the shape of the tire patch which gives you greater resistance to sliding when going around curves.

 

oh, well, until we see it on myth busters i don't think anyone will know for sure. Mythbusters is after the end all be all of worldwide facts