ATV Tires - Rocky Mountains
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: Blade
20-Apr-18
Ready to replace 25X8-12 and 25X10-12 ATV tires for a Yamaha Grizzly 660. Your recommendations wanted for use primarily in the Rocky Mountains where trails are harder (rockier) vs. softer, some steep hill climbs with rock chunks, slab granite, crushed granite and sand, less mud that generally is not too deep but composed of a lot of sticky clay/gumbo that wants to build-up, and snow. There is concern for sidewall punctures from rocks, plant roots, and cactus spines which demands thicker plies. Also, would radial be better than bias for preventing punctures? Any suggestions appreciated.
From: cnelk
20-Apr-18
When my oem tires wore down - which didnt take long - I put some GBC Dirt Devils on my Yamaha 400 4x4. I have almost 4000 miles on it - all in the Rocky Mtns
Thumbs up
From: jdee
20-Apr-18
We have two Honda Foreman’s and they both have ....Sedona Rip Saw R/T....tires on them . They are great rough terrain tires for here in some rough country in NM. I would buy them again !!
From: cnelk
20-Apr-18
My 'horse'
From: Blade
20-Apr-18
Maybe the picture includes "my elk?"
From: Blade
20-Apr-18
jdee - one of the tires I'm looking at. How about the plies - concern of puncture?
From: planebow
21-Apr-18
I will second the Sedona Rip Saw tires. Put them on my 800 Polaris. They are a little stiffer riding as the are a very stiff tire compared to what is stock.
From: jdee
21-Apr-18
Don’t remember the plies but I will look tomorrow . I’ve had them in real, real rocky terrain many times and never one flat. I put them on in 2012
From: Bigdan
21-Apr-18
I run Bear Claw 8 ply on both of my rigs i went from 25s to 27s on my razor and also went to the same sized tires front and back 27x9x12s I can use the same chains front or back. i use 26x9x12s on my ace front and back tuff tires
From: Bigdan
21-Apr-18
From: moosenelson
21-Apr-18
Get radial tires. Kenda makes a radial bear claw. Few guys use radials but when it comes to ride, handling and grip there is no comparison. Im running zillas right now cuz i deal with a lotta wet country. Ive had several kinds and i strongly recommend a radial tire. More $ but the performance is soooooo much better.
From: jdee
21-Apr-18
I looked at my Rip Saw R/T tires but I couldn’t see where it said what ply they are 6 or 8. They are radial tires, tuff as they come . When these atv’s had oem tires on, after about 1000 miles they went to hell. Always flat or a rock would puncture through them with these Sadona’s I have never had any problems and they go through rocky country alot . I don’t care what a guy buys but these are really great rough terrain tires.
From: StickFlicker
21-Apr-18
I decided to go with radials recently, and wanted the most number of plies that I could find since I was extremely tired of getting flats on OEM bias ply tires. I went with the Kenda K587 Bear Claw HTR. It's reasonably priced, and it is an 8 ply tire rather than 6 ply like most. They ride very smoothly, and they are a heavy duty tire. My riding is mostly in the desert country of Arizona. I haven't had them long enough to comment about their longevity, but so far I really like them.
From: carcus
21-Apr-18
Maxxis bighorns are great tires, im running Maxxis mudzillas on my king quad, i don't thik they will ever wear out, probably 10 000kms on them and they still look new
From: tradmt
21-Apr-18
Radial, 6 ply minimum. Tread matters very little.
From: Bigdan
21-Apr-18
Marvin that's the same tire I run on both my rigs I have 8k miles on one set put Slime in them when they were new and have never had one go flat
From: Silverback
21-Apr-18
I have nearly 4,000 miles on my maxxis zillas and the lugs are still 3/4 inch. They started at 1 1/8. They work great and would buy them again.
From: Blade
22-Apr-18
Thanks for all the feedback...reviewing the suggested tires all of you have given. Any experiences with any makes or models that are negative?
From: StickFlicker
22-Apr-18
Dan, good to hear you've had such good luck with that tire. Although, I suspect Montana is not as hard on tires as Arizona.
I have a friend who is a very high use ATV rider in the Arizona desert. He loves the Maxxis Bighorns (originals) that were mentioned previously, too.
I've had terrible luck, both on ATV and trailers, with Carlisle tires (although they've always been bias tires, not radials). During my 10 days of deer hunting this year, I went through about two dozen plugs on my quad (eventually had to replace the tires) and completely ruined and replaced three trailer tires (two of which were brand new and lasted less than 30 minutes after I put them on the ground before coming apart). I'll never buy another one.
From: Bigdan
22-Apr-18
I bought a set of ITP Mud Lites worst tire I have ever had the sidewalls rotted out in one year on 3 out of the four IMy wife and I went to Moab last year and rode our rigs for a week We went were ever our rigs were pointed some of the trails we were on were nothing but rock for miles
From: carcus
22-Apr-18
Mud lites are terrible
From: BOHNTR
22-Apr-18
Bear Claws...8 plys.....have had them for years and they have been bullet proof.
