Snow Rags... Tire Experiment

[H8PVMNT]

So this year I bought some new Goodyears for my 4Runner and ended up reluctantly selling off a set of nicely siped 34" TSLs on beadlocks to a buddy. The TSLs were my intermediate tires that I could throw on whatever underbuilt Toyota to get it able to follow the 4Runner. We mostly used these on a sleeper 1980 Toyota 4x4 pickup that is kind of a daily driver work truck with just 31s and lockers, 2" lift, winch, very basic but effective.

The big problem I have around here is that there are no guys willing to follow me anywhere in the deep snow. If we had another set of usable 35s or better in the stable my wife and I could go out with both trucks and have the all important second vehicle. I had this old mostly bald set of pro-comp mud terrains on wheels for garage roll around set up/project tires and I thought I would try to get a bit more use out of them.

I took my groover to them this weekend and kind of did a dot to dot pattern in the centers following some of the old tread points and corners and then made the side lugs more busy in an effort to make the tires more sticky for a few snow runs this winter. I went with alot of new small voids to capture and hold snow but I didn't add any sipes mainly because I think these things will peel like bananas if I take them apart any more than I did. Hopefully they will work well enough without self destructing. They are old dangerous rags and will not hold up to any kind of miles but we have a good snow run about 15 miles from here that we get to via farm roads so we only have to go like 40 mph to get there.

I also still need to put the crawl box in the '80 to have decent gearing but pending that we should be good to go. Here is a pic of the really sketchy "snow rags". I'll let you know how they do when we get a chance to run them.

[Nobody]

The thing that will help the most is running low low air pressure. I usually start at 4psi and go lower if needed. If those are old and dry rotted, they probably wont hold up. Bring a spare! Otherwise, they should do pretty good. You've got the right idea of the snow filling in the voids, just need to avoid tire spin!

There must be some other 4 Wheelers out there.... it's Montana!

[H8PVMNT]

The pro comps are just cheapo muds but when they were newer they worked great in the deep at about 3-4 psi. When the factory center sipes fall out at about 50% they start to suck in everything. I never had any problems loosing beads though. They are on 8" rims which I think helps. Thankfully the tires are not rotten, just worn.

Well we had a pretty good scene going on the west slope over by Missoula. Those guys are doing alot of deep snow and rock crawling but excessive road closures make it next to impossible to stay legit. We moved over here about 5 years ago and started having a 4x4 trials/ rock crawl type event once a year. That has been a success but most of our competitors are old freinds from the old scene. The main thing over in this region is mud racing. All the clubs mainly focus on that. As far as education and equipment you could put most of the enthusiasts around here at about circa 1982. No one knows how to air down, most guys don't re-gear axles, they just try to throw more power at it. Lockers are thought of as something that will make you spin out on the highway and mostly avoided. There are a few exceptions but for the most part I just need to get running and wheeling to educate some guys. I have two buddies over here who have good setups, which is enough to have a good time...

The local farm folks just quit trying to go anywhere if it snows more than 10". You would be shocked coming from the PNW, they won't even work outside here if it's raining!

[Nobody]

Found some Montana snow wheelers.

[H8PVMNT]

Yup he appears to be a jetter kid (air force) in Great Falls. The imports will wheel, it's the locals that don't get it and need an education ...

[n16ht5]

that looks great.. I bet it will work well

wierd!! I thought everyone in montana would have overbuilt old rigs with welded up axles

[H8PVMNT]

It is wierd... There are some guys in the Bitterroot valley, way down on the end nearly in Idaho that do some epic back country snow wheeling. You will probably never see them on youtube it's all pretty sketchy and they are highly territorial. They have huge Toyotas and haul kayakers up in the early season to shoot down ice tubes that form way up there. It is some seriously outlaw stuff but no-one can catch them or seems to care... I would guess since they aren't really touching the ground, so I guess technically they are considered to be flying really low over national forest rather than driving on it.

That is on the west slope though which might as well be a different state as far as the culture/demographic goes.

[Nobody]

Here I thought that Montana was one of the last free places in the country. Guess I need a new bug-out plan

Sounds awesome though

[H8PVMNT]

Just move to the half east of the rockies and you will be good to go. People still make sense over here in general and there are some trails that still aren't closed.

[H8PVMNT]

Here they are on the '80. They kind of fit...

I have some cross over steering that will alow my front end to ride about 1 1/2" further forward. This and the little added bump stop I allready have will solve any hard tire rubbing issues up to about 36" or 37". Then I guess I sould regear it one of these days.

[H8PVMNT]

Went and wheeled an off camber drift after feeding horses today. Holy cow are these things sticky. All forward motion with little or no digging and a great lateral hold. The snow sticks in and to the tread as expected. The broken in played out carcases at even 5 psi bag out nicely and float great. Kind of makes me want to find a worn out set of 40s to cut up and use on the 4Runner.

[Nobody]

C'mon, no pics? Get back out there!

[H8PVMNT]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing... I will do it today.

[inthmtns]

H8PVMNT,

We have a small group from the Billings area that has a couple of decent deep snow runs each year, usually in the Little Belts, Castle Mtns or the Pryors. Its a great group of guys and gals with decently built rigs on everything from 35's to 44's. I'll dig through my pics and post a couple...

PM me or email me at inthmtns@yahoo.com if you want to come with us some time!

[H8PVMNT]

H8PVMNT,

We have a small group from the Billings area that has a couple of decent deep snow runs each year, usually in the Little Belts, Castle Mtns or the Pryors. Its a great group of guys and gals with decently built rigs on everything from 35's to 44's. I'll dig through my pics and post a couple...

PM me or email me at inthmtns@yahoo.com if you want to come with us some time!

Heck yes I'll go wheeling with you! I sent you an e-mail...