Need Sand Tire Advice Please

[zelitz]

Hi everyone, I finally took my buggy to the beach. I've done my share of trail driving with 4 wheel drive vehicles and atv's, but I don't have a lot of experience with light weight soft sand vehicles. Right now I have 195/50/15's on the front and 295/50/15's on the back. I've included pictures of the tires below. They work great on the street, but are pretty sad on the sand.

I was doing fine but every time I hit prolonged patches of really soft sand, I would just slow down and end up stuck. My buggy wasn't bottoming out at all, I had several inches of clearance between the frame and the sand. Whenever I would get stuck, the back tires would just spin no matter what I did. I could kick out some sand in front of the tires and manage to move a few feet, but would just end up stuck again. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the event, but I'm thinking my tires are the main problem.

I live about 45 min away from the sand, so I figure I'll just have to switch tires close to the beach. I've also heard good things about the BF Goodrich Mud Terrain T/A KM2 for light vehicles in the sand because of the bite. I'm just wondering if those will work well enough or how aggressive of a tread do I need. The rear tires I have now wouldn't dig into the sand at all, just kinda "float" there spinning about 4 inches into the sand. Hopefully this next week I'll be able to take a pic at the beach to give you guys a better idea.

My buggy is a 1776 dp with the engel 110 cam. I can spin the tires I have on the street, but I don't know how beefy the engine needs to be for paddle tires.

Has anyone used the BFG MT's or the sand tires listed below?

My buggy wasn't built for a Baja race or anything, but it would be nice to not get stuck in flat soft sand. Any advice about the tires, places to buy, or anything else would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
- Kenneth


Rear Sand Tires
http://www.pacificcustoms.com/EXPLORER1200.html

Rear Sand Tires2
http://www.pacificcustoms.com/EXPLORER1450.html



Current Front Tires


Current Rear Tires

[GregR]

PM seabeebuggy He recently joined our forums. Look in the member list for his contact info.

I think he's spent quite a bit of time in the sand with his buggy.

Be sure to let us know what you find out

[ElijahTurtle]

Wow, looks great! I saw a buggy that looked alot like that in Keller the other day. Love the color.
You'll need some skinny front tires, so they will push the sand more to the side rather than piling up infront. With those back tires, it wouldnt take much forward resistance to cause them to loose traction. Combine some narrow fronts & some mudders on the rear & that should get you through the sand fine. Not the perfect setup, but that combo will get you from street to sand without having to change them at the beach.

The buggy I have was set up this way by my grandpa so he could just swap the back set before he went racing at the beach.

[zelitz]

Yeah the color is pretty unique. It's called rainbow metallic or something like that. Once I got a slightly demasculinizing comment by my friend's girlfriend asking "did i put the pretty glitter on myself", but otherwise everyone seems to think its pretty cool. Below is a link to some of the pictures from when I bought the buggy last year. I've made some changes, but mostly just fixing the "wtf was he thinking" things from the last owner. This buggy is more for the street, so my next project will be a Baja Bug done right the first time.

http://picasaweb.google.com/agnosco/DuneBuggy#

[seabeebuggy]

My thinking here is. You have power traction and resistance. Better traction will help like some dezert trax tires for the rear. That should be good enough but you say you slow down in long stretches. That is lack of power to keep the car moving or the wheels are spinning too much. I think it is wheel spin. I have big heavy 7'' wide tires. not hardly sand made. But I don’t have any issue due to power and traction. You could get smaller tires for the front but I feel it would only help a little.
I have baja claws on the rear of my car and it does get through sand but hardly even close to some dezert trax tires. Paddles are even better but you need to have a good trans or never beat on it.
If you can get the car going the front tires should just float on top of the sand.
My money is the rear tires are going to be the most effective fix.
Smaller fronts will add to the fun.

[ElijahTurtle]

but mostly just fixing the "wtf was he thinking" things from the last owner.

LOL I just love seeing those kind of mods on peoples cars...

[zelitz]

That is lack of power to keep the car moving or the wheels are spinning too much. I think it is wheel spin.

Yeah, rear tire spin is definitely a problem.

It would be very nice to not have to change out the tires at the beach before I go, but do you think the BFG MT's will be good enough in the sand?

I was thinking the ones below might be ok since my current tires are 295/50/15 or 26.6x11.6/15

LT 235/75R15/C (28.9x9.3/15), 30x9.50/R15/C, or 31x10.50/R15/C
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/overview ... /3930.html

[seabeebuggy]

My opinion is the Baja claws are the best tire for both on road and off. My buddy has BFG on his buggy and switched over to the baja claws and his buggy did better. they are good for air down and have a paddle design. you can drive the dezert trax on road. but i would not want to too long. Stopping power is reduced a lot on dirt roads and asphalt.

BFG's are heaver and have a stiff side wall. the Baja Claws do not. when Aired down they work better.

As a note a friens on the shoptalk forum named Leather , He has truck tires on his buggy. It does get around but his wheel spin like crazy.

[Ken]

I was fortunate to find a set of BFG MT KM, during their change to the KM2. I like the KM tread pattern much better for my buggy and I have had these at the beach in the sand and I was very, very pleased. I run these 100%, road, dirt and sand without any concern.

Like I say, I found these KM's after they quit manufacturing them. BFG had already converted to the KM2's. But I would have bought the KM2's, if these weren't found. I really like BFG tires. I just replaced a set of BFG AT TO's on my Dodge 3500 with 75,000 miles on them.

Good Luck...

[matter396]

This is my first fiberglass buggy I am building, but have had many sandrails in the past. Many years growing up in the dunes. I can tell you that the desert trax are great, and they get you around on the pavement to and from the trailer etc. for some short travels. Otherwise if that isn't much of a problem a true paddle tire with just 1.5 to 2 in paddles would be plenty. The front tires you have will be fine. I think if the beach cruisin is what you are doin most and not really in the big dunes the desert trax would be the best bet. Good luck.

[zelitz]

Hey guys, thanks for all the advice. I still haven't decided between the desert explorers or the bfg's, but I might stay away from the sand for a while. Here is my latest problem and it isnt nearly as fun as surfing the net looking at tires to buy.
http://texasmanxclub.com/bboard/viewtopic.php?p=12781#12781

[nightmanx1]

You might also look at the Bridgstone Dueler tires. Look at the Revo and they have it in a P rated tire. Just air them down and you should be go to go.

[buggieBob]

I put the revos on the rail I have it work out great on the beach and thay don't hool on the highway.

[the 'Maniac]

Having been playing in the sand for 40+ years, I can tell you that about any tire will work, but you've got to drop the psi down to a level so the tire will "float" up on top of the sand.
Depending on how good the safety beads on your rims are, I would think that your rear tires down to about 2-4 psi & your front tires down to 7-10 psi & you shouldn't have any problems.
You would have to experiment with the psi's to find what works best in your application.
I have P235/70R15s on 8" wide Jackman wheels & run 2-4 psi at Pismo & go everywhere, up dunes, thru the really soft stuff... everywhere. The 1600cc pulls real hard & never misses a beat!

The 50 series tire doesn't have a good aspect ratio that works well aired down, they can work, they're just not the best tire. The 70 & 75 series work best. The problem with most off-road tires is that they are Load range C & their sidewalls are too stiff to flex like they need to, so they will float. They will work too, just not as efficiently.

If you are willing to change tires & have a safe place near the beach to do it, then I'd forget about the Desert Traks & go with a regular paddle tire!
Driving in the sand is an acquired skill that requires lots of patience & practice!!!
Even the psi in a paddle tire is important!!!