Biggest Tire on a Max II

[jpswift1]

Well tonight I was getting my Hustler BIGFOOT tires and wheels ready for paint and just out of curiousity I rolled some over to where I was storing a couple of my Max II frames. I was just wondering if those 26" tires would fit on the frame and not hit each other without the tub. I thought about making another "Max II buggy" like I had once. The 26's would make that machine unstoppable with excellent ground clearence as well. It looks like they might not fit, but I was just wondering if anyone ever tried. If they wont fit a nice set of 25x12x9 Goodyear Rawhide III's would be an excellent choice. Hey Mad_Max, you might want to consider something like this for when you build your Max II with the liquid cooled tripple in it.

[mightymaxIV]

There are a lot of tricks you can use when it comes to tires. Putting a 25 " tire on a 12" wide rim will bring down the height to about 24". If you have clearance between the tires you can create clearance on the body by heating the plastic with a heat gun and then molding the plastic with a jack and a log to make the clearance. Once the plastic cools it will hold the heated shape. I have a set of 27x12x12 inch AMS Swamp fox Plus tires on my Max IV. These tires really are 27" high tires but the 12" wide rim brings the height down to about 26" with the tires inflated to 7psi. I am quite happy with the set up since the AMS tires have 1.2 inch lugs spaced 3 inches apart and believe me this thing is truely unstoppable in mud and swamp. The traction and off road capability has improved almost 60% over the 26" goodyear rawhide tires I ordered with it! The 26" height raises the Max 3/4 of an inch and gives me an almost unbelievable differance in extreme off road situations. Any one who would like to see what my Max is capable of can go to you tube and do a search for Max 6x6 and watch me swim through the Carolina swamps with four people and two little dogs on board.

[jpswift1]

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it. You can actually copy and paste the URL for your Youtube videos on the forum here and it will show right up. This would be down the road, since I have about 5 6x6 projects going right now, but I think I wouldnt even use a plastic tub. I thought about building a vehicle like this Rolligon Corporation - Go Anywhere Any Time off of a Max frame. Say you didnt have a tub on your Max IV, what do you think the biggest tire you could fit on it would be? I considered even using some big 31" or larger V bar trencher tires and making a 4x4 amphib that floated just the with tires on it, but I dont know if the axles, chains, etc would even hold up. One of my friends who I went to college with who does some machine work wanted to scale up a 6 wheeler and he was even going to make a bigger version of the T-20. Imagine an amphibious 6 wheeler with 40 something inch tires. OK I have to finish up my projects first before I get really out of control with these crazy ideas. Oh if time and money were unlimited!

[mightymaxIV]

With out moving something the largest tire you can get on a Max IV is a true height of 27". This will leave about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch clearence between the second and third set of tires. Now I could have bought a set of 28" Swamp fox Plus tires and run them on a 12' wide rim at 3 1/2 psi and came up with a height of about 26 1/2 to 27". If I would have know how much the 12" wide rim shrinks the tire I would have done this originally, but all things considered I am very happy with the set up as it is since I can go anywhere from 25 to 27 inches now with changes in air pressure. Still it would be nice to have 26 1/2 inch ride height with only 3 pounds of air. Man you talk about going any where. Well as my Max sets Now I have yet to see an Argo or Max that can follow me through the mud and water. Sounds like a challenge to me!

[mightymaxIV]

I would like to build a 6x6 with suspension simular to the rear suspension on the Can Am 800 oulander. I would also set the wheels apart enough to use a 31 inch tire and use the 800cc engine to power the thing (can you imagine 800cc and 72 horsepower! Wow!). You could use the high and low range in the outlanders transmission. This 6x6 would be as fast as they come, ride like a marshmollow and be unstopable in any terrain

[Mike]

ride like a marshmollow

Dan, you make that sound so good. After watching your videos and seeing you not let up on the throttle I feel for your back

[mightymaxIV]

I am considering an off road seat with suspension as we speak

[Bushman]

Last spring I picked up a run of the mill Max II 16hp Vanguard that I have been fiddling with. I have owned quite a few Max IIs and some of the early ones with the one piece flotation tires would damm near rub the hull when they were aired up or the body sagged.

Recalling this I decided to see if the 25" rawhide IIIs on my Hustler-Ratcliff-Sidewinder would fit under the Max II.

They fit very well and with some heat gun and lifting the body from the rafters in my pole barn there was a good 1/2 inch of clearance between the body and tires. During inspections it was clear that the rusted out muffler hanging under the hull would have to be replaced anyways and the 25s would not clear the oem muffler. I picked up a quiet kit from Richards Relics for my Vanguard and that solved the problem.

I have Titan wheels on my tires run my tires low with slime in them, no bead pops or anything wierd. The Max ran well with the big tires and I intend to keep a set on my Max II.

I don`t have time to get the picture of my rig up tonight but will soon as possible.

Bushman

[jpswift1]

Thanks for that great information on the tires! Those tires make the Max II look like a monster. I bet that machine is pretty much unstoppable now.

[evil_jim74]

so with a little heat, 12inch wide rims, and 12x12x8 rawhides or 12x11x8 will fit a maxII...?