Question re: Best all around replacement tire

[DerekF]

Hi everyone,

I have a question I would like to throw out there. Here is a bit of background.

I have an 05 avenger. It of course came with the Rawhide III tires. Didn't really like them as the soft sidewalls always seem to get pinched when heavily loaded. I was looking for a tougher,more aggressive tire as I hunt in the high alpine mountains and with the mud/muskeg/dirt conditions, and NEVER swim.

I ended up buying a set of Vampire ASL Super Swampers from that guy that owns Muddox (can't remember his name) . The tires were really good in the hardpack/mud/muskeg I hunt in. The only issue with them is that they are hard, and they started to leak because they spun on the rims. I looked at getting another set, but they are not making them right now. So, I looked around the site to see a good and found a bit of info but nothing definitive.

So I am posting this question:

Given the limited options for 25x12ishx9 what do you think is the best all around tire for a replacement tire? Mud lites? Swamp lites? Aqua Tourque? Kenda Bear claw? or maybe the new Argo XT119?

Which would you say would be the best all around tire for a replacement tire?

[Laird]

As you are not swimming, I really liked the Kenda Bear claws I had on Yamaha Grizzly. They seemed to be a tough tire, seemed to stand up wear wise. I had about a mile of pavement before hitting gravel and then dirt to get to my stand and could not really see much wear a year later. And they were reasonably priced. I don't know anything about the others.

[mightymaxIV]

1st, I would NOT BUY the Argo XT119, I had a set of those tires on my SX950 Aurora and they SUCK! They barely swim and were not that great in the mud, It only took me one trip to Big Nasty to decide I would have to have Adair tracks-the tires are bad, I called the dealer and told them they were awful tires.

One of the forum members (Cory-MaxII) has run a set of these dirt Devils 25x12x8 on his MaxII for years, those tires give him about a 2 mile an hour swim speed and about the only mud tire I have seen do better are the ASX Vampires on a MaxIV

https://www.atvtires.com/gbc-dirt-devil.html

Bear claws are a good tire but do not swim at all!

Aqua Torque tires are excellent in the mud but ride like a brick, I have seen them on a MaxIV and only the ASX Vampire worked as well as these tires in pure soft mud

You can't buy buy a tougher tire then the Swamp Fox Made from real rubber with a pretty good ride and a SLOW swim speed-Mud performance about as good as the dirt Devils. The Swamp Fox 26x9x12 tires will fatten out on your 9 inch rims and fit on your Argo. I ran a set of the 27 inch tall Swamp Foxes on a 12 inch rim on my Max IV with out clearance issues.

https://www.atvtires.com/ams-swamp-fox-plus-atv-tires.html

These Kenda Executioner are as good the ASX but they don't make them for a 9 inch rim unless you buy a 28 inch tire and I don't believe they would fit on your Argo

https://www.atvtires.com/kenda-executioner-k538.html If you want the very best mud tire I would would consider buying a 12 inch MaxIV bead lock rims and a set of 26x12x12 Kenda executioner tires, they don't swim but they are an Excellent tire. I have seen a MaxIV and a Hustler with these tires and they are excellent in the mud. You can still get the Max rims from Matt at Mudd Ox.

If you want pure tough I would go with Bear claws, dirt Devils or the Swamp fox tires

I like the Argo swimmers myself but I don't believe they will last as long as the mud tires and they are expensive

[Noel Woods]

Hey:
Dan makes some excellent points. There is also the GBC Gators. http://www.tiresnstuff.com/gbc-gator.html
They make the size you are looking for and the price isn't bad at all. They perform very well in the mud, and do swim somewhat, I've had them on multiple machines and swim speed varies from .5 to 1.5mph depending on the machine. On an Argo 6x6 I got a steady 1 mph swimming.

[mightymaxIV]

It seems that the Dirt devil's and the GBC Gators are both made 12 inches wide, 25 inches high for a 9 inch rim and both are reasonably priced and you don't have to switch rims.

They should both give you a little swim speed on an Argo 8x8.

You can get the 12.5 inch wide, 25 inch high, 9 inch rim bear claw for a good price and I have always found that WIDER IS BETTER when it comes to staying ON TOP of mud


Good luck sir, it is going to be tough to beat your current set of tires.

[akranger72]

Thanks for the XT119 tire review Dan. I have kinda been set on those tires as I'm looking at getting a Huntmaster 950 but I think now after your review I will stick with the 117s. Lots of valuable info on here from alot of experience.