25" tires on a Max II

[Mike]

I am considering the new 25" Avenger tires for my Max II. I have been since this first post (http://www.6x6world.com/forums/tire-...ger-tires.html) but it took several months of saving to get enough change in my penny jar to even consider buying some. But before I do Lewis was kind enough to let me try his from his Avenger on my Max just to make sure they fit. (Thank you Lewis!) Here are some comparison shots and information for the archives and for anyone else looking to do the same thing:

Here are some pictures of three of the 25" Avenger tires on the passenger side of my Max II with it still jacked up in the air. I was surprised that we were able to even get them on there without heating the body. It won't take much remolding of the lower tub to get the clearance needed for these tires.



Here is a picture of a 25" rawhide III in the rear compared to the 25" Avenger tire in the middle. Lewis measured the gap between these two tires and we compared it to the gap between two 25" Avenger tires in the same place. The Rawhide III was just a few thousandths smaller, basically the same size at ~3PSI. There isn't much clearance at all though which worries me a little. Lewis measured 0.077" which is just a little more than 1/16"


Here is another comparison shot. 25" Rawhide III on the rear, 22" Rawhide III in the middle and the 25" Avenger tire in the front. My 22" tires now seem extremely inadequate.


At 7 PSI the 25" Avenger tires touch each other on my Max II:


At 3 PSI the 25" Avenger tires have 0.077" gap between the highest parts of the tread.


Finally just for fun we measured the three tires to see what they weighed and got the following:
22" Rawhide III mounted on Max 8" K-locks (with some slime in them): 30 lbs
25" Rawhide III mounted on Argo 9" wheel: 39 lbs
25" Avenger tire mounted on Argo 9" wheel: 35 lbs

Now I have to figure out whether I want to take a chance and see if they rub each other at high speeds?

[jerseybigfoot]

If you want the performance of the avenger tire in a smaller size the 24" frontier tire would be a good option with out any tub mods. The 25" rawhide 3 also fits with some tub mods.

[Mike]

I was going to run the 25" Rawhide III's after seeing them on egoperf's machine. However when these came out they seemed perfect for my Max II. I wasn't as excited about the 24" Frontier tires simply because of how skinny they are. I still have them as an option in the back of my mind but I think ultimately it will be either these or the 25" Rawhide III's. Decisions decisions.

[jerseybigfoot]

Mike if you go with the Rawhide 3 get the 12's not the 11.5 which are taller.

[Mike]

10-4. The one mounted on the rear of my Max a couple of posts up was an 11.5" That must be why it was about the same height as the 25" Avenger tire.

Edit:

I know a couple of people are running 25" tires on their Max:

I'm assuming egoperf is running 25" X 12" Rawhide III's.


Tory G is running the 25" X 11" Goodyear Rawhide ATT's as seen here:


Is anyone else squeezing 25" tires on their Max II?

[Noel Woods]

I run a combination of MudBug and Gator tires on my Max2. They are 25x12x9. The Gators are a clone of the MudBugs, the cleats however are slightly less aggressive & fit great in the middle and prevent clearance problems with the cleats on the outside tires. All MudBugs worked but gave less than 1mm of clearance which was an issue at speed. Actual height of my tires at 3psi is 24" tall, 13"wide.

Photos are in the gallery.

[soutthpaw]

Don't forget if you go over something like a log or small boulder it will increase the pressure in the tire momentarily and cause the rest of the tire to expand so that may cause some contact issues. Noel, how does that setup swim ???

[Mike]

Noel, sorry, I remember seeing you Max before in the gallery. I believe there was one other person with 25" tires as well. I need to go back through the pictures / posts again.

Thanks for the information on the clearance. When you were running all Mudbugs with that little bit of clearance how fast would you estimate you were going when they ballooned up enough to touch each other?

The Avenger tires had right at 2mm clearance between them on my Max but that was with the lugs right together. I think I may be able to line the tires up like gears so that the tread doesn't even come close to touching and as long as I keep my chains properly adjusted they shouldn't have enough play to get out of adjustment.

[Noel Woods]

Regarding swim speed:
Well initially I was disappointed. I got maybe .5 mph with all 6 tires facing forward. After several experiments I was able to determine that if I placed the rear 4 tires backwards and the front 2 forward, then I could swim at 2 mph, which is about what I got with the 22" Rawhide 3's I had on prior. These tires offer much more traction & clearance than the Goodyears, and a much softer ride even though they are 6ply tires. Control in the water was better with the bigger tires as well. When I had only Rawhides, the control while swimming was marginal at best. The new tires are much more controllable swimming & I swim well at less than half throttle.

[soutthpaw]

Not sure what engines you all have in your machines, but I am wondering how much power these bigger tires take off... did you change the clutch springs or anything???
How much are those rims from Matt?

[Noel Woods]

Noel, sorry, I remember seeing you Max before in the gallery. I believe there was one other person with 25" tires as well. I need to go back through the pictures / posts again.

Thanks for the information on the clearance. When you were running all Mudbugs with that little bit of clearance how fast would you estimate you were going when they ballooned up enough to touch each other?

The Avenger tires had right at 2mm clearance between them on my Max but that was with the lugs right together. I think I may be able to line the tires up like gears so that the tread doesn't even come close to touching and as long as I keep my chains properly adjusted they shouldn't have enough play to get out of adjustment.

The issue I had really only came up at moderate speeds, I'd say 15mph & above and then only while making slight to gradual turns. Below 15mph, I didn't have clearance issues even in the peanut butter like mud of East Texas. I put the tape measure to my tread and discovered that the Gator cleats are 2mm smaller than the MudBugs, so if you factor in two sides, thats 4mm savings, added with the 1mm clearance I had previous thats 5mm or .2" clearance. While thats not much, its sufficient for all the offroad conditions I've encountered. The other feature of note with my set up is the 9" Matt O wheels. I've actually ran the tires with 0 psi and they didn't debead, but the tires did flatten out some and my tire clearance dropped down to near nothing. My set up seems to work best at 3psi. Let us know how those 25" Argo tires work.

[Noel Woods]

Not sure what engines you all have in your machines, but I am wondering how much power these bigger tires take off... did you change the clutch springs or anything???
How much are those rims from Matt?

I changed to the red spring clutch. I noted that the t-20 performs much better at low to mid range speeds. Top end speed went from 23.5 mph to 20mph. I have the 18horse Briggs in my Max2. I did not change gears as the current set up has plenty of grunt.
I've had the wheels since 2007. I gave about $60 each with shipping then. I'm sure the price has gone up since then.

[mark m.]

Mike. I run 25x12x9 Rawhide III's on Muddox rims on my Max II. I had to heat and reshape the lower tub just slightly to accept them. Personally I think the Max II should come with this setup right from the factory. It's a shame they don't make these tires anymore.

[thebuggyman1]

Mike. I run 25x12x9 Rawhide III's on Muddox rims on my Max II. I had to heat and reshape the lower tub just slightly to accept them. Personally I think the Max II should come with this setup right from the factory. It's a shame they don't make these tires anymore.

They are still making them Mark. Just not for the general public. Matt O. buys them with a minimun order, so you can still get them thru him. I don't know what the cost is though.

[rdr]

They are still making them Mark. Just not for the general public. Matt O. buys them with a minimun order, so you can still get them thru him. I don't know what the cost is though.

he is probley buying the remaining stock on hand good year == titan tires stoped making them 2 years ago . they are made at titan tire for good year . robbie