25" tires on a Max II

[lewis]

I can still find them for $80 apiece.

[Mike]

Hey Mark, what pressure are you running your tires at and what kind of clearance do you have between the tires. Also, do you ever hear them rub each other at higher speeds? I spoke with egoperf who is running the same tire as you and he said he had about 1/2" clearance at 1.5 PSI but he still hears them touch each other every once in a while.

Also, does anyone know the exact height of the 25"x11.5"x9" Rawhide III's? Before goodyear took them off their site I got the diameter of the 25"x12"x9" version for the gallery. They were listed as 24.1":

[soutthpaw]

Your tire height will vary with rim width, I wonder if you could run the 22x11.5-9 on say an 8 inch rim and get a lower diameter? it would also create a more rounded profile across the tread which might make turning easier....

[mark m.]

Mike. I usually run 2 psi in mine and have about the same 1/2" clearance as egoperf. I don't think my tires ever touched each other but sometimes one of the tires will slightly rub the tub when up to speed and make a quick directional change. I think there is some sort of weird tire deformation that occurs but you would never be able to see it unless you had a camera mounted down near the tire to view it. Having said that I am sure if I could have got a better more controlled alteration of my lower tub that occasional rub would be non existant.

I have thought about making a vacuum mold of sorts to place inside the body over the center of the axle. Pull a vacuum on it and heat the tub from below till the lower body deforms to the shape of the mold. It's abit of work to make the mold but I still want to pursue it in the future for my next machine.

[Roger S]

I have seen goodyear specs online before, and on paper, the 11.5 was taller than the 12 by I "think" a 1/4" or so. That might have been at 5 psi, I don't know how goodyear arrived at those specs. Matt has mentioned in the past the 11.5 was a little taller.

[Mike]

Thanks for the info. It's been a big help. I'll update this post with whatever tire I choose in a few weeks.

[shottzd]

I am not sure what this is worth but I am working on restoring a max II and was cruising ebay looking for tires and ran across a guy selling the goodyear raw hide III new with free shipping for 49.95 each. I am still trying to figure out what to put on my Max II, I am looking for something that swims good as my family owns a small private lake and I hunt on the back side and bought the max to be able to cross the lake.

[thebuggyman1]

ebay item # 350358470188 I've been wacthing them for weeks....14 left.....they are the taller ones 25x11.5-9 I wondered about clearance issues.

[wildtexasranger]

***HOGWILD***IS RUNNING 25X12X9 Mudbugs (old style - not the new radials that are out now).

[Mike]

I ended up ordering some 25x12x9 Rawhide IIIs as the 25x11.5x9 were just too tall. They fit but had the same clearance as the 25 inch Avenger tires, less than 1/8 inch. Im sure they would have rubbed. I havent received the 25x12x9 tires yet but they are on their way.

[mark m.]

Cool! You will like them for sure Mike. Out of curiosity, where did you source them from? They do seem to be getting somewhat scarce.

[Mike]

Cool! You will like them for sure Mike. Out of curiosity, where did you source them from? They do seem to be getting somewhat scarce.

I ordered them through a local tire retailer who is a friend of mine. He he had to call around and source them from different places. He couldnt find 6 in one place since they are no longer available. I am just glad that he was able to find six at all.

[Noel Woods]

The Max2 is a completely different machine with 25" tires. The extra clearance lets you meander over obstacles that used to high center the machine. The machine is also better balanced & the extra width & height affords superior floatation.
One of my friends has a Max4, he was accustomed to easily out-mudding my machine when it had 22" tires, his jaw literally dropped the first time he saw how much better the Max2 performed with the bigger tires. He now also has a Max2 that he bought when he realized how much potential a Max2 has.

[Tom]

Hey Mike,any further details yet?Are you still waiting on the tires?Looking forward to the report.

[Mike]

I received the tires and after several hours I managed to get them mounted on the rims and seated on the beads. I had already molded the tub over the front four tires for clearance so I test fit the tires and they had plenty of clearance above them. The problem now is that they are too close to the side of the tub. They are so close that the nipples on the tires hit the tub and after one trip up my street they had already begun to rub an indention into my tub when I turned.

So now I am waiting on wheel spacers to arrive. I went with 1 inch spacers however the 7/16 inch studs were not readily available so I had to get some with 1/2 inch studs. So I may have to end up replacing the studs in my hubs. I am going to try them out first since they have the conical lug nuts to locate the spacer and wheel. I may be ok with 7/16 on my hub and 1/2 from the spacer to the wheel.

They are supposed to be here Tuesday. I want to get them on before our Busco Beach trip this weekend so I can test them out. I will let you know how they do.