ground clearance issues

[riverland]

Posted this in the general area too.....
Need to get better ground clearance on a buffalo truck.....currently have 21" tires want to know the maximium size and if anyone know how much ground clearance I will have. Keep getting hung up alot on stump humps in the swamp....
Does anyone think this will solve the problem or just help.......
Jay

[Mike]

You can put up to 26 inch tires on it easily as that is an option from the factory . They use 26 inch terra grips and while they are one of the fastest tires in the water but they are very stiff and will really hurt the quality of your ride. I think if I were you I would run some 25x11.5x9 Rawhide IIIs. You can get them on ebay for $50 a piece shipped and they will still swim ok in the water. The only downside is that you will also have to purchase new wheels since you currently have 8 inch ones. I would get the good beadlock wheels from Mudd Ox and then you would be set.

If you were looking for faster water speed then you could try some Argo tires but they are pricey. Search the tire forum for more choices and to see which tires others have had good luck with in the water.

[Dennis Saskowski]

26's might not help, once you get a log or hump between your tires on the same side or both sides at the same time it's tuff. 26's could make the climb over the hump between the tires worst because you got more tire to get over it climbing higher. My 26's saved me a lot of times but sometimes they locked me in a rut or strateling a log.

[riverland]

So far the tub has been the only thing hanging up....Have not hat the wheels lock up just getting the tub dragging or stopping the motion. Not always enough room to get around because of a tree or something

[Dirty Harry]

Mike's right (again!) about upsizing your tires. The Rawhide III's are the best compromise between more clearance and a quality ride. Running the 25 RH 3's on the beadlock rims from Mudd-Ox with about 1lb of air in them will be about the most comfort you'll get for the Buffalo. Keep your 21's though, because if you don't have them already, the 21's Goodyear RH 2's are the only tires you can use with the nice R.I. rubber tracks. What year is your Buff? Sounds like you ride & work in tough but fun areas. Post some pics of your rig in action!! There just aren't enough Buff owners out there. (If I had more $$$ I'd have one for firewood & dirt hauling myself.)

[riverland]

thanks.....
It is a late 90's before the dump bed. It seems like a great machine but I Sika deer hunt in Maryland and the swamps are nasty and I really thought this would make life easier for stands and work days.....when it gets hung up it seems to take a while to get going again between the humps and the mud soup. Going to try to move the trail over to avoid some of this. Kind of look at these machines as a go anywhere and not get hung up on much. The ground clearance does seem to hinder this and most of the machine I see in action have larger tires. We used other argo machines before with tracks but they seem to get hung up some too.

[soutthpaw]

if you don't actually need to go deeper than 18" of water something like my PPT would run circles around a 6 wheeler due to much more ground clearance and narrower distance between tracks