School me on 9.50's (1 Viewer)

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Oct 24, 2005
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Location
Fall River Mills, CA
Ok, went to les schwab today to get an estimate on tires, I'm running a 32x11.50 on custom wheels on the fj60 right now. I'm going back to my stock wheels, so my question is, I liked 33x9.50 mud terrain sxt but was not sure about how narrow they were, so i believe that my next choice is a 33x10.50. I mostly fish, hunt, and moderate to light wheeling in my 60. I have a 2f with a 2.5in Old man EMU lift. I don't want to already under power my 60 with the 33x10.50. Is this a concern or am I talking (typing) out my ass. They had a 32x10.50 super swamper TSL, but i don't think they would be desirable for highway driving. I read the notes in the sticky, so I would'nt get massacared for bringing up such a talked about thread already.
 
There are lots of opinions on this size tire. I have the 33X9.50 Les Schwab TXR. Great tire in many ways: works well in rain, snow, ice. Have 15,000 miles on them, and probably 10,000 left. On the negative side, when aired down off-road they do flop over/roll-over easily because of the tall side-wall. If you don't air down too much, or too often, or in really harsh terrain, this might not be a problem. I don't know many who think that a swamper is a good tire for DD, or for extended highway use. Killer off-road though. If I had to do it again, I'd get the 33X9.50 in the BFG AT. I think it would last longer, they are chaeper and they have 3 ply sidewalls. I purchased this size because it fits safely onto the stock rims. Going forward, I'm going to get 33X10.50, but with an 8 inch rim. For my use (skiing, camping, some adventure off-road stuff, nothing to hard core) I think this will be a better combo.
 
I run 33x10.50 BFG ATRs on my stock rims. No problems to report.
 
Some shops will refuse to put a 10.5 on the stock rim.
 
Razor said:
go with the 10.5's......

I knew razor would chime in, because i think i read something that he typed to the effect that 9.50's looked wrong on a 60. OK, so now here is a question for people that have had 33x9.50 & 33x10.50's. Did you notice a loss of power at all with 10.50's.
 
I've had the 33x9.50's in the TXR and now in the SXT. I also hunt and fish with the light to moderate wheeling and they seem to do just fine. The SXT's have seemed to last a little longer with a better ride than the TXR's. Although I have also noticed the BFG's and would definatley go with them next time. If you have a costco nearby they have the BFG's on sale until tomorrow the 31st. whether it be the 9.50's or 10.50's.
 
There's power in a 60? :D
 
I have 2 60's...

one with 35x12.5 MTR's...gutless, wrong gear hard to stop but I love the way they look and wheel..(I have 33x10.5 BFG muds on extra 60 wheels, havn't tried them on yet)

one with 30x9.5....fast off the line, rolls great, stops on a dime..but looks...most people have named it geezer. functionality right ?


10.5's are just the perfect size in my opinion, I will post up a review and pics when I go wheeling with the BFG 33x10.5 muds.
 
33x9.50 is a GREAT size IMO (and I have many opinions :) ). I have wheeled with many a cruiser with this size and they perform great. A tall & skinny tire has many advantages. You're in Redding so you probably don't see too much snow, but the skinnies are generally a better snow tire.

The high aspect tire ratios >85% win the Dakar races as well are used on military vehicles (like the Michelin XZLs) not by accident.
 
I think BFG has stopped making the 33X9.5 in both the AT and the MT.

I have the old 33X9.5MT. They kill the little getupandgo my 84 had to begin with. The 33's helped me decide to replace my clutch, chattered like hell with them but not at all with 30" tires. once you are up and going w/ the 33's, no big deal they are fine. You gotta keep the air up for street driveing, at least 38# or they will roll and sway really grossly.

I'll be getting 33X10.5AT, on stock rims of course, as soon as I do the lift.
 
3fj40 said:
33x9.50 is a GREAT size IMO (and I have many opinions :) ). I have wheeled with many a cruiser with this size and they perform great. A tall & skinny tire has many advantages. You're in Redding so you probably don't see too much snow, but the skinnies are generally a better snow tire.

I agree with this. I ran 33 x 9.5 SXTs from Les Schwab for 2 years and really liked the way the truck drove. The straight line tracking was much better than now with 33 x 12.5s. Maybe it's just me, but I do not like the BFG MTs and will never own another set. The narrow tires had a very high load rating as I recall, and really rolled down the road well. I did not offroad that set of tires much, but for dirt roads and similar, they were great. My 9.5s are still rolling under a club members truck today and still have lots of tread. Decent tires for the price in my opinion. For everything but deep sand and big rocks, I'll bet you get good service and performance from the 9.5s.
 
High Desert said:
I think BFG has stopped making the 33X9.5 in both the AT and the MT.

They still make the AT.
 
I'm still sporting the 33X12.5s w/out a lift. They're cheapy Futura RVTs but they look good, drive great (and straight!), and have done well on the highway. Plus they have about 35K on them and still have lots of wear left! I'll be seeing their limits offroad soon but so far, they've been great for the "nonextreme" wheeling I've done. I think the reciept for the tires (installed by PO) has them at about $85 each so they're really inexpensive. Probably better for the DD opposed to often offroad rig, but I've been satisfied w/ them!

My brakes can still lock 'em up on the street too!
IM000255.jpg
 
I don't have a dog in this fight, but I think that 33's are a little much (or getting close) for the stock 3:73 gearing. With 4.11 gears from a 62, I think they would please most cruiserheads. I like the 10.50 width, and run 31X10.50s on my stock rims with zero problems.

M
 
I ran the 33x9.50 BFG AT's on a V8 60 I had...waaaay too tall and soft sidewall. I ruined one tire 3 days after it was mounted, hit something on the street that just straight up holed it. Of course I stopped (not much choice) whatever it was was small enough I never even found what cause it...a 150 dollar fawk up. I did not find them to be stable in higher speed running...probly nice offroad, but never did get there, sold em and went 33x12.5. They only make the MT now, AT discontinued.
 
Texx said:
I ran the 33x9.50 BFG AT's ... They only make the MT now, AT discontinued.

You have it backwards. The MTs are discontinued.

At any rate, I vote for 10.5s. Huge difference in lower pressure stability. Couldn't tell a difference in "agility." I've run 9.5s on a 42 and briefly on a 62.
 

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