Who runs Bias Super Swampers on their 60?

[Doc]

Can you give in put on my question in the chit-chat section?

Short version- I'm looking at getting 34x9.5r15 soup-or-swampers on my 60.

I like the tread, great for the mud I sometimes wheel in. I like the 'free' lift they'll give. I like the classic era military look of the tire. I thought they were the perfect tire until I found out they were bias ply.

Will bias ply's on a DD be a real pain in the patoot?

CHIT-CHAT LINK

 

[jesterb]

Will bias ply's on a DD be a real pain in the patoot?

Yep.

 

[overhanger]

Doc,
It is purely a question of personal biases, pun intended. As Landpimp likes to point out, I'm old (54) and have a set of Swamper LTBs that I absolutely love on anything but pavement. Off road they increase the traction abilities of my 62 by a huge amount. Obstacles that once required rear and sometimes both lockers are managed without lockup being necessary. The 34x10.50 LTBs work that well on my truck. On pavement, however, I think that they are very ill-mannered and for DD use I have a second set of wheels and tires - BFG AT 33x10.50s that suck just about anywhere offroad. On road they work just fine. I have a friend who is 19 and has a 62 with the same 15x8 rockcrawler wheels and 34x10.50 LTBs and he thinks they work just fine on the road for a DD. Personal preferences rule the day.

 

[ojsdna744]

Don't do it DOC. I went LTBs on my Wrangler. 34x10.50x15s. Maybe they'd act a bit better because the Cruiser is a bit heavier...but I hated them. They followed ruts in the road horribly, flat spotted overnight and rode like ovals for the first 2 or 3 miles every morning, and it sounded like I was flying a helicopter over my cell phone. (that last one I actually thought was pretty cool) Go with a radial swamper for daily driving duties.

Now in the same post I'll switch gears...they were absolutely un-stoppable once you got to the trail head. Not good for pure rock-crawling...but for the rest of the terrain, they were fantastic. Those thick bias tires also made you a bit braver when the trail got sharp. MUCH less fear of punctures. If you had more of a pure trail rig...I'd say give it a go. For a DD, I'd really advise you to go radials.

 

[overhanger]

<snip>
Not good for pure rock-crawling...<snip>

Just curious as to what sort of rockcrawling you are talking about. Must be something different from Rocky Mountain granite or Utah slickrock. The big outer lugs on the LTBs work like paddles grabbing any little thing they can for traction as long as you aren't trying to power your way through an obstacle. Letting a torquey engine tractor motor with an auto tranny do their things allows the lugs to cling like tentacles. Otherwise, I agree with your assesment of them completely.

 

[WALoeIII]

You won't like them on a DD, but they are AMAZING off-road. I've seen stock 1500 chevys with swampers, make lifted, locked, and 350'd Jeeps look like toys.

 

[ojsdna744]

<snip>
Not good for pure rock-crawling...<snip>

Just curious as to what sort of rockcrawling you are talking about. Must be something different from Rocky Mountain granite or Utah slickrock.

As I said...my only experience was on my 5spd. Wrangler...but I always found myself searching for traction when I came to a "rock only" area on the trail. In my part of the world,(mid-west), the rocks get very slippery from the muddy tires climbing over them. I'm a big fan of letting the motor/gears do the work (I get called old a lot, as I like to creep through) and my experience was that the muddy rocks were "un-grabbable." Haven't made it out west yet into the mountains...did quite a bit of desert running...but all that was done with BFG A/Ts. (Which were great out there.)

My solution was a set of SSRs. Fantastic tire...same Swamper tread that everyone loves...radial carcass to make the DD duties pleasant...and enough tread siping to make it stick in the wet and the snow OR the slippery mud-covered rocks!

 

[overhanger]

OJSDNA,
As you originally said....with your Wrangler. It's a j**p thing so I don't (didn't) understand that it must have had a manual transmission. Now we know it was a five-speed manual and that does make a difference to me. Any ideas what sort of tire might have worked better in the "rock only" areas that included mud?

 

[fergus]

Can you give in put on my question in the chit-chat section?

Short version- I'm looking at getting 34x9.5r15 soup-or-swampers on my 60.

I like the tread, great for the mud I sometimes wheel in. I like the 'free' lift they'll give. I like the classic era military look of the tire. I thought they were the perfect tire until I found out they were bias ply.

Will bias ply's on a DD be a real pain in the patoot?

CHIT-CHAT LINK

Doc-
I ran my FJ60 w/ 38.5/14.50 TSL/SX as daily driver for about a year and it's not that bad.Yes the flat spots get worse in the winter.How many miles will you put on in a week?Highway/Street or Gravel.I also run a "skinny" pair of 36/12.50 SS Radials for longer road trips.The sidewalls on the radials are pretty tough too and they ride real nice.Check out some skinny Souper-Wamper Radials???
HTH

 

[Doc]

I think the solution here is to just buy a set of steel wheels and keep the bias superswampers as trail only tires and continue driving on the 31x10.5's that are on there now.

 

[Overlord]

I dd my 60 with 33" TSLs (bias not radials). They aren't that bad, but I only drive 10 miles round trip. She stays parked the rest of the time except to and from the trail. So far I've but 5k miles on her this year.

 

[ojsdna744]

Any ideas what sort of tire might have worked better in the "rock only" areas that included mud?

/SHRUG I think the SSRs do a decent job on the mid-west version of slickrock. (muddy rocks) My brother runs a set of standard radial swampers...the siping on the SSRs seems to help me drive through/over a bit better.

 

[FJ40Jim]

34" TSL on my FJ60

Doc,
I have been running the same set of 34x9.50 bias ply swampers for several years on both FJ40's and FJ60's. With a lock-right in the back axle, it is a hoot. The truck is almost boring off-road, just point it at something less than 34" tall and stab the go pedal, it'll usually get over it. But your question is about DD use. Yes, they are the worst tires for DD use. On 15x6" cruiser rims, they are tall and squirmy. Bias ply construction guarantees tire thump for several miles after starting up in the morning, or anytime the tire sit long enough to cool down. The noise on the highway sounds like a B-17 is flying right overhead (Cool!). The bias construction and aggresive tread also have dramtically increased rolling resistance compared to a 33x9.50 AT radial, so acceleration and MPG are both negatively impacted. My solution is a set of 31x10.50 AT's for street and snow use and the 34" swampers for real four wheeling. FWIW, the perfect tire for my FJ60 would be a 34x10.50 radial swamper on a 15x8 rim.

Short version- I'm looking at getting 34x9.5r15 soup-or-swampers on my 60.

I like the tread, great for the mud I sometimes wheel in. I like the 'free' lift they'll give. I like the classic era military look of the tire. I thought they were the perfect tire until I found out they were bias ply.

Will bias ply's on a DD be a real pain in the patoot?
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