oh, i get what you mean. i haven't asked about open country M/Ts

from BFGs site they report

All-Terrain T/A
tread wear=7
wet traction=9
quiet ride=7
Handling=8
Winter traction=10
Mud traction=9

Mud-Terrain T/A
tread wear=7
wet traction=7
quiet ride=n/a (so i assume that means its not that great)
Handling=7
Winter traction=7
Mud traction=10 (so its a trade of mud-for-everything else)

Krawler T/A
tread wear=6
wet traction=6 (6 is about the lowest rating i've seen for any BFG tire, so i assume that isn't that good)
quiet ride=n/a
Handling=6
Winter traction=6
Mud traction=10 (so its even more in the same direction...?)


Maybe i can test drive some M/Ts if i can find the Open Countries. Worst case i have some tires to auction on ebay.

 

neither my BFG M/Ts or my Toyos are very loud, so I think BFG is full of it. as for wet traction, you've got 7000 lbs sitting on the tires, and i've never lost traction on a wet road. of course, i don't drive like a complete jacka$$ (some parts are missing) when it's raining. you've got more rubber surface hitting the ground with the A/T, so that's probably what they use for gauging wet and snow traction. that's also at recommended tire pressure, so if you're offroading in the snow and mud you can air down and both would give you improved traction. i doubt you could go wrong with either the A/T or the M/T, both are a good tire. you may even get lucky and be able to buy a complete set of tires and stock rims from the dealer at a hell of a bargain. there was a dealer in the bay area selling a set of 4, rims and tires, for $600.

 

thanks for all the help of late, Short & i'll give some M/Ts a try and see how they work for daily driving.

mostly, more than how to optimize the H2, i think i need tips on how to find places to offroad with it.

 

books, local 4wd clubs, 4wheel parts houses, stuff like that. national forests usually have maps showing where you can go and where you can't, although you may be too wide for some forest roads. better yet, find your closest local hummer club. the point you don't want to forget though, don't go unprepared. get a winch, make sure you've got a good spare, let someone know where you're going, or the best option, never go alone. no matter what you do to your truck, there's always a weak link. one run i went on broke 2 H1s, one went home on a flat bed, the other with only front wheel drive. inexperience, and a willingness to try to help those less experienced, can both cause problems. just try to stay within your limits, you're the only one that can gauge what you can handle. bottom line: tread lightly and have a good time.



[IMG]local://upfiles/69/C58351525997475799BD9147849DEEF4.jpg[/IMG]

 

nice pic.

is the WARN winch the one to get? does it impede approach angles / risk getting rammed into a hillside at all?

i'm signed up for a hummer get together in june, but it would be nice to find alot of different kind of places to play int he big truck. and i'll accept the limited ability to sneak down forest trails as a small-loss compared to the ability to rip down open trails at high speed (that was alot of fun) and turn into steep hills (that was also alot of fun).

the one thing that i don't think i am going to find up here is a hard-bottomed mud hole like the one you're splashing through in that pic. once things get muddy around here, its usually ... feet and feet deep, so if you sink, you're sunk.


on that note, would a lighter vehicle have advantages for mud-bogging? i think alot of why the jeep was so bad in snow was that it wasn't heavy enough to compress the stuff and get some traction the way a pickup can. when winter comes... that will be interesting.

 

Weight vs. tire width has a major impact on traction. In your type of soft goo, floatation is the best, so a wider tire works better, especially aired down. That provides an even bigger footprint and helps the tire self clean for another bite. The drawback to this setup is that on wet or icy roads, you are too light in the footprint and you get the same effect as if you were driving on marbles. I learned this the hard way with a jeep about 12 years ago. On the other hand, thicker, more defined goo that has a bottem close to the surface can actually benefit from a skinnier tire that can penetrate down to the solid surface for traction. The drwback here is that if you encounter anything softer, you will sink and be stuck. Unless you are setting you rig up for a specific type of terrain and can live with the harsh sacrafices on other terrain, something close in width to what the manufacturer put on is probably going to be the best over all, just change the tread to something more suited for the most common terrain you expect to encounter. At least this is what my experience has taught me.

 

there are other winches available, but you can't go wrong with the warn. the cradle will cut off some of your approach angle, but i haven't had a problem with it yet. i'll let you know how it worked when i get back from Moab in August. one of the benefits is that you can also put it in the receiver in back, if needed. you can get a replacement bumper too, which shouldn't impact you angle.

mud's unpredictable, you never really know what's underneath it. just don't stop in the middle . . . .[sm=badidea.gif]

 

yeah, i've heard that only punch-drunk guys who drool too much in their sleep stop in the middle of mud. what weirdos [8D]

is the warn sort of transportable from front to back or inside the rear? as in, put it on if you need it fairly fast, then take it off, move it to the back if needed, etc.?

i should get one of those, that's pretty cool.

I found a place that can (per them) deliver Toyo M/Ts. i'm thinking about having them put onto my factory rims and swapped in the case that i find objectionalbe noise/safety driving them day-to-day. I ran into a guy the other day with a '95 Suburban with a 454 and M/Ts that he uses as a recreational truck... he said he gets 8-10 mpg (that is a BIG motor) and that the thing is a menace on the roads, and he won't drive it around town as a result. his comment was that he slides through intersectinos routinely and can't stop on rain or stop/go on icy roads.

i haven't a clue what brand or year of tires he has, & the Toyos might be alot better.

Up here near the canadien border in the land of 10k lakes, we live with slippery roads in parts of town 1/3 of the year. main roads usually get sanded/salted, but back streets (like near my house) can remain bad all winter.

 

Warn offers a cradle kit that goes into your front hitch receiver. you can drill another hole in it (depending on which cradle you get) so it will fit in front or back, since the back receiver pin goes horizontally, and the front goes vertically.

http://www.hummersolutions.com/produ...roducts_id/457

this is the one i have. if you go this route, tell this guy i sent you, he's familiar with the shortbus. not sure if you'll get a deal or not, but he's really good to work with and is pretty responsive.

as for the Toyos, if you go with 35" tires, they should fit on your stock rims. I went with steel rims and slightly bigger tires. if you stay with 35" tires, you won't screw up your speedometer or mileage computer either.

 

thanks short.