Look at WWII jeeps and their "skinny" tires.

[1leglance]

I am going to go with the other view that a narrower (not stupid thin) tire that is taller would be better....
Of course until I change out my 17" wheels to 16"'s or smaller I can't test for myself...
Here is a really well written resource
Expeditions West: Tire Selection for Expedition Travel

[berlin77]

Air2air previously said:

Those guys are of course NOT offroaders and kept me out of offroad for a long time because I thought they represented the breed.

Once you get out there on the trails, you won't see them again. Until your next Hooter's visit.

LOL. Ain't that the truth.

[timbo2]

I also believe ther was a rubber shortage at that time, but I don't know if that was relavent to the size selection.

[tibaal89]

Well, if the question is about why the army would use them... I can imagine it has something to do with the fact that they're smaller. I don't know anything about military workings, but I'm guessing spare tires is on the supplies list and given how massive tires are I'll bet they would use the skinny ones for a reduction in volume.

That being said, I believe them to be better. I say 'believe' because I don't actually know (i.e. first hand) yet, but I plan to get so called 'pizza cutters' when I ditch the stock rubbers for the reasons mentioned and linked to above!

[mir207]

KarlVP previously said:

As for the skinny tires, I've wheeled with skinny tires.

The 33 X12.5's I had were WAY better than the 33 X10.50's.

And I take it out and play with it. In many different terrains. I can honestly say that the skinny brings the suck. This isn't a "my brothers counsins other sister said..." Its what I said.

Skinny sucks, end of story.

Glad to hear it. Despite all the advice from Valk, etc, I still went for some 33x13.5's but haven't wheeled them yet.

[DominicG]

this is what lifted full size trucks with big tires are good for:

sitting on a trailer..



driving on sand..




and looking absolutely stupid.

[AZFJCRUZ'er]

I remember wheeling on the beach in Mexico with my 93 Nissan extended cab 4x4 with 29 inch tires and stock wheels. The Nissan had no trouble cruisin around in the deep sand due to light weight and little tires. Came upon a K-5 blazer which was lifted 6 inches and had 35 inch mud terrain's on it.....buried to the frame. I helped pull him out. While I couldn't pull him out on my own, the help of about 10 mexicans...we got him out. It seems to me that 4 wheelin capability comes from having a light weight rig and descent grip on whatever tires you have. They don't have to be huge. I went with the 275/70 17's which are one size bigger than stock (still come recommended from Discount tire for this truck) and a 2.5 inch leveling spacer lift. Have no trouble at all off road.

[Manhattan]

I had a 1955 Olds Rocket 88 in highschool (it was old then too - I'm 39). It had stock size tires on it - really really narrow, really really tall tires. Did they work better than wide low-profile tires? Of course not. The assumption that 1940-1944 era MB designers knew something we don't follows the same logic. That MB would have done MUCH better with a set of 33x12.50s... but imagine the US Army paying for, shipping and storing all those tires.

This idea that narrow tires "dig down to the hardpack" is ludicrous - in what percentage of circumstances will the "non hardpack" be just the right depth that those skinny tires dug through... but the frame/axles don't just sit on the ground?

If there's enough room and enough motor (power to turn the tires as needed - the mud guys need way more than rock guys) for the wide tires, I have yet to see where there's use for skinny tires.

[highbeams]

technoreid previously said:

Look at WWII jeeps and their tire sizes. Why so skinny for 4X4? And why dont the WWII jeeps I see have the big lifts?

**Is there anything to be said about this? (i.e., are they better than big fat tires for off-roading?)

I am not yet into 4X4'ing and was just wondering why I see so many trucks/4X4's with such large tire sizes and such a high suspension?
Is this really practical in off roading?

I mean they look cool, but how do they perform against a light 4X4 with maybe smaller and/or skinny tires like that of a WWII jeep?

I am not trying to start any kind of argument, I would just like to know the benifits of a skinny and light 4X4/truck VS. all these TALL, LOUD, BIG WHEELED FORD and CHEVY trucks I see? (in terms of off-road capability)


thanks, techno

you have to remeber that was top of tire technology in 1941,
In fact the off road tire was not truly invented until the 1980s when Atlas Tire Co came out with the first tire to use a z pattern in it's tread, before that most off road tires were hand cut. Since the introduction of the Atlas tire the bridge has been expanded to what is offered today. 2 decades is not a long time considering the length of time tires have been made.

[highbeams]

Plus, you have to consider there are 2 classes of lifted trucks

wheelers and mall crawlers

wheelers are usually not lifted as extreme as a lot of the Mall Crawlers, most guys who wheel go for a balanced rig because of the experience they have with top heavy rigs, plus tire size is what you can use verses what is a hindrence.
The FJC with 2 to 3 inches of lift and 285s or 305s is a very excellent wheeling machine. But some guys have to have that 6 inch lift etc.
And monster trucks, you never see them on the trails, they could get scratched. Heaven forbid.

So. Look at the trail rig you know goes out a lot, and it will be usually a medium higth and tired rig, then look at the one you see rolling all over town nice an shiny, and it will be jacked to the sky with meats the size of Texas on it.

They both do what the owner wants, one wants to have fun in the dirt, one wants to look good and have people admire what he owns because it makes him feel good