big tires+wet road= not fun

[blazeonchevy]

Can anyone explain why it is that large mud tires and such are so bad to drive in the rain?
It seems like the large contact area would help in traction. But they are pretty hard to drive on wet roads.

I have had a few close calls when people pull out in front of me. My tires lock up easily when the roads are wet. Taking off from stoplights requires babying the throttle, when I come around a turn I am carefull not to accelerate until straight but even then if I have to get out in front of traffic the tires just spin.

I knew most of these problems before I started driving my truck and adjusted my driving style as much as possible. But some things are unavoidable.
A friend of mine wasnt paying attention and a light turned red and he hit the brakes, the back locked up and spun a 180 and he went backwards through an intersection on 38" boggers.

My tires locked up when I was driving one day I almost gave a brand new corvette a brand new butt hole.

So why is it that these tires that can get traction almost anywhere cant manage to do it on the street after a drizzle?

 

[eclipse]

you talking about your 39.5 tsls? i wouldn't think tsls would deflect the rain that well on the road plus the weight of your rig compared to your tire size is off.

 

[TruckNutzDude]

Off road tires are designed for "high flotation" which makes it that much easier to hydroplane... didn't you go to drivers ed?

 

[abig85]

i never really had any problems with mine. they seem to be decent in the rain. havent had to lock them up but try to fishtail sometimes. i noticed in the winter if you kick it out they just keep sliding

 

[mini_mull]

If you want road manners get an a/t or a less aggressive m/t with siping like the pro comp mud terrains. To put it simply each of those large solid lugs are acting like little boats and floating on the water instead of biting through it to the asphalt. If you don't have control, don't drive it in the rain. It's not worth someone's life. Get a second set of tires on some cheap steelies for all weather driving and tell you buddy to do the same.

 

[JohnDeere]

But you would think since the tires are also made of a soft compound they would grip better.

 

[broncoman6524]

Yes, on the dry stuff...look at your swampers, your basic road tire, and a all terrain, what the the a/t and road tire have that swampers dont?

Sipes...the little thingys that allow water to run between the lugs.

 

[broncoman6524]

But you would think since the tires are also made of a soft compound they would grip better.

Yes, on the dry stuff. Same froa drag slick, they both grip amazing on DRY pavement, if yuo ad water or bleach into the eqation their grip greatly deteriorates.

Look at your swampers, your basic road tire, and a all terrain, what the the a/t and road tire have that swampers dont?

Sipes...the little thingys that allow water to run between the lugs.

 

[pauly383]

Yes, on the dry stuff...look at your swampers, your basic road tire, and a all terrain, what the the a/t and road tire have that swampers dont?

Sipes...the little thingys that allow water to run between the lugs.

Sipes are awesome on wet stuff , been there took the pictures

 

[BGKYK5]

And now for something completely different....

Anybody ever try to cut sipes into a TSL or similar tire. Just wondering.

 

[colbystephens]

It seems like the large contact area would help in traction.

off-road tires don't have that large of a contact area - look at the amount of surface area per contact patch touching the ground on a off road tire versus an on road tire. it's teh same for slip resistant shoes - they have a relatively tight patter - lots of rubber on the ground with small channels to repel fluids.

 

[MaxPF]

And now for something completely different....

Anybody ever try to cut sipes into a TSL or similar tire. Just wondering.

You can sipe any tire. There is a special tool that makes the job a lot easier. Supposedly siping makes the tire run cooler ans last longer, but I would think siped treads would chunk easier on rocks. If you have ever seen snow tires they have a LOT of sipes.

Air pressire on big tires makes a large difference. Run some water on your driveway right in front of your tires, and then drive through it to leave a fresh tire print on the dry part of the concrete. I bet you have less of the tire width contacting pavement than you think. You can reduce pressure to get more contact area, but doing so reduces mileage and makes the dry handling more mushy.

Probably the best bet is to find out what pressure works best dry, and then find out what pressure gives you a good contact patch. Then, when it rains air down and air back up when it dries out. . . . .

 

[nad]

My BFG's act like slicks in the rain. It's just common sense, the sipes are too far apart. Unless you're fording a small stream, they don't deflect any water.

 

[original balzer]

Yea what everyone else said.

Balzer

 

[mini_mull]

My BFG's act like slicks in the rain. It's just common sense, the sipes are too far apart. Unless you're fording a small stream, they don't deflect any water.

Last time I looked BFG Muds (listed in your profile) didn't have any siping. Siping is the grooves in the lug, not the space between the lugs.

 

[Greg72]

Last time I looked BFG Muds (listed in your profile) didn't have any siping. Siping is the grooves in the lug, not the space between the lugs.

Right.

To clarify, a sipe is VERY thin.....like the cut left by a razor blade, and go across the treadblocks. Not to be confused with the other grooves which are typically 1/8" wide or more.


sNipes are different still.....some kind of fuzzy animal that you can only find at night with a flashlight while on a camping trip.

 

[walla2k5]

Right.


sNipes are different still.....some kind of fuzzy animal that you can only find at night with a flashlight while on a camping trip.

 

[Chevy305]

My Mickey Thompson MTZs work better in the rain than most street tires do.

 

[BGKYK5]

sNipes are different still.....some kind of fuzzy animal that you can only find at night with a flashlight while on a camping trip.

I've found that the best way to hunt snipes is to drive around in woods at night with your headlights off. Then after a few minutes you can just pull them out of the voids in your tread. They are too big to get caught in the sipes however.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

The contact patch isn't necessarily what gets you traction in the slippery stuff. It's the biting edges of the tread. This is why winter, all season, rain, most car tires, AT's, etc etc etc all have lots of little tread blocks with lots of siping and small tread voids. Lots of tread blocks with many edges packed together all over the tread to grab traction. Each sipe gives you an additional extra biting edge to grab traction on the surface of the road.

These are a set of Mud Kings I had siped by Discount Tire on their machine:

Notice the many small slits in the center blocks and the inner portions of the outer blocks? Them's sipes.
They can always tear a bit but the secret is to not go down too deep at one time and to also only do the center portions of the tread.

I've since bought a tire siping/grooving tool like on the following site and do it myself:
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/sipe
Here's where they later grooved the same tires with the same tool:
http://www.4x4wire.com/tech/grooved_tires

It's a great tool and after doing a few sets of tires it's paid for itself several times over. We run only mud tires on our vehicles year round. Siping makes them SOOO much better in the winter and wet portions of the year (9 months or so here). Even my wife's DD is on mud terrains.