Quote:
Originally posted by speaceman
Well, I can understand it making a difference, but then in my mind if chains + skinny tires = traction then chains + wide tires = more traction.
That's what I'm trying to figure out. But all we have is Robert running chains on skinny tires and comparing them to wide unchained tires.
So it's not exactly the same comparison and so it's also hard to say if he's saying chains only benefit skinny tires or if they benefit all tires, as far as traction is concerned.
That's what I"m not understanding in this thread.
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Hey Speaceman,
Combining your top post and the one quoted here, is some answers for you. Sorta repeating myself in a way in the post above and elsewhere, but it is a good discussion none the less.
Stating as above, I have ran not only wide tires with chains, both on my Jeeps past (25 years ago) but on other off road equipment, in all weathers and all seasons.
Me, 1976, CAT 518 Rubber Tired Skidder W/ Grapple and 60,000 Hyster Hydraulic Winch, 600 HP Turbo deisel, and hydraulic lockers front and rear. The chain type is a Ring Canadian
I've ran wide tires, with and without chains for some 15 years before I went back retro to narrow tires.
The narrow tire has more adhesion by a huge factor than a wide tire. The wide tire aired down, is smaller in diameter because it is no longer inflated to full PSI. It grips by the fact the transfer of power is closer to the solid rim-tire carcass-ground contact surface. The whole reason it caught on to air down when wide tires became popular about 30 years ago.
This defeats the purpose of the idea of a wide tire-airing it down.
Comparing, a 5" wide railroad wheel, on a metal surface, can pull a 2 million pound long train with 8 wheels. That is the factor of adhesion, based on wieght and small contact surface.
In our Jeep's, save for mud, sand, tundra, meskeg, all other applications you will get far more traction with a narrow tire than a wide one. Add chains and the increase is multi-fold beyond that.
Finally, more weight on a smaller surface area, riding on a surface that provides no slippage or give (rock), viola, incredible traction. If your wide tire was a traction device on a hard surface as rock, you would not air it down, would you?
The fellas saw this first hand this weekend on our trips.
Maybe a quick mail to Brian, the President of their club up in Canada, might help. He is a very talented and skilled four wheeler, and has built up his rig pretty ultimate. This was also his first exposure to a rig set up like VEX.
It is set up that way for a reason.
It works.
Does that help better?
jeeper@shaw.ca
Brain's email address