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2:03 am
Club Member
August 31, 2018
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Just curious what people's experiences are with bias ply tires. Specifically I am looking at the 37" super swamper TSL SX-2. I do drive to the trail as well as frequent drives around town and freeways, but it is by no means my daily driver. My concerns are balancing and on road handling, especially since my steering and suspension are based off of 50 year old technology. I know Interco makes radials, but those are just not going to be in my budget. Summit currently has the 37" tsl SX-2 bias ply for $330 a tire. If I go with non name brand tires to fit my budget, will I need to worry about sidewall strength or should I just save for a little while longer and spend the money to get name brand radial tires. I'm planning on running them with beadlocks and balancing beads if that make a difference with your opinions. If you have some good budget friendly tire brands in mind, please feel free to let me know. I'm mostly looking at 37x13.50r17 or 12.50. I also ran across a local store, Tire Point on Auburn blvd near Madison, selling 37x12.50r17 RoadX RxQuest RT tires for around $800 for all 4. The price seems amazing but I can't find a lot of info about the brand. I would hate to blow out a sidewall the first time I drive over a rock. Thanks for the input.
Chris Campbell
7:19 am
Club President
April 2, 2003
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In general bias ply tires get worse gas mileage, but you likely don't care about that. I believe they are heavier as well.
For what you are using them for, those comments won't matter.
I didn't know anyone still made bias ply tires.
Kathleen and Brad
3:01 pm
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August 31, 2018
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I didn't know anyone was still making bias ply either until I stated looking recently. My gut says stay away from them, but I figured I would reach out to see if anyone had experience with possible this specific tire. The reviews I have read have been 50/50, but they seem to be based on history and not current production. My budget is pushing me more towards the off brand tire, im just hesitant about durability on the trail. Didn't you get some off brand tires last year, or was that Kris?
Chris Campbell
7:45 pm
Club President
April 2, 2003
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I bought 37s for 250 each off of ebay.
We will find out on the Rubicon run how they hold up.
I am planning to switch over to Yokohama's when I get some spare cash. What size are you looking for?
Kathleen and Brad
8:03 pm
Club Member
August 31, 2018
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I'm thinking of 37x13.50r17 or 37x12.50. Ideally I like the look of the wider tire. I'm still trying to find more info on the RoadX tire. Prioritytire.com has them for $280 a tire. The place on Auburn blvd has them for 180 a tire, cash only price. The only review i could find was at one of the new bronco rodeo test drives. They said they liked it, but who wouldn't for a free set of tires.
Chris Campbell
8:06 am
Club Member
June 4, 2012
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I have a set of 34x10:50 swampers on my Samurai the sidewalls are stiff, as light as the Samurai is i can acually pull the valve cores out, now you Yota is a bit heaver, and they stay up enough to (joke) run likr that. I usally go down to 2-5lbs. As far as performance.....
In mud, Snow and that kind of stuff, they are great. On rocks, climbing out of the Rubicon bowl the stiff sidewalls just wouldn't give enough to grab the rocks. That's why I have second set of Milestar Patagona's (radials) for rocks and that type of wheeling.
As far as highway driving, I know I will hear about this. What I do is raise the pressure in the tires swampers to slightly take the weight of the sides and run most of the weight on the centers. Better gas mileage and quieter.
David and Lori
10:05 pm
Club Member
July 14, 2016
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I have bias on my rig I don't care about fuel mileage and they do just fine on the road. I only drive to the trail and home not much else and I do 80 mpg downhill or flat ground 35 mph uphills
Mike G
6:24 am
Club Member
September 3, 2008
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I ran bias ply in the 38x14.5x15 SXs back on my old Toyota. They are a nice tough tire, but they will flat spot if they sit for a while, then when they warm up you won't feel it. But with old school suspension, they will be fine. I was running leaf springs front and rear. They can be rough on steering because they are heavy.
Um...what?
3:56 pm
Club Member
August 31, 2018
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Mike G said
I have bias on my rig I don't care about fuel mileage and they do just fine on the road. I only drive to the trail and home not much else and I do 80 mpg downhill or flat ground 35 mph uphills
Mike, what brand do you have. I have specifically been looking at the swamper sx-2 37x14.5r17, which sounds very close to the same tire Greg was running.
Chris Campbell
11:28 pm
Club Member
December 14, 2018
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Back in the day (80s) I used to run 35" ground hawgs on my Hilux Toyota. I remember them being stiff, heavy, loud, don't track great, last only 20k miles, but worked great in the mud drags. Didn't do much rock crawling back then.
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