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FedEx brought me a present today! (Actually 4 presents), šŸ˜

PapaC

PapaC

Well-Known Member
Dec 12, 2021
55
334
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  1. Talon X
Been wanting a new set of trail tires and Rockymountainatvmc is giving $100 off a set of Tusk megabites right now so I jumped on it. I was kinda leaning towards 31ā€™s but these donā€™t come in that size, or they were out. Too good of a deal to pass up. And I like the idea of staying closer to the stock geometry/gearing anyway So I ruled out 32ā€™s (I know a lot of folks run em). Iā€™ll have them mounted on the stock rims soon.

Next up will be sand tires and wheels in a couple months. Iā€™ve pretty much settled on the System 3 SS360ā€™s on STI HD9ā€™s.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention I just received the XTC power control setup, as well as sspeederrs gauge relocation kit. New front bumper and winch are on the way. Soon; half windshieldā€¦..light barā€¦..new springsā€¦..lighted whipā€¦..slide protection, etc etc etc. Hmm, maybe I should start one of those build threads lol.
B248E0DC C917 413F A962 66DB06703BDB
DF458F61 E392 481E A0A0 D58202A9A8B0
 
PaulF

PaulF

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Jul 1, 2019
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  1. Talon R
Been wanting a new set of trail tires and Rockymountainatvmc is giving $100 off a set of Tusk megabites right now so I jumped on it. I was kinda leaning towards 31ā€™s but these donā€™t come in that size, or they were out. Too good of a deal to pass up. And I like the idea of staying closer to the stock geometry/gearing anyway So I ruled out 32ā€™s (I know a lot of folks run em). Iā€™ll have them mounted on the stock rims soon.

Next up will be sand tires and wheels in a couple months. Iā€™ve pretty much settled on the System 3 SS360ā€™s on STI HD9ā€™s.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention I just received the XTC power control setup, as well as sspeederrs gauge relocation kit. New front bumper and winch are on the way. Soon; half windshieldā€¦..light barā€¦..new springsā€¦..lighted whipā€¦..slide protection, etc etc etc. Hmm, maybe I should start one of those build threads lol.
Will you do me a big favor and measure the thickness of the bead (preferably with some dial calipers if you have some)? And also shoot a pick of the inside surface of the bead?

The Terrabites (the mold these Megabites are designed from) had thin beads and rough inner surface and they are hard as hell to get sealed on beadlock wheels and they claim the made some improvements. I just want to see if they are telling the truth.
 
PaulF

PaulF

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  1. Talon R
Very interested to see what these measure out to after you mount them on the machine. Terrabites run small so curious to see if they are more true to size.
Not sure about the other sizes but 30" Terrabites are dead on 30" at 12 PSI.

I see so many different measurements for the same tire and I often see folks trying to measure from the ground to the top of the tire and that is not going to give you a very accurate reading. The most accurate way to truly measure a tire is to measure the circumference of the tire at the desired PSI off the car with a flexible tape and then divide the circumference by 3.14.
 
PapaC

PapaC

Well-Known Member
Dec 12, 2021
55
334
53
W. Wa
Ownership

  1. Talon X
Will you do me a big favor and measure the thickness of the bead (preferably with some dial calipers if you have some)? And also shoot a pick of the inside surface of the bead?

The Terrabites (the mold these Megabites are designed from) had thin beads and rough inner surface and they are hard as hell to get sealed on beadlock wheels and they claim the made some improvements. I just want to see if they are telling the truth.
Will do Paul, have to be tomorrow. Iā€™m visiting relatives tonight and wont be home till later.

I am highly interested in these tire. Want to know your opinion once you have some miles on them.


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Yes, Iā€˜m not sure how soon theyā€™ll be on, and when Iā€™ll get on a trail but as soon as I do Iā€™ll update with my thoughts. Iā€™m hoping theyā€™ll be the ticket for our NW trails. šŸ‘. They are not DOT approved like the terabite if thatā€™s important to anyone.
Very interested to see what these measure out to after you mount them on the machine. Terrabites run small so curious to see if they are more true to size.
Me too! Iā€™ll hopefully have them mounted within a couple weeks and get back With that.
 
CID

CID

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Oct 27, 2019
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  1. Talon R
The only reason I'm not running Terrabites is the bead issues PaulF mentions. I have beadlocks and won't run a tire that won't work properly with them. Hondabob got over 10k miles on his TBs with stock rims IIRC. I also read that the bead thickness is 'wavy' causing the beadlock rings to warp, however slightly. Whatever the reason, TBs are off my list of preferred tires to try.

Welcome from the once great state of Colorado. šŸ˜Ž

The link in my sig has some basic Talon information if you haven't seen it.
 
PapaC

PapaC

Well-Known Member
Dec 12, 2021
55
334
53
W. Wa
Ownership

  1. Talon X
Okay Paul, this is what I found; I tried to be as consistent as possible with the location of the calipers, but it is rubber, and kind of tapered. I measured all four tires in four places each. They seem pretty Consistent. Low reading was .522 and highest was .538. Out of the 16 readings, most were within a 10 thousands of an inch range. Average of the 16 readings was .530. Last pic is the inside surface of the beads. All four looked the same.

35B150ED D974 4E04 AEF2 74F2C6AA440F
1A027F0C 4A8D 4AD8 AA4C 69541700CBDC
D849E52A 7C63 448F 8AE0 3997D541D47B
 
PaulF

PaulF

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  1. Talon R
Okay Paul, this is what I found; I tried to be as consistent as possible with the location of the calipers, but it is rubber, and kind of tapered. I measured all four tires in four places each. They seem pretty Consistent. Low reading was .522 and highest was .538. Out of the 16 readings, most were within a 10 thousands of an inch range. Average of the 16 readings was .530. Last pic is the inside surface of the beads. All four looked the same.
Thanks for the measurements and pics. Those beads are in fact about 1 to 1.5 mm thicker than the Terrabites I purchased a couple years ago. May not sound like much but it almost doubles the bead squash from 20% to 35% on most beadlock wheels. This is more within the desired 20% to 50% required for a good seal.

Old Terrabites are hit and miss right around around a 12mm bead (~20% squash) and out of 4, 2 of mine leak horribly (several pounds overnight) 1 moderately (several pounds a week) and one leaks slightly (several pounds a month). My spare is some no-name tire with a 13mm bead and it doesn't leak at all.

My opinion is that the combination of the thin beads and rough inner surface on the Terrabites on rims with a 10mm bead clamp width (like the STI and System 3 wheels) is what causes the leaks.

Unfortunately, they still insist on using that (somewhat) rough surface on the inside of the bead and this is where beadlocks seal. Hopefully, the added bead squash is enough to flatten out the rough texture and seal on these new units.

I will need new tires in the spring so think I will consider them to see how they seal.

Again, thank you for taking the time to measure those for me!
 
PapaC

PapaC

Well-Known Member
Dec 12, 2021
55
334
53
W. Wa
Ownership

  1. Talon X
No problem Paul, these wonā€™t be going on bead locks, and I have zero experience with them as of now, and yeah, youā€™d think the manufacturer would know better but maybe the inside could be smoothed a bit before istalling? An (unnecessary pain I know), and would undoubtedly void the warranty, but itā€™s a thought.
 
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