P500 Good all around mud tire for a P500?

[Marshall]

Hey guys, being new to this site, (and to the side by side world), I need some advice on a good all around mud tire. Up here in North West Alberta a guy can see all the conditions on a quick ride within a couple miles. So I was hoping for some advice on tires, I google the tire debate or fire up youtube and nothing really answers my questions. Most of the riding will be done in or around soft stuff, anything from soup to clay that will turn the stock little 24" tires into 33"'s in a matter of minutes, until hunting season, then it will see potentially a little gravel every night. One more thing is ground clearance, VERY important up here. And bigger tire more ground clearance right? Anyway, sorry for the long winded question!

 

[p500fan]

Welcome to the club! There are numerous opinions about tires, so you can get the "full gamut" of reviews. I, myself, am a Ripsaw man. I'm running 27"x11"x14" tire on all 4 corners. The wider front tires give me floatation in mud/snow, and the Ripsaw tread cleans easily, as long as you keep your RPMs up. I run quite a bit of pavement/gravel, but wanted something that wouldn't be lacking when I hit swampy areas or snow. The Bearclaw HTRs also seem to be a good tire for the money, and have received good reviews as of late. Look at what others on the site are running, and do not be afraid to ask questions. We are all here to swap ideas/experiences. Good luck in your choice!

 

[Alan aka Davinci]

Welcome to the club! There are numerous opinions about tires, so you can get the "full gamut" of reviews. I, myself, am a Ripsaw man. I'm running 27"x11"x14" tire on all 4 corners. The wider front tires give me floatation in mud/snow, and the Ripsaw tread cleans easily, as long as you keep your RPMs up. I run quite a bit of pavement/gravel, but wanted something that wouldn't be lacking when I hit swampy areas or snow. The Bearclaw HTRs also seem to be a good tire for the money, and have received good reviews as of late. Look at what others on the site are running, and do not be afraid to ask questions. We are all here to swap ideas/experiences. Good luck in your choice!

I agree about the Ripsaw tires, I put them on my P5 and have been really pleased in various riding conditions here in Colorado from snow, mud, dry and soft. I went with the 25x8 and 25x10 to keep the 50" width.

 

[pFive]

I don't see many tractors stuck in the mud around here, so I went with the simple AG tire from interco, the R-Force 1. I think they are the 3rd lightest tire on the market. Weight is a thing, be mindful of that. I like my tires like I like my women tall & skinny

Mine are 30" and they gave me 3" of GC, I did add 2" wheel spacers to get my width to height ratio back, but if you don't do off camber hills you may not need to do that. I did need to cut the corners off of my frame to get steering clearance.

With these 500's the issue is having enough wheel speed in 1st to clean out the tread, I know from experience that in 1st I cannot clear these of mud by spinning. I can keep them cleaner in 2nd, but that is even iffy. I tend to crawl through the mud instead of taking the RZR approach and going full boogie through the mud pit, and so far that has worked for me.

I can drive over a milk crate with some room to spare. And cars...

 

[Montecresto]

Hey guys, being new to this site, (and to the side by side world), I need some advice on a good all around mud tire. Up here in North West Alberta a guy can see all the conditions on a quick ride within a couple miles. So I was hoping for some advice on tires, I google the tire debate or fire up youtube and nothing really answers my questions. Most of the riding will be done in or around soft stuff, anything from soup to clay that will turn the stock little 24" tires into 33"'s in a matter of minutes, until hunting season, then it will see potentially a little gravel every night. One more thing is ground clearance, VERY important up here. And bigger tire more ground clearance right? Anyway, sorry for the long winded question!

Welcome here Marshall. I would suggest that you put a few miles on it first to familiarize yourself with how the P5 handles. It's a great trail machine, but it is tippy by nature at 50" with better ground clearance already than other 50" rides. Navigating this forum you'll run across many pictures of the P5 on its side. One was just posted today. IMO, if you're riding rough trails that will get you off camber much, use 26's, with 8 psi.

 

[pFive]

I would recommend NOT putting a large heavy box full of stuff on the rear rack with a spare tire / wheel standing upright... keeping your center of gravity low can reduce falling over.

 

[Marshall]

Thanks for all the input guys! I'll be sure to update when I decide what to throw on there!

 

[Marshall]

Hey guys, just a quick update. Walked into my local dealer today to bite the bullet on some tires. They had them all there, ITP's, Kendas, Interco's you name it. While trying to decide one of the part guys showed me a full set of ITP Mayhams, he said they had them on a show room quad, had a a total of 5 miles or so on them from moving in and out of the shop they were selling them for $500 all in... regular full price was $881... needless to say I pretty much hit the guy with my wallet. So, my 500 has ITP Mayham 26x11-12's on the rear and 26x9-12's. thanks for all the advice, ill put some pictures up soon!

 

[p500fan]

Hey guys, just a quick update. Walked into my local dealer today to bite the bullet on some tires. They had them all there, ITP's, Kendas, Interco's you name it. While trying to decide one of the part guys showed me a full set of ITP Mayhams, he said they had them on a show room quad, had a a total of 5 miles or so on them from moving in and out of the shop they were selling them for $500 all in... regular full price was $881... needless to say I pretty much hit the guy with my wallet. So, my 500 has ITP Mayham 26x11-12's on the rear and 26x9-12's. thanks for all the advice, ill put some pictures up soon!

That's great! Glad someone got a good deal. Hope they work out well for you.

 

[Montecresto]

Hey guys, just a quick update. Walked into my local dealer today to bite the bullet on some tires. They had them all there, ITP's, Kendas, Interco's you name it. While trying to decide one of the part guys showed me a full set of ITP Mayhams, he said they had them on a show room quad, had a a total of 5 miles or so on them from moving in and out of the shop they were selling them for $500 all in... regular full price was $881... needless to say I pretty much hit the guy with my wallet. So, my 500 has ITP Mayham 26x11-12's on the rear and 26x9-12's. thanks for all the advice, ill put some pictures up soon!

Damn it dude, they put 5 miles on those tires rolling it in and out of the showroom!!!??? I want to see this dealership.

 

[Alan aka Davinci]

Hey guys, just a quick update. Walked into my local dealer today to bite the bullet on some tires. They had them all there, ITP's, Kendas, Interco's you name it. While trying to decide one of the part guys showed me a full set of ITP Mayhams, he said they had them on a show room quad, had a a total of 5 miles or so on them from moving in and out of the shop they were selling them for $500 all in... regular full price was $881... needless to say I pretty much hit the guy with my wallet. So, my 500 has ITP Mayham 26x11-12's on the rear and 26x9-12's. thanks for all the advice, ill put some pictures up soon!

If you are a new P5 owner check Rocky Mountain ATV for P5 stuff also. They have great prices, fast service and the tires you got are $410 and free shipping but they also have lots of other cool stuff for your P5.

 

[Marshall]

If you are a new P5 owner check Rocky Mountain ATV for P5 stuff also. They have great prices, fast service and the tires you got are $410 and free shipping but they also have lots of other cool stuff for your P5.

Only trouble for me with ordering off that site is the fact that it is an American shop, so after the conversion to Canadian money I get hosed because our dollar is so bad up here right now. But when things turn around you can bet ill be ordering out of the States!

 

[Alan aka Davinci]

Only trouble for me with ordering off that site is the fact that it is an American shop, so after the conversion to Canadian money I get hosed because our dollar is so bad up here right now. But when things turn around you can bet ill be ordering out of the States!

That does bite, I didn't realize you were our friend from the North and shipping to Canada from the U.S. can be very expensive also.

 

[Marshall]

Here she is with the new skins!