**1. Tire Flip
**If your sport quad’s rear tires are nondirectional and the leading edge has become rounded over, flip them to the other side of your ATV. You can tell if your tires are nondirectional by looking at the tread: if the tread pattern is equal in both directions, then you can flip them. Switching the tires will give your tires a sharp leading edge, which will put more power and traction to the ground and you’ll be able to get the maximum amount of life from the tires.
2. Bead Leak
If you have a tire that’s leaking from the bead, break it down (and if you don’t know how, check out our next tip!), clean the bead, and reseat it. If it still leaks, the bead may actually be damaged. Break it down again, liberally coat the bead area with silicone, and reseat the bead. Lower the tire pressure to less than four pounds until the silicone has set up.**
**
3. Bead Breaker
If you don’t have a bead breaker (and spending almost a hundred bucks on one doesn’t sound like a good time), there’s still hope. Whether you’re trying to dismount the tire for repair or it’s simply time to replace the tires, this trick can help. First, take the wheel and tire off your ATV. Then get a 2×4, 2×6, or even 4×4 piece of wood that is about three to five feet in length and pull the valve core out of the tire’s valve stem. Put the board on the edge of the ATV tire (just in front of the rim) and wedge the other side of the board underneath the front side of your truck’s front tire. Stand on the rim with one foot to keep it from moving, and then have a buddy very slowly lurch the truck forward. If the board is placed right, the weight of the truck should break the bead of the ATV tire. Flip the wheel over and repeat on the other side. *Please be careful when driving the vehicle up the 2×4! Go slow and don’t run anybody over!
4. Rebeading Tires
Okay, once you’ve debeaded, you need to rebead. You can do that by buying a cheap air chuck (get one with a clip on it that holds it to the valve stem if you can).
Take the chuck apart and remove the pin that holds the valve stem core. Remove the valve stem core from the tire; this allows much more air into the tire. Make a solution of five percent dish soap and water, and spread the solution on the tire bead. Now clip the chuck on or have someone hold it on for you and plug in the airline. The tire should start to bead. If it doesn’t, pop the tire on the outside with your hands at the 10:00 and 2:00 position, and when you pop it keep pressure on the tire. Once you get it to start taking air, the bead will seat. If you can’t get it to seat with lots of dish soap, release the air, break the bead loose and stretch the bead. Using a good-sized pry bar between the tire bead and the rim, slightly stretch the bead, working around the entire rim a little at a time. Use caution as to not bend the rim. Now lube it again with plenty of dish soap and try again.
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5. Flat Tires**
Does your ATV get more than its fair share of flat tires? If your tires are getting sidewall cuts, it’s more than likely due to the way you’re riding.
Are you going into corners too hard and slamming into rocks? If so, try backing off the corner entry speed and work on exit speed. If the holes in your tires are in the center, add more air pressure. Higher air pressure makes the tires more flat resistant. You can also add things like Tire Slime to fix the flat before the air runs out.
6. Water Weight
In order to keep the front end of your ATV from floating when in a deep mud bog, many top mud racers fill their tires with water to weigh them down. You must break the bead on both front wheels then fill them with even amounts of water, then reseat the bead and set the pressure. The added weight keeps the front tires down and grabbing whatever traction is available.
7. Snow Studs
If you’re a winter rider, here are some tips on studding your ATV tires. If you place multiple studs toward the outside of the tires, it helps clear snow better and helps to prevent the tire from getting all packed up with snow and ice.
And even though studs grip like crazy when you screw them into a tire’s carcass, it’s not a bad idea to sue a nylon nut o the the inside of the tire to help keep the stud snug. If a stud does rip out, simply patch it with a tire plug and then install a new stud a little further away on the knobby.
8. Flat repair
You should always, always have a tire repair kit with you on the trail. You don’t have to buy an ATV-specific kit (the ones available at the auto repair store are fine). Tire Slime works well on tires with small pinholes, but if your ATV’s tire has a hole bigger than a nail head, you should use a tire plug. If you’re serious about not letting flats ruin your fun, you can look into Tire Balls and tire foam. If you get a hole in the sidewall of the tire, chances are anything you do to patch it up won’t work for long and it’s time to replace the tire.
9. Under Pressure
Before a ride, check to make sure all your ATV’s tires are running the right amount of pressure.
If one is off, it can affect the handling of you quad. Also, we found that running higher pressure in rocky conditions and for high-speed riding is useful. Put less air in the tires for mud riding. Also, it doesn’t hurt to measure the tire circumferences with a measuring tape once in a while. It’s important that the two front tires match and the two rear tires match. Adding or releasing air pressure can adjust the circumference of the tires and put them in spec. If you’re on a 4×4, make sure you quad has the same ratio-sized tires on the front and rear. If you alter the size ratio, your 4×4 won’t ride right.
10. Clean!
You can wash your quad as much as you like, but if those sidewalls are cruddy, it’ll throw off that clean look you’re shooting for. To clean your ATV’s sidewalls, take a steel wool pad and water and start scrubbing. The grime and dirt should loosen, and then you can rinse them off with water. They’ll look good as the rest of your quad!
Lynn Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner
Fred checks the pressure on the tire that we were able to successfully reseat the bead.
Anyone who has read my ATV Adventure articles knows how much I love ATV Adventures. The beauty of the backcountry and exploring its many nooks and crannies is one of my favorite things to do. However, it is one thing to venture far from civilization and another thing to make it back to the place you started. This article is about creative ways to handle breakdowns when service is nowhere near.
To enhance MacGyver-like creativity, you need an emergency kit. It should include the following:
This list is comprehensive, but I have had a need for each of these items in different situations on the trail.
Never venturing out on your own is a basic rule of riding. With that in mind, as long as there is an inventory of these items spread among your riding group, you will be in good shape.
The reason for carrying some of these items is easy to understand, while others are not so obvious. Ratcheting tie-down straps, for example, are good for more than securing your UTV to a trailer.
I was riding from the Tie Fork Rest Area between Spanish Fork and Soldiers Summit on Highway 6. I was following a friend who wanted to show me a new trail. At the time, I didn’t know that he liked to ride more extreme trails.
Lynn Blamires, Special to the Standard-Examiner
Fred goes over the machine that tumbled down the mountain to be sure it is ready to ride back to the truck.
Coming to the bottom this cliff, everyone stopped to watch him climb the cliff on his ATV. He was leaning far over the handlebars with his rear wheels spinning to find purchase on the loose ground. He made it to the top and stopped, waving to the rest of us below.
Without thinking, I followed suit. However, I was not prepared for the extreme climb and I didn’t make it to the top. It tumbled back down with me on it. I was protected from injury by a good helmet, a full camelback, and a hard side cargo box, but the ATV didn’t fare so well.
I was able to start it, but a back tire had completely separated from the rim. There was no way it was going to hold air. My friend, Fred, had an idea. He took a ratchet strap out of my cargo box and secured it around the tire tread. Tightening the loop with the ratchet, he forced the bead of the tire onto the rim of the wheel. Using my mini compressor, we pumped air into the tire and the bead sealed. I was able to ride my ATV back to the truck.
There is another way to reseat a bead, but it is risky. You can spray starter fluid liberally around the area between the tire bead and the rim. Stand back and throw a match at the area you sprayed and BOOM! The explosion will instantly inflate the tire and seal the bead.
Many examples of this method are available to view on YouTube. I have never tried it and it looks scary.
Another item on the list that has multiple uses is the 20-foot tow strap. By definition, it is used to tow a vehicle that is disabled to a place where the disability can be dealt with. However, it comes in handy when a tire needs to be changed on a UTV and you have no jack.
Position your machine perpendicular to the side of a UTV needing help. Attach one end of the tow strap to a spot on your chassis in the front. Attach the other end to a spot high on the roll cage below the roof. Back up until there is tension on the strap and then slowly continue to back until the opposite side of UTV is tilted off the ground enough to change the tire. Hold your position steady and get the assistance of others to help steady the UTV.
This maneuver can be used to deal with most work that needs to be done on the undercarriage. Stay tuned for more creative ways to handle breakdowns in the backcountry.
When you go, take plenty of water, keep the rubber side down and plan ahead to stay safe on the trail.
Contact Lynn R. Blamires at [email protected].
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05/17/2018
The numbers written on the side of the rubber tire can tell the owner of the ATV everything that interests him. And if you are for some If you don't know what these mysterious numbers mean, then you can be mistaken when choosing the next set of tires. But tires directly determine whether it will go technique further or not. So, in this article you will close all the questions on about the decoding of size ATV tire .
All tires have their own basic parameters - this is the width, height and diameter. The value of these parameters is mainly measured in inches.
Exists two units:
1) If you have ATV, then this is for you. English version is the most common number system that is used when determination of tire dimensions on ATVs. All measurements here are in inches. (1 inch equals 2.54 cm). For example, the size indicated in English classification looks like this - 25x8x12 . Let's take a closer look at the meaning of each digit:
- The first digit 25 shows the height of the tire in inches;
- The second digit 8 indicates the width of the tire in inches;
- The last, third digit 12 indicates the diameter of the wheel disk, it is also measured in inches. Disc diameter on each ATV can be different. Therefore, be careful before you buy tires for ATV, see what regular disks are installed on your vehicle.
And a very important point worth noting. Often our customers ask themselves: “If I have a tire size of 20x10x10, can I put instead of them 20x11x10? The answer is yes.
First, you can put rubber on regular wheels with a size exceeding 1 inch in height and width. Secondly, if you want tires even wider, then for this you will need to buy other disks. But again, there are limitations. On discs of other diameters, you can install rubber, the largest is only 2 inches in height and width.
These two rules must be strictly observed, otherwise, if you try to put tires of an unacceptably large size, this may adversely affect on a quad bike. After all, the rubber will be larger and, accordingly, heavier, which does not fit the technical parameters of the ATV. In production ATVs take into account all the characteristics, so manufacturers of ATV equipment I don't recommend using bigger tires at all. But if you do decided to increase the size of tires, call our toll-free number, we we will help.
2) Also there is another version - metric . Here the dimensions are indicated in percentage and millimeters. For example, size specified according to the metric classification - 205/80 Rx12 .
Such designations are usually used on automobile tires. Let's see what's what:
- The first digit of 205 shows the total tire width in millimeters. Converting this value to inches, we will just get the number 8 (in the English version is 8 inches wide).
- The second digit 80 indicates the ratio of the height of the tire to its width, measured as a percentage. After doing some mathematical manipulations, we get the number 25 (in the English version, the height is equal to 25 inches).
- The number 12, as in the English version, shows the size disk in inches.
- Well, the letter R means that our tire is radial.
The most important thing to remember from the article is that it is not recommended to install tires of huge sizes that do not correspond to the parameters your ATV . If you want to change the tires on your vehicle, give us a call. we will help.
Today the Russian market offers a wide range of tires for ATVs.
Choosing tires for an ATV from such an assortment is quite difficult, and when you consider that the choice of tires for an ATV is in many ways a determining factor, it becomes even more difficult. It is known that the stronger the contact with the coating, the better the grip, the better the patency of your ATV. Therefore, the pattern and size of the wheels must match the surface on which you are going to ride.
The stock tires on an ATV usually come in 2 sizes, 25" or 26". Radius 12 inches. Usually, quad riders say "12 inch ATV tires". The 25th rubber can be immediately excluded from the list, and the 26th rubber is suitable for driving on moderate off-road and rolled paths.
ATV tire photo R 12 stormbringer NOMO
Basically the choice of rubber falls on size 27 (27 inches). On most ATVs, the suspension travel, steering angles, arch clearance, drivetrain strength allow you to fit size 27 r12 ATV tires with no problem.
By installing tires of size 27, you will increase the clearance and significantly increase the cross-country ability. At the same time, your transmission will work without undue effort and stress. Wide front tires will go well on soft ground, but the handling of the ATV will drop. In the front, they usually put rubber with a width of 9inches, and back 11 or 12 inches. 27-9-12 front wheels and 27-12-12 rear wheels.
Photo of R 12 stormbringer NOMO ATV tire on Yamaha Grizzly
Larger tires (28, 29, 30 inches) require some suspension modifications. It may be necessary to install a lift kit, change the drive, put wheel spacers. we present 2 tire sizes in our online store. On these tires, many ATVs took part in exciting and extreme journeys, as part of the Journey for Experiences project. And it was on those routes and in those situations that an opinion was formed about the quality, wear resistance, and puncture resistance of these tires.
We try to offer only proven products that we use ourselves in our travels. The choice is yours.
R 12 stormbringer STORM tire photo. ATV Mud Tire
The most common mud tire pattern is herringbone. If your main routes are through swamps and sticky clay, then mud tires are what you need. Directional, diagonal mud rubber, does not have a central track, and therefore self-cleaning well. At the same time, the pressure in the tires of the ATV should be as low as possible. The number of layers of rubber must be at least 6. Mud tire test.
R 12 stormbringer STORM tire photo. Popular ATV tires
ATV tire photo R 12 stormbringer STORM. On a Yamaha Grizzly
ATV tire photo R 12 stormbringer STORM. ATV BRP
ATV tire photo R 12 stormbringer NOMO.
