I am starting to think about different wheel & tire options for the buggy and seeking clarity on sizing. As with car tires there are three [maybe four] measurements on a wheel/ tire combination: wheel diameter, wheel depth [across the beads], and outside diameter of the combination [or a ratio of cross sections]

All of the standard wheel/ tire combinations are an 8" wheel.

A standard wheel depth is 4", with an OD of 16"

A wide wheel depth is 6" with an OD of 16"

A bigfoot has an OD of 20", can they be fitted to either depth wheel?
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As an out of the box [redneck ] solution I keep looking at the riding lawn mower wheels/ tires at HomeDepot/ Lowes. What is the bearing size on these, how possible is it to fit these [given fork/ down tube clearance]?
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What are the pros/ cons of smooth vs. ribs vs. knobs[lawnmower tire] vs. ???

yes they can. the wider the rim the more they balloon up. i saw my first bigfoot today rear axel had atv rims on the back and they were huge. also ther is a mid tire pl makes im sure others make them too. they are a standard rim but double the with and same on the height.

i dont know about your second question sorry.

OK I'll ring in on this,

Std. wheels actually have a bead width of 2.5", bearings now are 20mm i.d x 47mm O.D with spacers to accommodate 12 and 15mm axles. the old wheels had either 12 or 15mm x 32mm bearings.

The tire widths are:

4x16x8 or 4.8x8x16, these are considered std. or barrow tires (mainly 2 ply, but also avail. in 4 ply)

6.5x16x8 tires are considered extra wide or midi tires, two examples would be Nanco (2 ply) and Carlisle (4 ply)

12x21x8 tires are the bigfoot tires (ex. Nanco 2 ply)

all these tires are readily available through a number of sources

There are other wheels, namely 4" and 8" bead width wheels and tires such as Cadcat, Kenda beach racers, etc that are mainly available in Europe and are very expensive (if you can find them) here.

Smooth tires are good for softer surfaces, such as softer sand as are the bigfoot tires (lower pressure). The ribbed tires give better grip and resist side pull on harder surfaces such as hard pack sand. (sand is the only surface I can comment on as that is all I ride).

The tire height and width will change with the wheel bead width, so 12x21x8 tires are more like 9" wide mounted on std, wheels, where the barrows are meant for std wheels. I think midi's come out @ 5.5" wide on those wheels.

Tire pressure and load will also have a bearing on the tire contact width, extra wides @ 12-16 psi (mine are at 14)and the Bigfoot tires I know of folks running them from 5 to 10 psi
(I run them at 7.5 to 8)

did I leave anything out, probably, but there is a good start.

Excellent reference here. I will add that the standard, wide and bigfoot tires can all be mounted on the same 2.5" x 8" wheel hub commonly found on Peter Lynn and Flexifoil buggies.

Quote:

Originally posted by acampbell Excellent reference here. I will add that the standard, wide and bigfoot tires can all be mounted on the same 2.5" x 8" wheel hub commonly found on Peter Lynn and Flexifoil buggies.

Interesting...

Does mounting Bigfoots on a 2.5" rim cause added stress to the sidewalls or cause it to ride squirelly?

ATB,
Sam

As far as I know that is stock for the bigfoots. I do not have one here now to look at, but looking at the extra wide wheel assy and the standards, the rims are the same 2.5 x 8, and i am pretty sure that this is the same for the BF. As often as they have passed through my hands, and as often as I have changed tires on all of them or ridden on them, I have not had the rims side by side at any one moment, so someone can correct me if I am mistaken.

no difference in the wheels before or after the big foots, same with the tires before or after the wheels.
Only diff is its a bit harder to mount the big foot tire on the 2.5 wheel, but is done and rides very well.

Thanks Jeff.

Also worth adding that Peter Lynn offers the asymmetric hubs for the BF's that are wider but I do not know how much. They are asymmetric in that the bearing mounts are closer to one rim than the other. Thus by flipping them one way or the other when mounting, you can change to overall width/ stance of the buggy.

This might muddy the waters a bit but...

I was looking for a bit more ground clearance and a bit more floatation for running through desert sand.

I went with a 5.70x8 trailer tire (approx. 18 inch dia.) on a stock narrow, 2.5 inch rim which just clears the front fork on the front of Scout Buggly and works out to just slightly under a 4 inch wide footprint. On the back, I run 18x9.50x8 grooved tires on 4 inch wide rims which gives me a 7.5 inch wide footprint. I typically run no more than 5 to 7 psi in all of them. This provides good floatation in everything but the loosest sand, the grip is quite reasonable and the low air pressure takes some of the shock out of the rough bits. I tip the scales at 250 pounds so it's no small feat to carry my bulky arse but this combination seems to work.

Also worth noting is the puncture resistance. The front tire is an 8 ply (I know, it's way over the top) and the rears are 4 ply so sticks, thorns, burrs and spiney lizards that normally wipe out standard barrow tires are no problem what-so-ever. Occasionally I've got to run right through the grease wood and arrow weed brush to get out of a bad spot and have yet to flatten a tire.

As boredom hit particularly long a year ago during my down time, I tried to epoxy 2 PL 2.5 wheels together to make a wider wheel for the big foot tire. Epoxy failed. Then used machine nuts and bolts with epoxy, 1 valve stem in each hole and mounted the BF.
Worked like a charm, need to get longer bolts to fix it to the axle, but worked. Would work on the front of the Ivanpah but not wide enough fork. Then cut and added a 1" spacer to the fork and now I have a nice set up.( I had a bunch of old wheels from trade ins that are now being used)

Quote:

Originally posted by bigkid As boredom hit particularly long a year ago during my down time, I tried to epoxy 2 PL 2.5 wheels together to make a wider wheel for the big foot tire. Epoxy failed. Then used machine nuts and bolts with epoxy, 1 valve stem in each hole and mounted the BF. Worked like a charm, need to get longer bolts to fix it to the axle, but worked. Would work on the front of the Ivanpah but not wide enough fork. Then cut and added a 1" spacer to the fork and now I have a nice set up.( I had a bunch of old wheels from trade ins that are now being used)

Are you using the inner bearing seats on that built-up rim ?

I have my BF's on 4" wide rims and they are pretty fat !!!

Quote:

Originally posted by greasehopper Are you using the inner bearing seats on that built-up rim ?

Took out the inner bearings and installed a sleeve to keep from squishing the bearing through to the other side, like the wheels are now. It also keeps pressure on the wheels to keep them from splitting apart.

Brilliant !!! Do you mind if I pirate the idea ?

So Bigkids,

If I understand this you have essentially made 5" wheels and mounted BF tires. I would (and probably speaking for others) really like to see some pics of your work. Any chance of you posting some?

The best thing about a plan is that it gives you something to deviate from...

I would love to post a pic of them, would love to add a pic to my avatar also.
I will try to have one to show at SOBB. Life does not always let you do what you want.:dunno:

Anyone who wants to copy the idea...go for it.

thanks to everyone for the great replies, I figured that it would be a good topic of discussion.
Has anyone other than Bigkid [rims] or greasehopper [tire] tried alternate combinations?

apextech gave some great answers including tread performance on sand, can anyone fill in the performance for grass, my normal surface?

On the subject of puncture resistance has anyone tired solid tires or tire sealant?

cheers

Quote:

Originally posted by Cerebite thanks to everyone for the great replies, I figured that it would be a good topic of discussion. Has anyone other than Bigkid [rims] or greasehopper [tire] tried alternate combinations? apextech gave some great answers including tread performance on sand, can anyone fill in the performance for grass, my normal surface? On the subject of puncture resistance has anyone tired solid tires or tire sealant? cheers

if riding grass stick with the standard barrow tires. The wider tires only add resistance. If I use my big foot lites (correct name for a big foot tire mounted on the 2.5" rim) than I need to size up my kite 1-2m larger for the added resistance.

ALso to add to Angus comment about the asymetric I believe they are 8" wide as well as the Cadkats

Quote:

Originally posted by DAKITEZ if riding grass stick with the standard barrow tires. The wider tires only add resistance. If I use my big foot lites (correct name for a big foot tire mounted on the 2.5" rim) than I need to size up my kite 1-2m larger for the added resistance.

I just ask them to stop watering a few days before we arrive, makes the turf hard and slick, and very fast no matter what tire your running. I love my sod farmer.

I ran tire sealant in my barrows when I lived in California. The farm fields I tried to use were lined with thorn bushes that just poked right through the tires. All 3 were flat from my first outing in the Ivanpah. After adding slime, I never had another flat. I also never had any negative effects of running the slime in the tires. If you have puncture problems, get the larger container and follow the instructions.

The only bad thing about "Slime" and similar products is the tendency to goober up your Schraeder Valve (valve stem core) which makes adjusting air pressure after the installation a bit challenging sometimes. The added weight in a 2 ply tire at high speed might make for some interesting centrifugal dynamics as well so I'ld try to keep it under 60mph.

J/K on that last bit...

I've gotten some oozing out the valve from time to time but never had one not seal up. air always goes in ok for me too. Maybe I've been lucky?

Quote:

Originally posted by Cerebite apextech gave some great answers including tread performance on sand, can anyone fill in the performance for grass, my normal surface? cheers

The owner of your grass surface will be happiest if you use slicks. They may not give the best performance, but will have the least impact on the grass.
S