Posted by Chris Davis - Centerville, UT on Thursday, January 05, 2006 at 6:22PM :
In Reply to: Quick- whats the best diameter ,width tire to run on a PW posted by Bruce, in Sechelt. on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 at 9:30PM :
The radial Michelin XL 11.00 x 16 is a great tire. They are about 39” tall and perform well on and off road. I would not consider buy them new because of cost… good alternates that have been mentioned here for probably half the price or less.
But, if you can find a set of used, military surplus Michelin XLs, they can be pretty affordable. Our application doesn’t stress them nearly as much as the military armored vehicles they were made for, so “expired” tires probably have plenty of life left in them for the average PW user.
I don’t doubt that they have a shelf life, and that Michelin has good reasons for assigning that time frame… but, these tires are rated for 4520 lbs each, or over 18,000 lbs for four tires! You probably will never get close to half the rated weight with your PW.
I used a set on a M37 for a couple years and sold the truck in 2000. I recently heard from its fourth owner and it still has those tires (probably close to 15 years old now) on it, going strong.
I’ve mounted a set on my WC-51 project… even though that vehicle historically should run NDTs, I just like the look and the performance.
My .02
Chris Davis
’45 WC-51