Tire foams: Yes or No?

[fullmodtxt]

Hi guys! I have heavily cut Clod tires on my TXT. They are glued onto narrowed wheels. I have no foams in them, so they are really soft. They mould/conform to the rocks really well.
However, sometimes I wonder if I am actually losing traction because the tires conform to the rocks so much. There is lots of contact patch or contact area, but very little contact point pressure.
I'm wondering if a 50/50 compromise between soft tire conformability and foams/stiffer carcass (but higher contact pressure) would be a good idea? Anybody out there have an opinion? Maybe I should have put this in the polls section? Thanx! Vince

[Reflection]

I'm running uncut Clod tires on my Twin that are mounted and glued on VERY narrow wheels. I am running no foams and I couldn't complain at all. You could cut the foam in half and try that,I've read that guys have tried and liked that. I think alot has to do with the terrian and your driving style.

[TwistedCreations]

i always run foams, but my driving style makes me everytime i try without foams,it compresses the tire too much and just puts it all in a bind.its like having a flat tire. on one set i use, i cut the foams thickness in half and they work great. it allows the tire to conform to a certain point, but wont allow it to completely go flat

[CJ-7]

are they forming around it so much that the wheel is resting against the rocks through the tire?

you should do a test. set up an obsticals that will require alot of tire traction. smooth rocks, dusty/sandy rocks, jagged rocks etc., and make two lines through the rocks which represent where your tires will go through. now take your crawler through using different tire pressures and see which one grips the best.

i'm guessing though that the tire pressure your running at now is the best because as the tire forms around the rock, the voids in the tread contain edges of the rock which then rest againts the tread of your tire hooking you on that edge. with a stiffer tire, you will still have that hooking action going on but its not forming around the shape of the edge giving less area for the tire to grab onto the rock.

with a smooth rock, you may want a harder tire to get that heavier contact patch. in this case , the tread will play a big part. the tread will smash againts the microscopic edges in the rock and fill in all the crevices with the tire compound. so a harder tire with a small but heavy contact patch is best for that type of rock.

so a good variety of tires for different terrain is best.

[fullmodtxt]

Thanx for all the replies! CJ-7, if a tire rest on a small rock in the middle of the tire, it will compress to the point that the inner tire touches the wheel. Just thought about that now; that will give contact patch pressure, won't it? Vince

[CJ-7]

yes it will give you contact pressure, but not the kind you need. when that happens, it takes weight off the surface of the tire which gives you the traction you need from the tread and puts it on the wheel.

i think it might be good to do the foam thing like the others said or seal up the tire and have a tire inflated with air. heres a forum where somebody does that and has good effects.

http://www.rccrawler.com/postt934.html

[Grizzly4x4]

I always run foams in my tires now. I tried the MGT's without foams and did not like how they folded into cracks and got stuck, plus when they squish all the way to the rim you lose ground clearance.
I like to run the next smaller size foam. In the narrowed MGT's (6 7/8" tall) I run Savage foams (6" tall), in my Savage tires I run Maxx foams (5.5" tall). This seems to give good flex along with some sidewall support.