[hooked]

Took my wolverine over some really rough terrain and rocks the other day up at a ranch in Northern California. On the way down a hill I felt the rocks hitting the front passenger tire extra hard and low and behold I was driving on a flat tire.

Put my wolverine back in storage near the ranch, filled up the tire and left it for a couple weeks. When I returned with two new front wheels and tires, the apparent flat tire was still full. I even drove it around for a couple miles and it seemed fine.

What do you think happened? Would you recommend changing the tire? I don't like having to lug a spare tire, jack etc...around the ranch and just curious what you guys would recommend.

 

[Roadymi]

These factory tires have a very weak sidewall. It likely simply knocked the bead off the rim going over the rocks. A little more air pressure may help. These tires will be challenged running in rough conditions. For the basic forest road trail they are fine. You start putting them in rocks and sticks you will likely have issues. If you ride very far from your ranch buildings carrying a small 12 volt pump, small ratchet strap, tire plug kit, and a bottle of slime may be a good idea.

PS if you're not experienced with the procedure a small ratchet strap wrapped around the full tread of the tire can be helpful in seating the bead on a tire when you have a low volume air compressor.

 

[yamaford]

I'm surprised i didn't blow the tire out the first night when i hit a 2 foot wide, foot deep sink hole. (Didn't see it ) It did bend the inner lip of the wheel so much that when i rolled on that bend it leaked air. Hammered the wheel back on the trail and made it to the trailer.
We ride on a mix of terrain from sharp iron ore rock to swamps. Haven't seen anyone rip side walls open on any kind of tire. Do get tread punctures tho. From what exactly who know.

 

[Wolfie]

You hit something hard and broke the bead off the rim either momentarily (enough for the air to escape) or completely. When you filled it back up the bead may have popped back on the rim.

If you plan to ride the rough stuff, ditch the bighorn 2.0s for something with a little higher ply rating.

Good luck.

 

[yamaford]

Just saying im surprised the tire didn't get wrecked. Rode back to town a few miles with the tire half full of air after hammering the wheel back. So I'm pretty sure the whole bead didn't come unseated from the wheel.

 

[Wolfie]

If you hit it hard enough and it wasn't anything super sharp, thats what happened. Tires, in general, are pretty tough as long as its not sharp.

Last trip to WV I hit a HUGE hole with my trailer. It bounced a foot off the ground. Went back to check, flat tire. Took the tire off and the rim was severely damaged. Like someone took a 1000 lb ax to it. Got a hammer and beat it as round as I could. Took a ratchet strap around the tire and tightening it as I aired it up. Low and behold the tire popped back on and held air.

You could have bent the rim and caused a leak.

A good test would be to air it up and drive it for a day . Always take a spare.

 

[yamaford]

Yes i did bend the rim. I said that initially. It held what air was left till the next day. Anyway i ended up getting new wheels for the heck of it. I ran the bent back wheel for a couple months with no issues.

 

[911-RN]

I had problems with both of my front wheels this past weekend. I don't know how the front driver tire went flat but I had a bottle of slime and a plug-in compressor and it did fine. About 2 more miles down the trail, I hit a rock that was hidden in a mud hole and made a huge dent in the rim on the front passenger side. I hit that mud hole doing about 5-10mph. I had to ride about 7 miles back to the trailer the no tire on the rim. I am new to the side x side world. I previously had a Grizzly 550. I have gotten stuck in holes that my Grizzly would have had no problems with. Do I need to change my style of mudding? I know the Wolverine is quite a bit heavier than my old Grizzly. Plus, I am real disappointed with having a flat and a bent rim with 15 mins of each other. Are the stock wheels and tires just cheaply made? Again, my Grizzly took a lot more hits than that. So far, I have had nothing but bad luck out of my Wolverine. I really enjoy the Wolverine but if I can't even make it through a few mud holes or hit a rock at low speed, I wonder if I should go back to a Grizzly.

 

[Roadymi]

Those stock front tires are only 2 ply. Not much there to hold up against obstacles. I rolled my wolverine taking a curve that I absolutely felt I was under complete control til I was laying on my roof. I blame that on the tires rolling over. They rolled enough that I had dirt and grass wedged between the tire and rim front and rear on all 4 tires (outside bead on one side and inside bead on other side) yet they continued to hold air for another week or so until I got it to the tire shop to replace those crap tires. It feels much more stable to me now. (Could be all in my noggin....who knows)

 

[Deeyoh]

I had problems with both of my front wheels this past weekend. I don't know how the front driver tire went flat but I had a bottle of slime and a plug-in compressor and it did fine. About 2 more miles down the trail, I hit a rock that was hidden in a mud hole and made a huge dent in the rim on the front passenger side. I hit that mud hole doing about 5-10mph. I had to ride about 7 miles back to the trailer the no tire on the rim. I am new to the side x side world. I previously had a Grizzly 550. I have gotten stuck in holes that my Grizzly would have had no problems with. Do I need to change my style of mudding? I know the Wolverine is quite a bit heavier than my old Grizzly. Plus, I am real disappointed with having a flat and a bent rim with 15 mins of each other. Are the stock wheels and tires just cheaply made? Again, my Grizzly took a lot more hits than that. So far, I have had nothing but bad luck out of my Wolverine. I really enjoy the Wolverine but if I can't even make it through a few mud holes or hit a rock at low speed, I wonder if I should go back to a Grizzly.

You do have mud tires on the Wolverine? If you are trying to mud with the stock bighorns, it won't work out well for anyone. Wife had trouble making it up a hill that was slick mud with 27" bighorns last weekend. With the Mega's, it'll just walks up like nothing. She made me put the Mega's back on. LOL

Put some mud tires on it then try. LOL For mud tires, I'd recommend the Maxxis Zilla's. Buddy has those and I have the Mega Mayhems. His ride smoother at slow speeds and seem to get through mud just as well.

 

[911-RN]

Thank y'all for all the info.