Cheap Tire Test! My CJ-2A Willys Jeep tries out tires, with a surprise result. Flatfender fun!

I'm doing some updates to the little red jeep, and I bought a new set of stock type tires. Then I thought better of that, and decided to see if cheap tires worked better. I tried out five different sets of tires, and found out that cheaper is better!

[@Whiterabbit124]

You know what else I like about your videos? Especially older ones. No silly intro, no prequel story dump, no bs. Straight into it. Love it

[@LowBuckGarage]

Thanks for the very tactful feedback. I kept that in mind while editing the latest one and trimmed down the beginning a bit.

[@jlucasound]

This is turning into more a drill and drill accessory test than a tire test!! 🤣😂

[@johnsmart3587]

You work SO hard for all of us! Thanks!

[@LowBuckGarage]

Glad you like it!

[@bigospig]

Paddle tires (or mud terrains) are only superior in sand if you have the HP to spin them. Low HP vehicles do better in sand with high flotation tires.

[@ryanneal9432]

I have an old 1949 willys cj-3a. It was my first vehicle. I rebuilt it when I was 16. I made an 1/8 inch steel body for it, the rest is origanal. I'm 43 now and I still have it and it runs great. If you put it in 4 low you can pretty much to wherever you want. Really enjoying watching you work on this, brings back memories.

[@deepbludude4697]

I got to thinking how much effort you pit into this great job! love that old flatty! Yep dually!

[@LowBuckGarage]

Thanks 👍 After my 30th tire change I started to wonder if it was worth it, but it took 'til the last one to find out what I needed to know.

[@beakittelscherz5419]

Well that was surprising! Good Video!

[@Vile-Flesh]

This is a wonderful in depth test. Thank you for taking the time to swap out all those tire sets for this study. I was very surprised with the boring p-metric radials coming out on top. I've burned through a few of those Goodyear Wranglers and those tires are OK and will get you where you need to go, they're just a really boring looking all-terrain tire. I never would have thought they would be excellent in the sand.

[@LowBuckGarage]

Yeah, I was totally surprised myself. Glad you liked it!

[@larryalexander4833]

I trying to get parts together for my yj project . Budget budget budget. Always enjoy your videos!👍👍👍🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲👍👍

[@LowBuckGarage]

That's why I always go cheap! Thanks for the compliment, glad you like the videos!

[@robr4662]

Awesome Jeep! Great video. Can't wait for the next one!

[@LowBuckGarage]

Thanks, I already started working on the next one!

[@amx19733]

Always Great content!!!

[@RobertFay]

*- James, my dad's old WW2 Army manual says to deflate tires to go through sand. {flotation}* *- Remember, back then the tires all had those huge lugs that would tear us everything.* *- The pressure they suggested was below 15 lbs...and mentioned deflating until it worked.* *- Also remember, back then all tires had inner tubes, so the issue of breaking the bead at low pressure was not a problem.* *- I think your dad's idea of double wide rims is the best, but you have to have tires with a tall enough sidewall to accommodate the rim width...and possibly a size larger tire ID so it will jump the bulge before getting to the tire bead... and maybe a tread that was twice as wide would help too.*

[@LowBuckGarage]

Normally I run around 10-15 in the sand, but I thought that all the tires would do fine then. I went with street pressure so they had a visible difference. I didn't want to change all those tires just to have them all work the same!

[@RobertFay]

@@LowBuckGarage . *- Yup, that makes sense.*

[@StewsChannel]

Looks wise, I liked the BFG Mud Terrains the best. They would be a good compromise here as we have a lot of sand and also dirt/clay. I like the dually idea! I remember an old puddle jumper built by a farmer when I was a kid that had duals front and back. I don't think it had spacers though, it used some sort of abomination with ready rods. I never got to see it in use though as it had been abandoned behind a barn many many years before.

[@LowBuckGarage]

Duals front and rear would be cool, hope someone ended up saving that machine...

[@AdmiralRustyShackleford]

I like the wide wheels and rusty steelies with Big Tracs, those have the cool ratty look to them. I would just use wider tires so you don't have to stretch them so much. And I'd probably run whichever combo weighs the least, since the engine has such low power.

[@RADIOACTIVEMASCULINITY]

You have a Don’t Tread on Me flag…. We can be friends

[@henrycolestage4249]

Mmmm...dually ;-) Sounds fun!

[@Ss010101]

Diggin' that dramatic tire mountin' music!

[@LowBuckGarage]

Glad you liked it, my daughter made me play that section over and over when I was editing it!

[@CasperRc81]

Low hp engine benefits with low traction tires for off-road. Allows the engine to spin up easier. Rode with a guy in glamis who ran skat trak smoothies on all four corners with a 660 Yamaha rhino. Replaced the CDI to over rev 2k rpm roughly. He averaged 32mph in all big and little dunes. He could drive about 15mph and skate it across the sand spinning in circles. Makes Sense.

[@cmac956]

Hi, tires are funny beast ,you never can tell what they will do, I gess that's why they make so many types .

[@Iowa599]

Most of the year I run 205/40R18 on 18×9 wheels, on my daily driver…some stretch is ok. In the winter I run 195/60R16 on the OEM 16×6.5 wheels it came with.

[@dustytrailscactusron]

Always fun to watch! Be sure to show that "dually" project. Oh, and I suggest the Pmetrics. They don't look all "rock crawler" aggressive, and are superior with that 2A in the sand.

[@LowBuckGarage]

Thanks! I've been thinking about a color change on the rims and put the P-metrics back on. That might be enough to make them just right.

[@slomotrainwreck]

If I had the money I would get a set of these flotation tires: 31x15.50-15/8PR TL Goodyear Xtra Trac Terra, there were a lot of jeeps out on the dunes with these tires.

[@tcsmith4838]

Man I'm stunned at how well your dad's home made sand tires worked! Was that at all comen back then to make extra wide tires like that?

[@LowBuckGarage]

Yeah, me too, I was really surprised when they just climbed! When I got that '51 Ford sand buggy, it had the same idea on the front. It had one-piece rims, but really wide, and white walls stretched over them. Apparently back in the day wide tires were hard to come by, so people made do.

[@tcsmith4838]

@@LowBuckGarage that is so neat , I've seen old widend rims but ive never seen tires stretched out like that, I didn't know it was possible, looks bitchen!! I'm glad you made that video! I'm always looking for period correct ways of doing things and now I know to keep my eyes out for real wide old rims, I might just put together a set one day, love the channel👍 keep up the good fun!

[@deepbludude4697]

Good video, several years ago like maybe 8 I was doing some work at my buddys place it was a skydiving LZ when I was coming down i saw a farmer dragging a 78 F250 out. When I hit the ground I hauled over there sure enough it was for sale 550 bucks I got my buddys tractor drug it back to the hanger. It had powerking 900-16s still holding air I think they where from the mid 80s. I ended up selling that 78 for 6k to a guy who just dumped 13K into it...anyway I replaced the old power kings with newer ones there bias ply. I have 2 of the old ones on the back end of my71 W200 and there still working strong...Pull good in Florida sugar sand when aired down.

[@LowBuckGarage]

That was a good deal! The W200's a good truck, too.

[@MCrex007]

I think whats happening is the diggier tires are loosening the sand, whereas the smooth ones are compacting it.

[@Cotton088]

Just my opinion… the BFG’s would have done better with less than 20 psi. They have stiff sidewalls. I grew up near Pensacola Florida. My grandfather used to cut and weld rims like you have. He had a two wheel drive station wagon he drove onto the beach so we could go fishing (about 50 years ago). It is all about floatation and running in a higher gear so as to not spin the tires. He is the same grandfather who put two transmissions together in and old Murcury (roll down rear window) which made it drive in reverse as fast as forward. You would like him. He grew up on a farm in Kentucky and made stuff work that most thought would never work. Your methods remind me of his projects

[@LowBuckGarage]

Thanks! And I agree with you, they would do better with lower pressure. I kept it high on all of the tires so the differences in tread were more noticeable. Now I'm running them at 10-15 on the covered wagon.

[@davevanderwiele194]

Nice testing tell more about those 3 inch wide spacer I like that duly idea

[@LowBuckGarage]

Thanks, I'll be trying that idea out pretty soon!

[@stevevogelman3360]

The tires on now look best but form follows function.

[@lunchbox2784]

Nice test! Very thorough! By the way, when mounting tires with tubes, if you install the tube after you get the first lip of the tire over the rim you can reduce the risk of damaging the tube and there’s less to fight with. A snow comparison between the tires would be fun too. I’m looking forward to the dually build. Keep up the great content!

[@LowBuckGarage]

Thanks! Good tip on the tubes, I'll do that next time. I'd love to do a snow test, but snow is pretty rare here and only lasts a short time. If we get enough, I'll be out driving in it!

[@roguedalek900]

There is place in Nashville TN that does nice recaps as mud grips/AT/street tires in bias and radial at good prices. At one point they had some recaps that looked (to me anyway) all the world like 1980s Goodyear Wranglers. They (Wranglers) had a good reputation as a sand tire. They also had recaps that at one point looked like carbon copy of the 80s Bridgestone Desert Duelers too. The Wranglers were crap in mud (I had a set) I wish someone would repop a radial Armstrong Tru Tracs or Noresman. Or the old Desert Dogs .

[@LowBuckGarage]

That would be nice, I wish I had someone around here that would do it. I tried to contact STA about their Trailbreaker in the 10-15LT size, but they said they need an order of 200-250 before they'd run them again. They would have the right vintage look... www.stausaonline.com/tires/sta-trailbreaker/

[@kevinmitchell6856]

would you consider welding the side gears in those diffs?🤔

[@Ss010101]

P-Metrics look... fine... and probably have the decent on-road feel too. The stock ones look good. Put those ones on when you sell it. :D

[@LowBuckGarage]

There's no way I could sell this one! My kids are already eyeing it, its about time they learn to drive. Good brakes first, though...

[@richardlinzmeier3697]

My gosh that was a lot of work! Can we take up a donation to get you a tire machine?

[@stevenbenavente1229]

Wide rims or low tire pressure works in sand

[@joeszacon9987]

Which tires weighed the least? I recently bought some AT tires and opted for smaller after I watched some videos on the impact of rotational mass. I'm wondering if the winning tires in your experiment also weighed the least.

[@LowBuckGarage]

Actually, I never thought to weigh them. I'll have to do that, and I'll let you know.

[@FarmerTed]

Those pull thru plugs don’t require you to fully dismount the tire and work great. Great work as always. Also please get some tire tools k and n makes nice ones that aren’t expensive.

[@LowBuckGarage]

Thanks, do you have a link for them? I've been using these same motorcycle tire irons since I got them included with a dirt bike in 1994. Its probably time for a new set...

[@FarmerTed]

@@LowBuckGarage With one large spoon and a set of the superduty tubeless truck irons and a small sledge we are able to dismount everything from lawnmower to large tractor and semi tires here on the farm. We got our at our local Napa over ten years ago. We couldn’t count the money and time we’ve save with these four tools. Also it’s amazing the amount of times you use them for other things like aligning and prying. These won’t bend like others. www.kentool.com/product-category/tire-irons-mount-demount/

[@LowBuckGarage]

@@FarmerTed Thanks, I'll try them out!

[@bookworm67-hv7nm]

the stock tires are not for slow driving in the war all the jeeps were pegged at mach 1 so the worked fine in the sand my grandfather used many and told me it was foot down every where because of snipers

[@LeoNiehorster]

Tires work better in sand with low air pressure. Might try that.

[@LowBuckGarage]

Yeah, but then it would have been harder to compare the tires, because they all would have worked well. With 20 psi, it was a lot easier to see the difference.

[@OpieDogie]

For me, I would go for what works best for what I do. I used to like what looks good but now days not as much.

[@LowBuckGarage]

That is what I ended up doing, I just repainted the rims in a better color and the tires stayed!

[@DillonHFM]

no wonder I smoked my buddy off road, old junk tires are key

[@roguedalek900]

Yea 40 year old dry rotted rubber . What could go wrong? (Yea I get your not going over 20 mph but what happens when you have 3 flats 20 miles from home and its 115 degrees?? ) Oh that wheel rim has a flange on that hub hole for a reason BTW... OH HELL NO to the Nope nope nope..

[@lunchbox2784]

He’s got a tow rig with a trailer about 50 feet from where he’s testing… and he’s just doing a few circles in the desert. I doubt that flange is doing much on a 50 hp vehicle at 20 mph. Be sure to keep the tags on your couch cushions or you could end up in jail.

[@LowBuckGarage]

Those rims were strong enough for a full size pickup, which loaded would be in the 6000 lb range. These Jeeps weigh a little over 2000 lbs, so even though the rims aren't as strong as they were, they still are fine for this application. No need to worry about me!

[@Dancing_Alone_wRentals]

@@lunchbox2784 wait wait! About those tags.....

[@bookworm67-hv7nm]

you are just like me if you have not got the right part make one I don't do cars but i can fix bike's mainly BMX bike's and have enough knowledge of motor bike's to set my self on fire but get them running 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@markvisconti4507]

Yeah Mr. White, Science!!!!