The Secret to Traction... I Put WATER in my Tires! How To Get More Traction On Those Rocks.

[@streetrider11]

Literally never in 100 years would consider adding more weight to tires. Very interesting, learn something new every day.

[@msack6904]

I use washer fluid in my garden tractor tires, it gives about 8#'s per gallon. Many tractor guys use concentrated beet juice, it doesn't corroded like calcium and weighs almost the same.

[@proofofpurchase747]

I heard Shrute Farms has the best beet juice to use in tractor tires.

[@derekpb6394]

Great slice of your family history, thanks for sharing.

[@markchidester6239]

First off, be thankful. You had a very cool dad. Not many of us are that lucky. My dad wasn't very mechanically inclined. Didn't know which end of a hammer to use. Good man though. Interesting video, was wondering about getting the air out.

[@n20jeep]

water in tires works great. tires are still easy to spin when needed, and the ballast is great. I filled my 40" treps to the top of the wheel. which made them streetable if needed.

[@geriatricginger]

grew up with ballast (CaCl2) in most of our tractor tires on the farms. Never once did I think about it working in a rock crawler! fkn genius! lol

[@squidgymop1]

A cheaper way is to remove the valve and just use the hose slip it over the valve stem and you can either hold it there and periodically pull the garden hose off or sometimes for tractor tires i use a hose clamp so i can walk aeay and come back later, still removing it periodically to let air out. Ive been filling tractor tires like this for 20 years. Ive never heard of people putting water in crawler tires before though. Great vid mate

[@ericramos3416]

I LOVE the rear steer on your rig!!! And thank you for the tip!!

[@Bleepincolt]

Thanks I love it too😜

[@WOOGLIN2420]

The centripetal force is the term I believe you were looking for when explaining the water weight spinning in the tire and applying pressure to the rock or obstacle

[@Bleepincolt]

I'm not that smart🤪

[@WOOGLIN2420]

@@Bleepincolt just helpin. You are doing awesome.

[@thenewberrym.c.914]

I was about to watch the 3 new tricks to better traction. I came and watched this first and I am already impressed.

[@Googladesh]

Would love to see an on trail comparison with/without ballast

[@Bleepincolt]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was showing at the end. You can see how easily I was climbing up a very wet trail 15 and if you go back to when Matt blew up his scorpion you can see how much more throttle was needed in the same scenario.

[@sixtyfiveford]

I've added weights to tractor tires for years. It's much easier to have steel weights than add ballast. I think it'd be neat to have a bolt on weights to the rim. You could easily throw 50 to 100 pounds on a wheel and remove it for driving on the highway.

[@Bleepincolt]

I've seen that and was thinking about the same thing. I do have friends that run lead buckshot inside their wheels but if someone made a wheel weight similar to the tractors or RC crawlers itd be cool for sure!👍

[@n20jeep]

the problem with just adding weight to the wheel is the huge increase in rotating mass. even though you're adding weight with water it doesn't have the same feeling as adding hard weight. and if you fill the tires to the top of the wheel, it will ride decent on the street. I've done 75 on 40" computers treps full of water

[@Bleepincolt]

@@n20jeep and the fluid/unsprung weight stays lower😁👍

[@575conbon]

@@Bleepincolt That's also it, with bolt on wheel weights 50% of the weight is above the hub, 50% of it is below. The way you did it 100% of the weight is below the hub, and very little of it counts as rotational weight (really it's not weight, it's rotational friction, like trying to turn a tire in mud). Liquid ballast>wheel weights

[@Gzus]

A lot of people also use windshield washer fluid as a ballast fluid because it doesn't freeze.

[@FlexRocksRollovers]

Great video Colt!

[@Bleepincolt]

Thank you🤙

[@jessicacordova5024]

Calcium chloride works great if you add a tube to the tire you don’t have to worry about corrosion. My grandpa always used windshield washer fluid and would add half a pint of everclear to each tire just because it gets cold in the mountains here. He ran it that way everyday driving and never had any issues and never had to worry about balancing big tires. My dad had 52’s on his Jeep and ran beet juice with sand or bb’s it worked good on and off the road but the beet juice would start freezing around 0 to -5 degrees I think probably from condensation inside the tire from heating and cooling causing condensation build up. It’s definitely one of the roughest rides you’ll ever take when half of your tire is frozen solid it feels like you’re driving on squares. Lol if you run any fluid even if you think you’ve got most of it out warn the tire shop if you ever have to take it in. We got kicked out of a tire shop here because they broke the bead and got a nice amount of beet juice all over their equipment and shop floor which was completely accidentally we thought we got almost all of it out by pulling the valve stem but we were wrong.

[@Bleepincolt]

Oh dang, beet bath!!! Hahaha

[@jessicacordova5024]

Everclear also has others uses like entertainment and keeping warm when camping😏😉

[@Bleepincolt]

@@jessicacordova5024 if it was all everclear my friends would be pulling my valve cores....😁

[@patrickweaver1105]

Another problem with calcium chloride is it's caustic and can cause serious skin and eye irritation. Getting bathed in that stuff on the trail would be a nightmare. It also kills vegetation which is going to make you unwelcome in environmentally sensitive areas. It is about the heaviest tire fill you can use.

[@richardashley6312]

Once again a great tutorial on this process. Thanks Colt.

[@bleepinjeep]

Glad you liked it!

[@trailtrash9717]

Very interesting! Good job on the video. I’ve heard my great grandfather put water in only one rear tire of his tractor so that he could bush hog the dam wall on his land, but you could only mow in one direction!

[@Bleepincolt]

That's funny but makes sense. 😀

[@wodgesad]

If you had two valves in the rim 180 degrees apart you could put air in the one at the top to pump most of the water back out of the bottom one for highway use

[@Bleepincolt]

Interesting thought, I've never tried that?

[@s-a-p-ek7976]

My beadlocks have 2 valves and it works a bit faster lol

[@xmo552]

Wouldn't that still leave too much water for highway use?

[@wodgesad]

Dunno I’ve not tried it! It was a thought. You could probably Jerry rig a straw or thin gauge pipe through a dust cap to reach the bottom of the tire and secure it to the valve stem pretty easy though. I would’ve thought you get everything except maybe 1/4 pint then (eventually)

[@micahhaislett3792]

We’ve always added water to backhoe tires unarguably increases traction. For some reason I’ve never considered it in my Jeep. Ima have to get this done

[@jasnonya3005]

Yes, from back in my dirt moving days heavy equipment tires!

[@austinfleck8664]

Step one, fill tires with mercury 2 take it to a tire shop for a flat 3 watch them as they try to pick up the wheel

[@Bleepincolt]

That sounds crazy🤪

[@chrisstrobel3439]

Austin Fleck 😂

[@constructiontech1970]

Good info Colt!

[@Bleepincolt]

Thank you!

[@kenneychappuis1853]

Yes farmers have done this for many many years but their wheels are only spinning a lot slower tire speeds. We used tubes in our tractor tires so we used straight water right out of the well

[@Bleepincolt]

Yup, that's why I stated for "dedicated crawlers" or vehicles that only see trail. But if you're a rock bouncer than this is probably not for you, haha😆. I do wish a farmer or rancher would've recorded when they started doing it because I really couldn't find a start date.

[@xXGMCrazyXx]

Interesting video! I’d never heard of that before. I am hungry for a BMT now though

[@jamesmerkel9442]

farmville trick way cool

[@kululv]

allways thought about doing it, but thought i have to weld in an extra fill port as I have seen with tractors. thanks for an interesting video and the hint for the fill adapter! and congratulations on the environmental remark concerning regular antifrezze

[@trevorgifford8917]

I run liquid tide cut with antifreeze for the best results in winter.

[@yjandy7762]

Do you need the bead locks to run water as a ballast?

[@Bleepincolt]

Nope, I've done it to regular wheels on my rock crawler before.

[@NickMcd8893]

Hell ya nice little trick there man. Love the videos keep up the great work dude. 🇺🇲👍

[@Bleepincolt]

Hey thanks!!

[@richierich8409]

Vary old school trick. Correct at half the wheel with water in your front tires.

[@daalnweaver4354]

most logging equipment runs an antifreeze water mixture in their tires. For pulling and weight traction... and snow chains with the spikes work freaking awesome with Muddy hilly conditions.... the two combined together make a freaking hell of a combination

[@Bleepincolt]

Sounds pretty rad 👌

[@mrspencerls]

Thats a cool idea, never thought of that 🤔

[@JoeGarofaloII]

Very interesting concept! Never heard of this, but the physics behind it definitely makes sense!

[@Bleepincolt]

It works great for me.👍

[@jonathanbeaumont2183]

Just don't do it in a cold climate. Liquid calcium.

[@Bleepincolt]

@@jonathanbeaumont2183 it weighs about 2lbs per gallon more and I personally didn't want to do that. My red labels suck in the cold anyways so I don't run them in the winter.

[@jonathanbeaumont2183]

Yeah I live in northern Canada. We're its on average minus 30 c in winter and iv worked in minus 56 c. So it would freeze if I used water, lol it be a ruff ride. Now the 3 month of summer i could try it. Great video .

[@Bleepincolt]

@@jonathanbeaumont2183 only 3 months of summer(good enough weather to run water)? Bummer dude! Yeah antifreeze, lead shot or calcium may be your choices then😉

[@TheDevonwurz]

Never would have thought of this

[@jeepindave5464]

Does this idea hold water?

[@Bleepincolt]

Yup

[@xmo552]

Um

[@nate4036]

I’ve always heard used motor oil mixed with antifreeze to keep from corrosion inside.

[@Bleepincolt]

That may be the case on a land owners tractor but I wouldn't use it in a rock crawler due to a tire slash and an eco mess. RV antifreeze, water or washer fluid would be better for a rock crawler I think.

[@nate4036]

@@Bleepincolt agreed. I’ve been expedition touring, so it’s not optional for me with this latest build.

[@isaakrempel8728]

We normally put 5 gallons of methanol in 50 gallons of water here in west texas

[@Gettinbentoffroad]

Wonder if balancing beads would help but then again probably not heavy enough

[@Bleepincolt]

I don't think the beads would be but I do know guys who run lead buckshot instead of water. Guess the lead conforms and doesn't hurt the wheel at all from what I'm told👍

[@zachariarohr7006]

so when doing this would you run more air pressure? or would you run the same before?

[@Bleepincolt]

I ran the same amount of air pressure

[@zachariarohr7006]

@@Bleepincolt how much do you run? Also do you run the same pressure in the front and rear?

[@Bleepincolt]

@@zachariarohr7006 my rig is much lighter than most but I run 5-8psi in my tires all around.

[@erichughes9098]

What the hell, you learn something new every day thank you 😎👍

[@Bleepincolt]

Sure thing👍

[@jeep2003]

Two birds with 1 stone antifreeze works to plug small holes and cracks too

[@jdog4534]

So does pepper

[@ubcandewit3179]

Rim Gard is beet juice. Never fill above the top of the rim or about 75%of the tire volume, but for maximum flex I think your 59% approach would be idea. I have 1100 # in my rear tires on my sub-compact Yanmar and I love it. Running 8 PSI.

[@KenLyns]

Learn something new every day!

[@jeffbengtson]

What make are those rims? Anyone know?

[@ronnie955i]

Trail ready

[@jeffbengtson]

@@ronnie955i Awesome! Thanks.

[@Bleepincolt]

@@ronnie955i you got it!👍

[@williambeasley2582]

I like it great idea. Great day to you and keep looking for that better tomorrow.

[@heathgrigsby889]

Good, informative video. Thank you. not exactly the music you here coming from rigs on the trail.

[@brianivins362]

Seems to be a great idea. Hearing you talk about it knowing it is working for you. Just a thought on my end. I live in Colorado and it gets cold here. I know Dawn dish soap has a low freezing point. Would it be wise to add it to water to keep it from freezing. Or would it just bubble up and cause issues when you start bouncing or spinning the tires. It would be safer on the environment than RV antifreeze or something it a tire came off the bead or blew out. Thanks for sharing 👍

[@TheAmericanUhate]

Mix antifreeze 50/50 with the water.

[@Bleepincolt]

A lot of people have been saying they use windshield washer fluid. Maybe the -20F type?

[@brianivins362]

@@TheAmericanUhate Antifreeze mixed 50/50 is toxic even deadly to animals. It has a sweet smell and taste and attracts them. Given we are supposed to clean up any spills on the trails as best we can to protect the environment. I agree that would work to keep from freezing. Thanks for sharing.

[@TheAmericanUhate]

@@brianivins362 that's what we used in tractor tires when I worked for Kubota years back. Clean up your mess and it will be fine.

[@OffroadMilitia]

I've got a lightweight buggy with 14-bolt steering axles front and rear super heavy duty links and probably half of the Steelyard welded onto my trusses so I'm not sure if I'm going to need water although I do get the concept I'm just so damn heavy with these axles and trust is already I don't know yet I'll have to see how much power my little V6 puts out.

[@Bleepincolt]

All my weight is in the axles too. And I only have a 1.6 L four cylinder👍. It made alot of difference for me but it all pends on driving style as well.

[@OffroadMilitia]

@@Bleepincolt Thanks man. Bout half way thru the vid now. I think half full front only sounds good for me. Vortec v6 propane Th350 Atlas 4.:3 1 t case Fr and Rear steer 14bolts 538 gears 40 inch on double beadlocks Still building it. Hoping to get ir done by summer Live in Washington but gonna travel too Love the vids

[@OffroadMilitia]

I like to run about 2 lbs of air usually. Just my weird style I guess. Big tires and run flat. Will they still run as flat and conform as well?

[@OffroadMilitia]

Also I would rhink that if you add water instead of just adding weights to your wheels is better because weights will take away from your launch and tire spin were water would affect wheel spin less I assume.

[@ProjectNotSoSlow]

Regretting building a D44 to run 40s on my XJ now, I would love to add water but the extra weight is making me nervous...

[@crawdadwatson]

What is the name brand of those rock crawler toys? I used to play with them as a kid and cannot seem to find them anywhere. Thanks in advance

[@Bleepincolt]

I'm honestly not sure, I looked for a brand name myself when I dug them out of storage. But they do have Skyjacker suspension stickers all over them so maybe they'd know?

[@joesalerno64]

My dad dug out some old ones a while ago. He said he found them at 4 wheel parts, but they don't have any company names aside from sponsor stickers

[@tfastlane]

Windshield washer fluid.

[@muddyWW]

Been thinking of doing this but was never sure how much it'll help when your on a side hill. How much pressure do you run in your tires and is it more or less when the tires have no water in them?

[@Bleepincolt]

Thats a really good question! My sami is very light but I run about the same 5-7psi with or without water👍

[@bigdk6998]

Amazing! Extremely helpfull. 👍🤙

[@xmo552]

I've asked a few people on their opinion about a heavy rig being better than a lighter one offroad. I don't do much offroading, but I have 10 years experience doing towing and hardcore recoveries and I've always found that weight was advantageous. Anyone agree or am I wrong and alone on this one?

[@Bleepincolt]

Personally I think lighter is better but there's a lot to be said for unsprung weight. Most competition rock crawlers are lighter rigs with most of their weight in the tires and axles.

[@xmo552]

@@Bleepincolt Thanks

[@liketadied]

That intro music sounds like someone using a air impact

[@justinjohns1324]

Awesome info TY for the great content keep it coming 👍

[@Bleepincolt]

I'll do my best, thanks🤙

[@kylemcgeever]

Never heard of this. So this is purely for more unsprung weight right? There's no change in the stiffeness of the sidewall? Water is more dense than air so I'd imagine you can run lower psi without worrying about smashing your rims on rocks?

[@Bleepincolt]

I've never noticed a change in the sidewall with fluid. But yes purely unsprung weight and traction.

[@Blast357]

i use windshield washer in my tires. I buy it in 55 gallons drum

[@miloganze3469]

Another great video Colt. Do you notice any negative effects on braking? How about off camber stuff?

[@bleepinjeep]

For offroading, none at all. It is definitely a game changer to extreme traction and low ballast stability. But I wouldn't road drive it, at about 40-50mph the tires shake pretty bad. *Colt

[@paulhudson6138]

I like the new guy! Also what happened to tim and Tyler? No more videos from them?

[@Bleepincolt]

Thank you, I think they went on to other endeavors 😉

[@JeepTeriyaki]

Tyler was another clown guy tried to tell me welding carriers was better than running a spool.... hahaha. Some of these guys are right out of a clown show. Check out the clown from not a Rubicon production on his video about how airing down can be stupid. That shmuck tried to tell me airing down in deep snow was bad. Alot of people think they know because they are uneducated hillbilly halfwit mechanics.

[@Willytwoscoops]

I thought I was one of only people still with those battery crawlers!

[@Bleepincolt]

I dug mine out of storage, lol

[@arnoldmiller3120]

Good deal

[@Drew_Fabs]

Yo! I noticed you have one of those Affordable Benders, how do you like it? I was thinking about getting one.

[@Bleepincolt]

Works great, worth every penny!

[@michaelwaddy2583]

9:06 is the tire singing this song? 😄

[@Bleepincolt]

Someone caught onto the lyrics👍👍

[@bsideadventures2180]

Colt Im ready for moab let us know next time you go

[@Bleepincolt]

Unfortunately when I travel its usually on a whim. Like, "hey I have a few days to go bash my junk" and then immediately followed by "where's the best weather gonna be?" Haha

[@BackyardBeaters]

Always wanted to know more on this topic, thanks for the video. 1 question i had was how do you get the water out? For us poor folk who use the same tire/wheel for rocks, snow, and sand, etc. Is there a quick way to drain the tires depending on where I'm going that weekend? Or does it require taking the beadlock apart and breaking the bead.

[@Bleepincolt]

Most of us usually just pull the valve core and let it drain out with the valve near the bottom of the tire. Otherwise if you wanted to get every last bit then I've popped the inner bead before and then used a shop vac.😁

[@MKB_Racing]

Most tire shops nowadays uses automotive window washer fluid as tire balist

[@ryanhubble9157]

Yeah even in heavy hual trucks for coolant to keep tires from over heating

[@Bleepincolt]

Do they use the bug remover or just regular methyl alchohol? 😜

[@ryanhubble9157]

Regular ol blue the mine i worked in got it in 265 gallon tote

[@MattBrownbill]

That was really informative, and I must get a snorkel 😂

[@Bleepincolt]

Gotta run the snorkel..

[@danhambrick6331]

Awesome video...👍👍

[@Bleepincolt]

Thanks

[@jdog4534]

The red bull rock crawler uses lead shot, dry.

[@Bleepincolt]

I know a few competition rock crawlers who use lead shot. I may try it the next time I have the tire off the wheel.

[@jdog4534]

@@Bleepincolt for your situation, it might be worth it to get an extra pair of wheels so you could swap 'em out depending on which coast you'd be wheelin in. I can't imagine they'd do well if you had to spin em much .. Hell, come to think of it, if you did it right, you could probably use that lop sided centrifugal force to get your rig to hop up rocks when you can't get traction. Haha you could weld a paddle to the rim inside the wheel so when you spin the tire, the paddle throws the lead shot up in the wheel, causing it to hop. ..lol you might want to drive some extra screws through your beadlocks while you're at it.. Hey. ..would there be any advantage to filling your tires up with those little water absorbing beads ive seen so many youtube videos about? They might work like a run flat system, as well as give you some good traction. ..maybe

[@Bleepincolt]

@@jdog4534 I've ran my same wheels with half water on both sides of the country. As far as snow wheeling I don't worry too much about the ballast as I'm not wheeling the same types of trails. I'd be interested to see someone try welding paddles on their wheels but I couldn't afford to do that to mine if it didn't work. I've never tried the water absorbing beads either, that may be something to try?

[@jdog4534]

@@Bleepincolt yea. I was joking about the paddles. But the water beads seems like it might have some advantages. .. ..like they won't spill out when you get a flat

[@lukemiller1043]

Why run aluminum wheels when you want heavier tires?

[@Bleepincolt]

I already owned the aluminum wheels but my others are heavy Trail Worthy double beadlocks and I still ran water in those too.

[@xmo552]

Thats what I was wondering also. I've asked a few people on their opinion about a heavy rig being better than a lighter one offroad. I don't do much offroading, but I have 10 years experience doing hardcore towing and recoveries and I've always found that weight was advantageous. Anyone agree or am I wrong and alone on this one?

[@OffroadMilitia]

Yay a new vid

[@chefdan87]

You could always weight the tire and rim before and after adding water to get a more exact measurement. That way you can try to match the weights from tire to tire. I would bet you added more than 7 gallons.

[@Bleepincolt]

Interesting when I have filled 39" krawlers before with RV antifreeze I had the beadlock off to fill it. It took 7 gallons to get the tire half full.🤷‍♂️

[@nathanharvested9903]

I run antifreeze in my car tires instead of balancing them only 250ml tho

[@benmiller5015]

Cool video man. I can't imagine I'll ever need to use ballast in michigan since the majority of the trails are mud n sand but still. Oh n that music was atrocious lol I had to mute the video then try to guess when you were talking again lol

[@Bleepincolt]

Do the tractors in Michigan use tire ballast? 🤷‍♂️ Thats why I used footage from Tennessee after a rainstorm to show it still works good 👍

[@MyDIYAdventures]

Where do you wheel in Michigan?

[@MyDIYAdventures]

@A killa 4 reala Haha! So you’re one of THOSE guys!😂

[@benmiller5015]

@@Bleepincolt there's alot of orchards n the fields get really sloppy in the spring n fall. You'd sink in a second. Mostly the ones using ballast or wheel weights either need the weight in the ass end to keep the tires on the ground on their loaders or if they have heavy 3 point equipment they weigh the front end down with weight on the nose

[@benmiller5015]

@@MyDIYAdventures ever heard of silver lake sand dunes? They are about 20 minutes from me n there's miles n miles of trails all over from pentwater plains to manistee national forest n everything in between. Country life in west michigan is nice n quiet. No city folk around here til tourist season

[@mikegreer9041]

I've used antifreeze for years in my headlocks.

[@camronboldenow2973]

Only issue is if you get a gash in your tire and then the antifreeze leaks out and gets in to the water and can harm wildlife.

[@mikegreer9041]

True, but I've never popped a bead since I've done it, but I've lost a couple radiators.

[@AudioFreqx]

Weight is the key. Trade offs.

[@japbikesrule]

I fill mine with tinkle fluid 😬

[@Bleepincolt]

😆

[@mistersicko2666]

why not used motor oil?

[@Bleepincolt]

Used motor oil is heavy and if you slash a tire/sidewall you'd be making an eco mess.

[@kenzodrow9604]

@@Bleepincolt LE oil hahahaha

[@brucebaxter6923]

farmers have done this for a hundred years

[@Bleepincolt]

Yeah, I was looking for an exact date but never found a source that could give me one. I sure wish they would've marked it on a calender when they first tried it.

[@ForOdin]

So, do you only do it to the fronts? On a side note, anyone actually read the disclaimer at the bottom of the description? 😂😂

[@Bleepincolt]

I only put it in my front tires but I do have buddies who fill all 4.

[@ExploringCabinsandMines]

Dirt every Day mentioned water in tires.

[@kdigiacomo]

Put a GoPro in the wheel and let's see... *Yes, people actually do put cameras inside mounted to the wheels.

[@Bleepincolt]

Come on over and help me mount and dismount the tire. Let's do it!👍

[@kdigiacomo]

@@Bleepincolt Only problem is I live in Oregon. Second part of my comment was to the other people saying/thinking you can't mount one inside of the tire but you can.

[@Bleepincolt]

@@kdigiacomo lol, gotcha. Oregon has some good wheeling. I need to get back out that way sometime and do some more wheeling!

[@kdigiacomo]

@@Bleepincolt I live about 15 minutes SW of Portland so there's 'TSF' Tillamook State Forest where Brown's Camp is and Mt Hood for lots of snow wheeling and trails in the thaw. I just hope the trails can continue to stay open.

[@Bleepincolt]

@@kdigiacomo me too, such an awesome area to wheel!

[@TheRambler-pz1gx]

Going to tell all the overlanders that this is the new way to carry water, so they can stop using those roto packs!

[@lukewalker1116]

the music isnt necessary at all! just annoiying to have to mute and unmute.

[@kenmeuse2226]

Use calcium chloride not water

[@proofofpurchase747]

Great video... Horrible music.

[@peckaldee8470]

Great video. Please get rid of the horrible music. Just doesn't work with a tech video.

[@jacobkelley257]

Be careful when you use the term fluid because air is actually a fluid. I'd use liquid instead. But great content 👍

[@TheMrhick92]

I feel my tires are heavy enough