Heavier, lower horsepower cars, like most of our "low-budget" cars, require a wider tire/rim set-up, and short, flexible paddles. The idea is to keep the car on top of the sand, instead of digging through it all the time. Digging through the sand takes horsepower, and lots of it! Take a look at the newer V8-powered cars, with the 17" x 10" wide rims and big "scoop" paddles, going through the dunes. You can lay sprinkler pipe in the trenches these cars leave behind! These tires have to dig their way through the sand all the time. Don’t try to start out in one of these cars in the soft stuff, or even go slow, the car will sink to the frame in no time.

The average VW-powered car should be running at least 12" wide rims. If it’s a four seater, or a little heavier than normal, or you Corvair guys, you should think about 15" wide rims, and the lowest, most flexible paddles. A good friend has an average two seater, 2180 VW, swing axle, etc. He runs 12" wide rims and the oldest set of paddle tires I have seen in a long time. His tires have the smallest paddle available and have been worn down over the years so much they are almost comfortable to sit on. Even with virtually no paddle left he still has no trouble doing a wheelie going up Comp, or Olds, and he can putt around the dunes at walking speed without fear of getting stuck.

Tire diameter depends on your transmission gearing. If you are running a VW trans with stock gearing try to keep your tire diameter as small as possible. Remember, these transmissions were originally designed to run small street tires. Running a large diameter paddle tire is like moving everything up one gear, making first gear seem like second, etc, just the opposite of what us "lower horsepower" guys need! If you are running a stock-geared trans consider the Xtreme 13.00 Sand Squirt tires on 12", or even 15" wide rims. They are a lot smaller diameter than the other 13.00 tires.

Front tires are also important. Small front tires will drop down in ruts and tire tracks where a larger diameter tire will roll over these same ruts. Again, look at the newer cars and their HUGE front tires. Long travel doesn’t really help with deep, narrow ruts, like tire tracks. What makes the new cars ride so much better is the HUGE front tires. They don’t drop down in the rut like our little tires do.

The solution is simple, yet complicated; go to a larger diameter front tire, BUT not too big! Most of us still run a VW-style beam front end, with stock link pins and spindles. The stock spindle is a marvelous piece, but it does have it’s limits. Again, these spindles were designed to handle small street tires, on paved roads. The larger the tire diameter, and rougher the terrain, the more load and leverage is placed on the spindles. I personally do not like the "steering" front tires for our type of cars, like the Razorback, or Apex, especially the larger ones, because they put a tremendous load, or leverage, on the spindles.

 I prefer a "Smoothie"-type, or implement-type tire, sized from 5.50, up to about 6.50. These will roll over a lot more ruts and bumps than a 4.50 will, but not put so much of a load on the spindles.

Happy Duning!

Mike Bacon

The tires on your car are like the shoes on your feet what may feel comfortable for you may be totally wrong for somebody else. If you have questions comments or want to add to this page Please click on the discussion link below.