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View Full Version : Anyone ever put a hole in an MTR?



Z
05-11-2007, 07:04 PM
Cody mentioned that he's going to stop carrying a spare and just carry air and a patch kit (or maybe that was bum air and carry a patch kit). That got me wondering about doing the same were I to get a WK. Then I thought - in the 40K miles I've had my MTRs, I've never once had a failure, nor have I SEEN a failure in an MTR (at least not on the trails I've taken my ZJ on or that I would be likely to take a WK on). This makes the idea of not carrying a spare even more attractive - assuming I have air and a patch kit for emergencies.

So, has anyone known an MTR to fail and if so, under what kind of conditions? If I don't need a spare in the WK, I could add a cool steath storage box to make up for the overall lack of cargo carrying capability.

JohnBoulderCO
05-11-2007, 07:09 PM
Adam (Jeepin' Wolf) popped a MTR on Metal Masher, running over a piece of wood. Not sure if it could have been patched. Hopefully he will give more details.

I would love to ditch my 35" full size spare. The second I need it....:smt075

ATL ZJ
05-11-2007, 07:17 PM
Hopefully Trey will see this, but I will just say that MTRs can be cut pretty easily in the rocks.

95orvisV8
05-11-2007, 07:20 PM
i'm an asst manager at the discount tire company in noblesville indiana,been with the company 5 yrs. i see gdy and michilen mtr's with non repairable flats quite a bit. they are by no means indestructible. the worst being an impact break(bubble in the sidewall caused by a hard impact) not safe to drive on cause the tire will blow out. also i see a lot of large non repairable gashes from rocks. do-it-yourself repair kits are known not to hold up also. i would say a spare is an off road necessity!

Z
05-11-2007, 07:21 PM
Hopefully Trey will see this, but I will just say that MTRs can be cut pretty easily in the rocks.

But under what conditions? The only trails I'm likely to do are Moab and Colorado (maybe the Rubicon again). MTRs seem to hold up just fine in these areas. I've cut BFGs and lesser Goodyears, but never MTRs.

Z
05-11-2007, 07:22 PM
i'm an asst manager at the discount tire company in noblesville indiana,been with the company 5 yrs. i see gdy and michilen mtr's with non repairable flats quite a bit. they are by no means indestructible. the worst being an impact break(bubble in the sidewall caused by a hard impact) not safe to drive on cause the tire will blow out. also i see a lot of large non repairable gashes from rocks. do-it-yourself repair kits are known not to hold up also. i would say a spare is an off road necessity!

Oh, you're no fun!


(Thanks for the feedback)

nate
05-11-2007, 07:28 PM
MTRs are FAR FAR FAR from "indestructible" I've seen lots of TSLs, Boggers, etc cut bad enough to have to junk the tire, and those tires are way stronger than MTRs.

If you don't run with a spare, I would at least keep a tube and patch with you at the very least.

95orvisV8
05-11-2007, 07:32 PM
Oh, you're no fun!


(Thanks for the feedback)
sry if its any consolation to you i'm currently running with no spare as mine was stolen out of my jeep in the 15 minutes i left it alone in the bad end if indy. along with my tow straps, tool box, transfer case skid plate, and snow tires for my cougar.

BigDaveZJ
05-11-2007, 07:52 PM
I would love to ditch my 35" full size spare. The second I need it....:smt075

You know my feelings on people who wheel without spares . . . or maybe it was just that certain individual?? :smt069

Fullsizexj
05-11-2007, 07:57 PM
I had a rock cut an MTR before on the sidewall, I don't carry the spare in the jeep anymore but I do have one back in the tow rig for when plugs won't do the trick, I have thought about carring a patch kit but the time it would take to break it down fix it and remount it, I could go get the spare faster

JohnBoulderCO
05-11-2007, 08:00 PM
Dave, I said I would love too, but I never would run without one.

I remember that moment, in the rain......good times.
Like I said, the second you need it.:smt075

ATL ZJ
05-11-2007, 08:03 PM
But under what conditions? The only trails I'm likely to do are Moab and Colorado (maybe the Rubicon again). MTRs seem to hold up just fine in these areas. I've cut BFGs and lesser Goodyears, but never MTRs.

Ummm rocks. Pointy rough ones. I think they are granite. What else are you asking? I don't want this to become an Interco vs. Goodyear argument, but the Iroks, TSLs, and SXs drove over and around the same rocks that gashed the sidewalls of the MTRs.

Just because you have not cut one where you're wheeling does not mean they can't be cut there. Your four are a very small sample size.

BigDaveZJ
05-11-2007, 08:04 PM
Tom, what's the WK bolt pattern? Is it something goofy? On OCG last year we had one guy blow two tires, he borrowed another guy's spare, 5x4.5. If the WK is a weird pattern I'd be real hesitant, but with a more common bolt pattern, and tire size I wouldn't worry too much about it. As long as you're nice about it when you need someone's tire and don't demand that they bail you out. :-D

JohnBoulderCO
05-11-2007, 08:08 PM
ANd don't demand that they bail you out. :-D

Did he demand? In the rain? You were already wet anyways...;)

WK bolt pattern 5x5, 17". Will the early WJ's 16" wheels clear the brakes? If not, then a newer WJ with a 17" spare will be needed.

When WJ's were just being wheeled, there were a lot of times I was the only one on the trail. If I needed a spare I would be SOL. I would carry a WK spare.

BigDaveZJ
05-11-2007, 08:10 PM
I believe the exact line was "Dave, I need your CO2."

JohnBoulderCO
05-11-2007, 08:12 PM
LOL. Yeah. I need you, your CO2, your spare tire, your jack.....get down here........well, maybe not all that....I'm exaggerating, a bit.

BigDaveZJ
05-11-2007, 08:30 PM
Unfortunately he didn't ask for my boot in his ass, I would've gladly obliged on that one, except then I'd have smelly boots.

Z
05-11-2007, 09:06 PM
Guess I'll be doing with a spare.

Jeepin' Wolf
05-11-2007, 10:11 PM
TBH my MTR's held up pretty well. Like John said I got a nasty hole in the side from a piece of dead wood and it sliced right thru the tire. Go figure. I've had them against some pretty sharp shit w/o so much as a hiss so many times. On the road I stopped carrying a spare, for the trail, no need to waste a day because of the stupid hole in the wall. Shit happenz.

jsteves
05-12-2007, 02:04 AM
i bent a rim on metal masher a couple weeks ago...no tire patch that is gonna fix that.

Colorado 5.9
05-12-2007, 05:42 AM
Saw a 37" MTR get it's inner sidewall sliced real good by a not too sharp but large stick up at OCG not to long after the MTR's came out.

Seemed kind of silly that a stick could do what it did.

Fullsizexj
05-12-2007, 09:21 AM
Like I said before. I have a spare I leave in the tow rig, but the group I normally wheel with likes to go light, it is a given in our group that if needed, someone will go back to get what is needed from the staging area. When out with others I will carry it. We just like to run light when we go out to play is all

redzj
05-12-2007, 10:48 AM
I think I have seen more MTR's than any other tire gashed. But I have also seen SX's sliced. You can cut any tire. I cut one of my cooper stt's for the first time at flatnasty last weekend, not that they are the toughest but I would rank tem at least with the MTR.

jsteves
05-12-2007, 10:51 AM
I think I have seen more MTR's than any other tire gashed. But I have also seen SX's sliced. You can cut any tire. I cut one of my cooper stt's for the first time at flatnasty last weekend, not that they are the toughest but I would rank tem at least with the MTR.

Odds. you see more MT/R's on the trail. at least around CO.

K2
05-12-2007, 08:19 PM
Did he demand? In the rain? You were already wet anyways...;)

LOL!!!


I know it is not an MTR, but a BFG A/T, however I did this on the street. If I had no spare I would have been more late to work and really mad. I could get a fist in there.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g252/copbob/For%20Sale/DSC00722.jpg

This fell off a service truck with a bucket lift, it is the foot for the hydraulic stabilizing legs, for lack of the proper word right now. The truck was 2 cars in front of me, the CRV in front of me swerved, the foot hit the curb and rolled right out in front of me. With no where to go, due to traffic, and no time to stop, I hit the $hit out of it.

I realize this is rare but it was convenient to have my spare.

zjeepin
05-14-2007, 01:23 PM
yeah so i've cut two MTR's.

first one was on a stump that didn't look all that bad, but it cut it in three places, first time. the same 20 yard strech of trail has claimed three mtrs that i know of. the rocks are pretty sharp on that trail, i guess they were dumped in this hollow after they were blasted out else where. I've seen many other tires handle the same trail with no problems, procraps, bfgs, and swampers of every sort

second one i cut was in harlan, wasn't a huge cut but too big for a patch.

a friend of mine cut one loading his rig onto his trailer.

moral of the story.. carry a spare!!!

OverkillZJ
05-14-2007, 01:37 PM
I think it depends on what you're wheeling, who you're with, and whether you've made arrangements to use someone elses spare if needed.

Sometimes I wheel with a spare, some times without, but a 200+ lb 42" tire is a real PITA, and a bit harder to kill...

ATL ZJ
05-14-2007, 01:50 PM
I think it depends on what you're wheeling, who you're with, and whether you've made arrangements to use someone elses spare if needed.

Sometimes I wheel with a spare, some times without, but a 200+ lb 42" tire is a real PITA, and a bit harder to kill...

Very true. At a lot of the private parks that are opening up now, you can get back to your camp/towrig in less than 5 minutes. At those I don't carry much with me on the trail. At the more spread out places like Tellico and Moab, the best plan is to divide the load among the group. Everybody doesn't need to carry a spare if you are all good friends and have the same bolt pattern and tire size. Likewise, tools, water, and other fluids can be divided across the group to lighten everyone's load a little.

Krash80
05-14-2007, 02:51 PM
Isn't a fullsize spare one of the trail requirements for attending GSW?

JohnBoulderCO
05-14-2007, 05:13 PM
Isn't a fullsize spare one of the trail requirements for attending GSW?
Yep :D

Cody
05-15-2007, 06:35 PM
I never carried a spare with me in the buggy, but then again the Creepy Crawlers don't cut.

I went about a year on 37" MTR's before I killed one. then I Killed 3. 1 had a hole big enough to put my head in (and I was on a video run for BFG --they loved that) and I put a hole in one pulling on my trailer. I've seen lots of MTR's cut--but also lots of swampers and BFG MT's etc. too.

I've been carrying a spare with me in the new ZJ for the most part. at the very least I bring it with me to moab and on easy trails I'll leave it at camp. On long or difficult trails I carry it. I also have 2 really good plug kits. That I keep with me when my tools aren't left in my driveway in SLC.

HuskerZJ
05-16-2007, 11:22 AM
I've seen a MTR cut as well, on a tree branch of all things. It was on the downhill side of an off-camber trail, had to use 2 winches to hold it while we changed it. It was a little hairy

BlaineWasHere
05-16-2007, 08:57 PM
I wheel without a full size spare... but something that will get me off the trail... Also I never wheel alone so others spares may work.

JohnBoulderCO
05-16-2007, 10:28 PM
I wheel without a full size spare... but something that will get me off the trail... Also I never wheel alone so others spares may work.
Nice. Dave loves being that other. Just ask him.;)

BlaineWasHere
05-17-2007, 02:41 PM
Nice. Dave loves being that other. Just ask him.;)

I just won't get flats...:D

Check Book WJ
05-19-2007, 07:40 PM
MT/R's did do well on the record elevation expedition that was done by 2 Rubicons and documented on a thread in the TRIP REPORTS section of this forum, being used on stock Rubicons ( except for a custom bumper on one and winches on both ) and were highly praised by the people involved in the expedition. They did have to traverse many talus covered slopes and some spots with jagged ice formations, and from what I remember the OEM size tires did not experience any issues, and they also were airing down on occasions.

It does seem that almost all radial ply tires sidewalls are weaker than bias ply tires sidewalls, especially as the sidewall area increases with the tire size. I saw Krash's new 37" BFG MT get a nice little cut in it at GSW last year, and he kind of slowed down the leak with over a dozen tire plugs and some glue and a lighter to " vulcanize" the plug, but that lasted till the next day when he swapped the 35" spare on, but it was getting trailed home so it wasn't a huge issue. I have 35" Mickey Thompson Baja Claw's on my YJ ( Bias Ply) and I'm betting those sidewalls are tougher than most compareably sized radial ply tires, but I also have a full size spare.

If your running alone in a remote area, no matter what your running, I'd be carrying that spare.

John

Hurricane 4x4
01-03-2008, 06:45 PM
Ever hear of murphy's law? Sure tire failures are rare but the day you run a trail without a spare is the day you will be fucked by the long, terrifying dick of murphy's law.

naturalbornmudder
01-03-2008, 07:21 PM
I trashed a 35" MTR with less than 1000 miles on it in the rocks last year in Alaska

Z
01-03-2008, 07:27 PM
Wow, what's in the water these days - lots of very old posts being brought up.

As an update, I should be able to modify the crossmember to accomodate a 33" spare, so I don't need to travel unprepared.