Sand tires........

I went and picked up the tires that were on the Jeep when I rescued it last year. At the time I took off the deep dish balloon tires and left them there to put on the regular tires and tow the Jeep home.

I would like to do some sand driving........we have friends and neighbors with quads and sand cars.
The tires (probably from about 1970) are Delta Hi Way Flo-Tation....
Did a google and nothing close. I don't expect to find any.

2 seem to hold air fine, 1 has a leak through the stem and the other leaks through the stem and sat flat while on the Jeep and is ruined. They all have some sidewall cracking.
They are on some custom extended Jeep wheels (at least that's what they look like). The wheels are 14"wide 15 on 5.

Would it be OK to run them on the back only with my smallish AT tires on the front?

Anyone know anything about these tires/wheels.
What is the best tire set-up for the sand with a Jeep?

 

Only if they are the same diameter if you want to use 4wd.

 

I would save $$$$ and get terra tires. you have the rims.

 

My experience with sand driving is that a good set of BFG mud terrain or similar tires aired down to 10psi and run 4-wheel drive will get you anywhere you need to go. Especially with the V-6, Sand will use ALL of your power. I used this combination for a few years and had a blast.
Then I bought a pair of 16.5" wide paddle tires for the jeep, was cool because now I just ran two wheel drive, hooked up a little better, but bent the crap out my rear axle with the leverage of the offset wheels.
Those tires you have look like they would make good front tires and maybe like someone else said mount up some terra tires or paddles on your rims for the back. That would give you the sand dune look!
Honestly though, the mud tires aired down work great, paddle tires like horsepower.
Look through my photobucket pictures at the sand dune pics. I loved running in the sand. Warm weather, loud V-8's, sand drags up the dunes, smell of av. gas, beautiful bikini girls, I better quit now.:drool:

 

Great info.
I am trying not to have to buy any new wheels.......With my steering (stock) I want to try and stay on the skinny side. If I go with an AT (mud) tire I assume I'd want something with a fairly large footprint for the sand.

If I ran the tires I have on the back and stayed in 2WD would they provide enough traction? I know that they use to run this Jeep all over the Pismo dunes (early 70's) with those tires.

As far as different tire sizes go.......if I found some Terra tires to use for the back, it may be difficult to match exactly with the old balloon tires.
I would assume that the sand would be somewhat forgiving in that it would allow thie tires to slip a little.........? Not on hard pack though.......

 

My tires that I have on there now are brand new LT 215/75. Decent tread pattern.
There are on the small side but they were free. If I air these down will it provide enough traction/footprint?
I took a picture but my computer doesn't feel like downloading pictures right now.

 

Those tires look like farm implement tires. Like something you would see on a grain dump wagon or something.

http://www.stausaonline.com/farm-equipment/index.html they are probably cheap compared to street tires but not DOT approved.

 

same tires as I have on my Jeep seen here
only I've cross grooved mine for better bite (checkerboard)
this current photo has them on 8" wide wheels, as my 15" won't clear the disc brakes up front ( just found that out prior to this trip)
there is also 1-1/2" difference in height bewteen the fronts and rears as pictured; the sand makes that possible, as already mentioned; best to match as close as you can as YMMV.
if the sidewalls on yours are still good and not badly cracked, run them!
you could also put tubes in them if they don't already have them
I've run my set of "floats" for over 20 years, and until I recently acquired the terra tires those were my only sand tires.
When you lack horsepower, flotation and wide footprints become your best friend
FYI: last time I inquired, neither Delta nor Armstong carried the 11.00-15 size any longer
maybe the farm guys here no otherwise

 

That's the stuff I wanted to hear.

I could run all 4 I think I just need to get new tubes (upon further inspection, I'm pretty sure there are tubes in them).

If I run the smoothies on the back, the height is only about 1" difference from the tires that are currently on there.

Should I run the smoothies all the way around or just on the back?
What about steering, better or worse with the smoothies in the front?

 

The reason I suggested to get a couple of new tires for the back is I thought one of your tires was bad, so I figured you still had wide wheels and would be replacing the one tire or buying a pair. I think anything you run will be fun. The key is flotation, that is why you air your tire pressure down. Any tire aired down will increase your flotation in the sand. If you don't want to spend any money, try an experimental run and use a pair of your sand tires on the back and your stock tires up front. Whatever you try you will have fun!
Sand conditions are different from place to place but also can change in one area depending on the moisture in the sand, go out after a week of rain and you might float pretty good, but go out after a month of sun and it could be bottomless! Bring your tow strap! One last note, I bought the paddle tires so I could climb steep dunes, they seem to give me the best flotation and bite in the sand.