By Lance Wortham (Duckman) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I am the new owner of an 88 argo magnum. The current tires work very well on land but have no performance in water. I purchased the vehicle to duck hunt with and need to travel through fairly tough terrain before reaching water.

My two questions are.
1. I am looking at getting the rawhide III tires but read somewhere that older moldel vehicles need to be careful because the tires are so stiff that they could bend the axles. How much of a concern is this on my model of argo?

2. For land and water performance is there any other tire that current owners would recommend.

By fred sain on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Lance: We have not had any trouble with axles bending because of a type of tire. The only trouble we have seen with the rawhide is a rough ride. Try the Chevron brand tire, they have sevral to choose from, and the ride is a lot better.

By GC on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Dear Lance ,I used to work for a tire co. the more area in contact with the ground, the less "pressure" on the ground, as the soft chevron tire on the 450-t I believe would do just about what you would want,due to the soft nature(like an amphi-cat tire) it would be very sturdy and still give enough traction in soft areas,also sometimes the "hard" tires are not always the best tires for going in the woods, due to the "finesse" or softness of the tire they {the tires} would probably overcome obstacles that on the other hand would cause tears or punctures in the "harder" tires, remember you will be on TERRE-FIRMA NOT CONCRETE also the "balloon" tire WILL NOT WEAR out on concrete{smooth-like a garage floor) but asphalt and gravel REALLY CHEW THEM UP you can judge by these three things on a tire:
1. how soft {or hard} will the tire material be.

2. WHERE are you going with this type of tire(remember these are the "SOLES" of {6 feet} on your AATV,) is it for going over obstacles ?

3. get a tire that has a GOOD "reputation" i.e. less likely to puncture and /or rupture,the Co. manufacturers recommendation, and by all means give a call to a local tire dealer/distributor,they will give you some ideas about what kind to look for (and they MAY get interested in AATVing them-selves!) OH AND BY ALL MEANS ---H A V E F U N AATV-ing!!!! GAC

By Another_Rider on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Well, I have some concise first hand experience with this. I own an '85 I/C. When purchased it had almost slick Runamucks on it(-1/4" left of tread). I drove across various terrain, woods, rocks, sand, mud, snow, etc and was considering keeping them in service until they dry rotted off the wheel. Then, something happened, duck season was looming, so I wanted to get acquainted with water driving. They stunk, period. So, I go looking for tires. After many discussion board readings I decided I had to test it in "my real" environment. I know a tire man for autos, through his contacts, I was able to actually try 8 of the Rawhide III's, if I damaged them, I owned them. No matter what I did tire pressure-wise, the ride was rough, and in the water the performance was fair to okay, but I had to keep the throttle quite low. I cleaned them up, de-mounted them, and returned them for 8 of the Carlisle Chevrons.
And to bring and end to this story, I love 'em. Realitively cheap, though I had to purchase new wheels as well, they don't dislodge major chunks of real estate when turning, and performed quite well in the water. The ride is MUCH softer than the IIIs. Now for long stretches of sticky mud, I use the Quad riders theory, let the momentum get you through. They do not do well in deep mud, but since that is the least of my riding, it's not an issue. I do have a winch and have had to use it. If you're not getting stuck from time to time, you aren't ridin' hard enough!!

Just my thoughts...Good Luck

By Dave Johnston on Unrecorded Date: Edit

I got Runamucs... Good on rock, but when it comes to loose sand or dirt, it is slide, dig grooves and dust bowl time. But that is not my major complaint. They do nothing to protect the rims, so rims get bent all the time, requiring stops to hammer them back into shape and then refilling the tire with air.
Don at ARGO WORLD in Carson City has showed me an easier way. He has some metal RINGS that get welded inside the rims. Inside and out. No more bent rims. Then stick on some Rawhides and you got few problems. Ride may be rougher but beats having to stop and hammer on rims every half mile. ((Did I mention we did the Rubicon last year?)) Guess it depends upon your wanting a smooth ride or wanting to do the roughest of ""roads"" and not have to stop frequently to fix stuff. Besides, it was fun embarrassing the JEEP Rubicon drivers as we could go faster than they could on the really rough stuff. (2 mph vs 1 mph)... PS. Don is planning another event in the next month...give him a call.