Looking at the pictures, I can't really tell: Are you running 8 or 10 inch wheels? I never lost a bead with my 12.50 MT/Rs on 8 inch wheels.

You can't hardly keep a 12.50 tire on a ten inch wheel at 10 PSI, I know - I had a buddy who lost a lot of beads, including 2 diagonally opposite ones at once. Rim width vs. tire width is a huge variable. I know I've posted this example about 45 times, but here it is again: I run a 38.5x14.50 on an 8 inch wide wheel. People who don't actually spend time offroad and only know how to read the "recommended rim width" written on the side wall will tell you that a 12.50 should be on a 10 inch wheel, and a 14.50 on a 12 inch wheel. TWELVE INCH WHEELS SUCK!

My poor man's beadklocks (tire nearly 2x rim width) let me run this pressure: (5 PSI):


While doing donuts, without losing a bead:


Narrow wheels are your friend offroad. So is an OBA system... I never had the courage to try 4 PSI even with a fullsize spare in the bed, until I had a way to get a tire back onto the wheel. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I do run 8" wheels with 35x12.5-15 MTRs. I do have on board air in the form of my ARB compressor. I used to have an independent air pump/tank but removed it because it was a complicated mess. Maybe I'll put just the tank back in an run it off of the ARB compressor.

I've had the opposite experience. Siped BFG MT/KM drove
circles around unsiped Goodyear MTR in snow. Could be the
siping made the big difference. Could have been something else...

Wow, that's interesting, maybe it was the siping. I did run siped 33" BFG muds for a couple of years and did a little snow wheeling and it wasn't too bad. Ed and I did wheel up in the snow a few weeks earlier and he and I seemed to do about the same.

I think the the consistency of the snow, which can vary widely, makes a huge difference in how a certain tire or rig performs.

I was just so weird to watch Ed spin his tires like he had slicks on and I didn't spin at all. He actually got stuck several times and I just walked right on by.

What a great post Brian. I've gotta find me a day job so I can go wheel with some folks here a little more often. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/coolg.gif" alt="" />