Buying tires for my beach vehicle was an easy choice.
I hate buying tires, especially expensive tires for jacked up vehicles. It comes with the territory. I also want tires that are good for the road, mud, snow, and particularly sand. Usually I buy the ever popular “May Pops” at the used places, and just ride them until they are done. A “may Pop” is just that an old balding tire that is great on sand but not much else.
This time around I decided I wanted brand new tires. So I shopped around for some good deals and took my time. The marketplace on Facebook is an excellent place to get used beach beater tires. So are the local places that sell used tires.
Aggressive tread is out, the really heavy mud tires, they are horrible for the sand and make a lot of noise on the road. That heavy aggressive tread does work in sand, but creates more work for your engine and transmission. If you don’t air down your tires will dig to the frame in seconds.
I decided I wanted less aggressive tread, but more than “street” tread for the Tahoe. I found these Coopers to be exactly what I was looking for, maybe a little more aggressive and that is just fine.
I found these Cooper Evolution M/T All-Season LT295/70R17 121/118Q Tires on Amazon. My neighbor owns JL Auto in Millsboro, DE and is an excellent mechanic. I just give him my vehicle and parts, the boys in the shop do their magic. Today they are fixing my front end and the surf rack mount. They just finished up my new transmission.
These Cooper tires did excellent on the sand aired down to 18 PSI, they left a two inch rut at the most. The tread made more of a lasting impression. A little heavier rut on turns, which is normal, but the tread helps pull you along. I like having the ability to have traction on the road in any condition and easily drive the sand. Delaware’s sugar sand being the worst at times. Today I get to test the new transmission in the sand.