On the
trails
On
the trails, we've run the Claws between 6 and 17 pounds. At 6
they are pretty cushy and you can really see them mold around
rocks. At 17, they are really way too stiff, but if you're on
one of those runs where you have to do street driving from trail
to trail, it works out better. At low trail pressures, the tires
will get very far out of balance and on our rig, would cause a
"death wobble" on the road if not aired up enough. Once
aired back to 30 pounds, however, they were fine again on the
street.
I found that
the optimum pressure on our rig was about 10 or 11 pounds. At
this inflation, they kept most of their height but were plenty
gooshy enough. I also feel like they grabbed better and the Jeep
was more stable on off-camber hills than at 6 or 7 pounds.
Some
people think the Claws are ugly with so much tread on them.
We think they look pretty darned cool.
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This
shot has been a lot of fun. The Project TJ walked right
up this boulder like it was flat. The tread just grabbed
on and did what it was intended to do.
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On the
Road
With 6" of suspension lift and 1" of body lift,
the 35x13.50 Baja Claws fit very nicely under out Project
TJ. On 10" rims with 3.5" backspacing, they stay
away from our fender flares quite well. We have done no trimming
at all to clear them. |
Obviously,
a tire like the Baja Claw's forte is not going to be on the street.
The aggressive tread pattern and bias-ply construction makes for
a somewhat uncomfortable ride on the pavement. In addition, I
don't think I've ever heard a louder tire than the Claw. At 70-80mph,
the howling is enough to drown out the stereo in the Jeep completely.
Mickey Thompson has brought out a radial version for those who
do more street-driving.
Having 13.5"
wide tires on a tall rig is great. The extra width gives a very
sure-footed and more-balanced stance. The Claws kept the Jeep
stuck to the road, even under heavy acceleration on very twisty
roads. We
have been running them at 30 pounds and have used them for about
six months as both daily driver tires and trail tires. The wear
has been what we expected. Again, they are not really intended
to be street tires. Any 35" tire is going to be hard to balance
and even harder if on a bead-locked rim. Our set started on regular
steel rims and did quite well for a couple thousand miles. We
then put them on bead-locked rims. One tire took as much as 16
ounces of weights to "balance" but we discovered that
the rim itself was not perfectly round. This took its toll on
the tires up front (and our wheel bearings). The tires eventually
wore unevenly and could not be rebalanced. We have since removed
them from the bead locks and are going to put them back on regular
steel rims, hoping they will balance once again.
In situations
like this (driver side rear), the Sidebiters wedge against
the rocks and pull you forward. It's like having tread on
the sides, as well.
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OK,
so Baja Claws won't get you out of everything. Driver-error
can still foil even the tires' best attempts at moving forward.
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Final Thoughts
This is typical of any hardcore tire that actually gets used.
Small chunks out of the tread are normal and to be expected.
After enough miles, you will feel them on the road a little
more, especially at low speeds. |
How have they
held up? Well, because we've used them as daily drivers, as well
as trail tires, they have certainly seen some wear. However, the
tread is still very deep and well-shaped, though the lug edges
are now rounded out very slightly. In addition, some of the lugs
have some cuts and chunks out of them.
One thing
to keep in mind, though, that these are no different than other
competing tires, such as the Interco Boggers. They are based on
the same idea; huge, aggressive lugs made out of a softer compound
with armour-like sidewalls. So, wear and chunks have to be expected
on a rig that's truly used on the trails.
So here's
the bottom line. If you're looking for a true off-road tire that
will get you just about anywhere you point your rig, then you
should consider the Baja Claw. If you're still undecided, find
someone who owns a set and ask them, or better yet, watch them
on the trails. The people who have run with us on the trails have
certainly been seen scratching their heads and wondering if maybe
they should convert to Claws. Many of those people have been long-time
users of Boggers, Swampers, and other aggressive tires.
Mickey Thompson
has, once again, proven itself a real contender in the off-road
arena...this time with the hardcore boys. Try a set on your rig.
You won't regret it.
©
2000 Rockcrawler. All Rights Reserved
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