Going from a 12" wide tire to a 10" wide tire—Will it still be as good off-road?

I want a slightly more aggressive all terrain, my KM2s suck on the rainy roads. Cycling my suspension I can see how having a 10.5 vs 12.5 will let me pull the tires in a bit - I want as close to being under Rubi flares as possible. And I love 35s :) I’m excited! They are going on this summer and I’ll give a full review with pics on here


Makes sense! It brings me back to high school and most of us ran buckshot mudders which worked out to a 36x11, tall and skinny looked really cool! I’m excited to see it man!!!
 
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I want a slightly more aggressive all terrain, my KM2s suck on the rainy roads. Cycling my suspension I can see how having a 10.5 vs 12.5 will let me pull the tires in a bit - I want as close to being under Rubi flares as possible. And I love 35s :) I’m excited! They are going on this summer and I’ll give a full review with pics on here

Like this,
20200307_133347.jpg
 
FYI, the idea that a wider tire gives you better traction due to a larger contact patch is false. The amount of rubber on the road is a function of vehicle weight and tire psi. Tire width is irrelevant. Go from a 10.5 to 12.5 tire of the same diameter at the same psi and the amount of rubber on the road will be exactly the same. That's why you air down for more grip, it increases the contact patch area and as a bonus makes the tire more flexible. That increases grip both on and off road.

It's simple physics. Now the shape of the contact patch in relation to the direction of travel does have an impact on handling in certain situations. A wider tire is more likely to hydroplane, for instance.

For off road any given surface might favor one size or another, but since you can't vary that on the fly you just pick a tire and go with it. The primary reason people buy wide tires, they look cool.
 
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FYI, the idea that a wider tire gives you better traction due to a larger contact patch is false. The amount of rubber on the road is a function of vehicle weight and tire psi. Tire width is irrelevant. Go from a 10.5 to 12.5 tire of the same diameter at the same psi and the amount of rubber on the road will be exactly the same. That's why you air down for more grip, it increases the contact patch area and as a bonus makes the tire more flexible. That increases grip both on and off road.

It's simple physics. Now the shape of the contact patch in relation to the direction of travel does have an impact on handling in certain situations. A wider tire is more likely to hydroplane, for instance.

For off road any given surface might favor one size or another, but since you can't vary that on the fly you just pick a tire and go with it. The primary reason people buy wide tires, they look cool.
8A38F067-DC68-4702-A655-AA55B054F184.jpeg

Physics is fun :) Narrow tire’s pros outweigh the cons.
 
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I’m going to a 33x10.5 next go round. This should be soon for me, like pre-Moab 2021. Glad to see this thread. I did have concerns about off-road capability/comparison.