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Maxxis vs Simex ET's


ex_mod_90

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Hi Chaps.

I have been registered here for a bit, but this is my first post here.

I currently have a set of 35x10.5 16 Simex ET's, which I am looking to replace. I have read various posts here about the Maxxis creepy crawlers/mudzilla tyres, but no=one seems to have used them in anger in the UK, I can find quite a few people using them in the states and in Australia and they seem to get good reviews, but they dont really have the same gloopy mud that we have in the UK.

Obviously there will be some trade off between the Simex ET and the Maxxis tread I just wondered if anyone had any real life experience of using the two.

One option would be to buy Creepy crawlers and then a set of beadlocks allowing me to go drop below 10psi........

Anyway if anyone has any view please let me know. I guess I am not the only person wondering that the Maxxis perfomance is like in the deep mud.

Thanks

Rich.

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I have a set of 33x13.50-15 Mudzillas in our tyre bay which may well be going on this weekend :)

I doubt I will get to use them much in anger for a while though - its mid summer here and thus a bit dry :(

First impressions are that they are under-sized - the allegedly 33" tyres are smaller in diameter than the 33x12.50R15 General Grabber MT and Hankook RT01's that I stood them next to. I would be surprised if they are much over 32" because I know most allegedly 33" tyres are a bit under sized - about 32.5 to 32.7 inches normally. That doesn't really bother me because I prefer the gearing on smaller tyres, its width and tread pattern that matters more here. Love the tread, again I haven't measured it but while on paper it has less tread depth than BFGs etc, you wouldn't think so just looking at it - nice and chunky and I reckon it will be ideal in the conditions here without digging graves like the Insa Turbos seemed to do.

They are also going to be tough - the sidewalls feel really strong compared to the radial MT's though some of that could be due to being crossplies.

Will report more when I have them on :)

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Be aware there very different tyres

Simex ET is a mud tyre and the creepy crawler is for rock

The mudziller is more like it but I don't run them.

Fridgefreezer has been very impressed with his 37" Maxxis CC for mud but he isn't using them as a comp tyre

The cost is a good thing with the maxxis being much cheaper.

Vid Maxxis & Simex at work

I took this vide while on Holiday in Aus in Aug this year.

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Be aware there very different tyres

Simex ET is a mud tyre and the creepy crawler is for rock

The mudziller is more like it but I don't run them.

Fridgefreezer has been very impressed with his 37" Maxxis CC for mud but he isn't using them as a comp tyre

The cost is a good thing with the maxxis being much cheaper.

Vid Maxxis & Simex at work

I took this vide while on Holiday in Aus in Aug this year.

Yeah, the Maxxis CCs seemed to work pretty well although they're not primerarly a mud tyre. The Mudzillers do look quite good in the pictures but I haven't seen a set in the flesh let alone being used.

I guess the tyre you choose really depends on what sort of terrain your driving. IMHO, Simex are hard to beat on clay but not much use if there isn't anything solid once you start digging (so sand and bog) so I'm keeping a set for the events that have a 35" tyre limit. I'm also going to use a set of 38.5x11 Super Swamper Boggers which seem to be gaining a bit of a following.

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Thanks Chaps.

As I am very pleased with the performance of my Simex i'll stick with them despite the cost......

Just one point before I part with my hard earned, whats the verdict on ET2's i.e. the ET with three lugs rather than the traditional 2 lugs.

Thanks for all of your replies

Rich.

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Thanks Chaps.

As I am very pleased with the performance of my Simex i'll stick with them despite the cost......

Just one point before I part with my hard earned, whats the verdict on ET2's i.e. the ET with three lugs rather than the traditional 2 lugs.

Thanks for all of your replies

Rich.

Again, it depends what you're doing but they don't clear quite as well. I've seen photos where people have taken out alternate outer central lugs to open them up a bit. FYI, the 35 x 11.5 is also an ET2 which maybe have a small advantage over the 35 x 10.5 as they're a little more open. I've just had to decide what I was going to do (keep my old, part worn 35 x 10.5 x 16s or get a new set of 35 x 11.5 x 15s) so I could order my new rims. I decided to stay with the 16s as there's some meat left in them and it'd save a couple of hundred £££ which is needed for other stuff especially as they're the 2nd choice tyres. If you aren't worried about buying new rims I'd go for 35 x 11.5 x 15s.

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Again, it depends what you're doing but they don't clear quite as well. I've seen photos where people have taken out alternate outer central lugs to open them up a bit. FYI, the 35 x 11.5 is also an ET2 which maybe have a small advantage over the 35 x 10.5 as they're a little more open. I've just had to decide what I was going to do (keep my old, part worn 35 x 10.5 x 16s or get a new set of 35 x 11.5 x 15s) so I could order my new rims. I decided to stay with the 16s as there's some meat left in them and it'd save a couple of hundred £££ which is needed for other stuff especially as they're the 2nd choice tyres. If you aren't worried about buying new rims I'd go for 35 x 11.5 x 15s.

Thanks Will.

As I mentioned in my 1st post I currently have 35x10.5 16's, which are the ET pattern. I believe that the 35 11.5 R16 is an ET2 style, 3 lug? Dont want to swap rims as although they are only steels, they do have a decent offset and means I dont need to run spacers, so want to stick with the 16" rims.

I was just canvassing opinion. I have seen pics of ET2's with alternate lugs chopped off. It seems to be a tad barbaric spending nigh on £200 a corner, and then start cutting off the lugs!

You have basically hit on what I thought that the tread on the ET2 seems to be closer and therfore heoretically wont self clear as readily? Maybe someone can contradict me or offer some advice.

Thanks again to all who have taken the time to reply.

Rich.

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I must say i have changed my opinion on the creepy crawlers a little since the trip to Russia as the 6x6 ovlov was running these and seemed to cope pretty well in the gloop keeping it moving in some rather glooopy sticky smelly messes! The little pajero that came to compete on ladoga this year was running the mudzilla's and benny and Leo having good reports about them other than they would have liked larger but their class did not permit this.

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The creepy crawlers are under-sized (37's are 35" high) but then most tyres are it seems. However, I'm liking my CC's, they seem to do pretty well in mud, they're well behaved on the road and the sidewall lugs work brilliantly. Never driven on Simex so can't compare, but for the price I'm dead chuffed with the Maxxis.

They're chunkier in real life than they look in photos for some reason. I would've like MudZillas but they don't do 'em in the right size.

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Midsummer. :) I saw the weather forecast earlier - look out it might get to 14 degrees tomorrow! :rofl: It is almost that here!

Chris

At least my country isn't half underwater in our "summer" :P

Don't believe the weather forecast - according to the BBC website 5 min ago, it is heavy rain here today, having just got back from a couple of hours out on my boat, the only falling water I have seen this morning was the spray from the dolphins jumping alongside in glorious sunshine :)

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The creepy crawlers are under-sized (37's are 35" high) but then most tyres are it seems. However, I'm liking my CC's, they seem to do pretty well in mud, they're well behaved on the road and the sidewall lugs work brilliantly. Never driven on Simex so can't compare, but for the price I'm dead chuffed with the Maxxis.

They're chunkier in real life than they look in photos for some reason. I would've like MudZillas but they don't do 'em in the right size.

Strange, my 37-12.5/16's Creepy Crawlers are exactly 37" tall on mine :)

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Hi,

currently running 315/75 procomp xterrain on mine for every day use and spontaneous off road stints at night.

I quite fancy the creepy crawler as a replacement when the pro comps are due prob in Feb.

has anyone got any info on the creepy crawler road manners and how quick they wear in comparison to the pro comp.

JJ

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Thanks Will.

As I mentioned in my 1st post I currently have 35x10.5 16's, which are the ET pattern. I believe that the 35 11.5 R16 is an ET2 style, 3 lug? Dont want to swap rims as although they are only steels, they do have a decent offset and means I dont need to run spacers, so want to stick with the 16" rims.

I was just canvassing opinion. I have seen pics of ET2's with alternate lugs chopped off. It seems to be a tad barbaric spending nigh on £200 a corner, and then start cutting off the lugs!

You have basically hit on what I thought that the tread on the ET2 seems to be closer and therfore heoretically wont self clear as readily? Maybe someone can contradict me or offer some advice.

Thanks again to all who have taken the time to reply.

Rich.

Rich, the 35 x 11.5 x 15s only have 2 lugs in the centre and are a little more open than the 10.5 x 16s - its only the 36 x 12.5s that have 3 lugs in the centre.

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Rich, the 35 x 11.5 x 15s only have 2 lugs in the centre and are a little more open than the 10.5 x 16s - its only the 36 x 12.5s that have 3 lugs in the centre.

I’ve run both the 35’s & 36’s Ets - you’ve got the obvious height advantage with the 36’s but the 35’s do generally seem to bite better in the goo.

Lee

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Well, just driven a set of Mudzillas on the road, first impressions pretty good. None of the "Avon Ranger" steering feel that you get with many crossplies, and also with the Insa Turbo Special Tracks - the steering feels as good as with a good wide radial MT. Bit of an odd resonant noise at about 20mph but that aside, they are no more noisy than most wide mud-terrains like BFG etc, noisier than my 265 BFGs but not really much different to the 12.50s.

They are definitely about an inch undersize in both directions as the "33x13.50-15" size is only the same height as my 265/75R16 BFG's, i.e. about 32 inches, and they are only the same width (tread and section) as 12.50 tyres of other makes.

On a set of 10x15 rims they do achieve the "fat boy look" though :D - mine are going on 8x15s because I don't want to look like an 80's Vitara ;)

post-33-1197917203_thumb.jpg

Need to get mine fitted and then we need some rain :)

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Can't help you on the wear but they are OK on the road, not as good as my XZL's but about the same as a mud tyre. You know you're not running road tyres but don't fear for your life :lol:

What size are you running and have you had any experience in the mud with them? Any photo's you can post?

Pete

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ok, so how tall are the 37" creepy crawlers at, say, 15psi, on 8x16" rims on a vehicle?

my tires stand at 36inch free standing, fit them on the truck and they drop to 34 1/2"!

Mine are on 8x16 rims, inflated to approx 18psi and stand 37" tall on the car.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is the Mudzilla 33x13.50R15 next to a 50% worn BFG MT 33x12.50R15, both on 8x15 rims.

post-33-1199375809_thumb.jpg

Not much in it for the width, and the Mudzilla is a wee bit smaller diameter, though once inflated the difference isn't as much as it first appears.

Do NOT fit these yourself if you can avoid it - the sidewalls are incredibly hard and even with a proper semi-auto tyre machine I struggled - one of them took me about 20 min to get the second side over the rim, for comparison it takes me less than a minute to fit one of the BFGs onto the rim with the same machine, excluding the time to inflate it. I'd hate to try it using the "armstrong" method :o

The plus side is that I don't expect too many sidewall issues - looking forwards to trying them out :)

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I can confirm that the Crawlers work well on sand and clean well if you spin them up.

I can second that :D

Tomcat with simex got stuck were my mobile casino (without lockers) drove straight through twice

Will Warn started calling my LSE the casino because its massive and has leather and walnut everywhere :P and its better than Nigel's he called it the mobile bungalow

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