Tire grooving ??

fordtrucknut

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 16, 2012
Location
bedford va
I have a set of 34 swampers. .about 1/4 tread..I'm thinking of grooving down into the carcass of the tire to give them deeper tread depth ..but I don't want to bust them on a rock..
Anyone have any experience with this? I know I've seen people do it..I just don't know how well they will hold up...I'm not concerned about highway manners..this is an off road only rig
 
Hi guys sorry I've been super busy with work and my Parents came to visit this weekend. Thank you for your concerns though @XJsavage and @obullfish
@fordtrucknut , swampers can usually go right at a solid 5/16" in the middle Under the tread itself...then usually close to an 7/8" at the outer most part of the lugs. I've ran MANY tires including a set I'm finally selling all the way down to the chords with no problems of weaknesses. Only on steel belted tires can you NOT got to the belts but swampers that are all nylon belts and be just fine. Here's a set of thornbirds i went ALL the way down everywhere as deep as can go and ran them for almost 2years problem free (minus breaking beads here and there lol) here's some pics for ya..have fun grooving!! oh and IF you do cut into small pieces of the nylon belts here and there, no biggie I've done it many times as long as you just accidentally "skim" it.
regrooved thornbird phase 3.jpg
regrooved thornbird phase 3 (2).jpg
Johnathans 44s after (2).jpg

I've been grooving for long time and I've not seen any "extra weakness" from loosing that little extra rubber underneath tread. If you are worried about it though (as some customers I've grooved for have been) than just find the deepest you can go down...then set your blade a good 1/8" higher and do it that way. Good luck, ask away any other questions!!
 
marty79 said:
Hi guys sorry I've been super busy with work and my Parents came to visit this weekend. Thank you for your concerns though @XJsavage and @obullfish
@fordtrucknut , swampers can usually go right at a solid 5/16" in the middle Under the tread itself...then usually close to an 7/8" at the outer most part of the lugs. I've ran MANY tires including a set I'm finally selling all the way down to the chords with no problems of weaknesses. Only on steel belted tires can you NOT got to the belts but swampers that are all nylon belts and be just fine. Here's a set of thornbirds i went ALL the way down everywhere as deep as can go and ran them for almost 2years problem free (minus breaking beads here and there lol) here's some pics for ya..have fun grooving!! oh and IF you do cut into small pieces of the nylon belts here and there, no biggie I've done it many times as long as you just accidentally "skim" it.
View attachment 220099 View attachment 220100 View attachment 220101
I've been grooving for long time and I've not seen any "extra weakness" from loosing that little extra rubber underneath tread. If you are worried about it though (as some customers I've grooved for have been) than just find the deepest you can go down...then set your blade a good 1/8" higher and do it that way. Good luck, ask away any other questions!!
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How long does it take you to do 1 tire?
 
anvilrubi said:
How long does it take you to do 1 tire?
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it depends on how bad my arthritis kicks in that day lol...I just did 2 36x12.50 TSLs pretty good (not crazy but good cut) in 3hrs hauling ass ignoring my hands cramping and hurting..some days I can't though so I gotta slow down a bit. My biggest issue is this cheapo groover requires MUCH MORE pushing to cut so someday when I can afford the big groover that cuts like butter, I can use really wide blades and cut deep enough with one pass which will really really cut down time and pain in the hands.
 
FrontPorchFab said:
And how many weeks afterwards do you experience carpal tunnel?
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my hands only hurt momentarily, never any long affects but been doing it so long, I'm used to it I guess and just ignore a lot of the pain. The Winter time sucks the worst as my knuckles and knees act up pretty bad and that slows me down a lot.
 
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