ATVs are perfect for many transportation purposes such as basic public transportation or trail riding. Once you own an ATV, an ongoing cost will be replacing the tires in order to keep having fun on the trails, while keeping yourself safe. But how long do ATV tires typically last, and how can you tell it’s time to replace them?
ATV tires last between 6,000 and 8,000 miles, which is typically 3 to 5 years. Several factors that affect how long tires last are driving habits, road conditions, and the quality of the tire. It is time to replace the tires are if they are balding, or starting to crack.
So, you now know how long your tires are going to be able to last for both miles and age, along with the key signs that you need to replace them, but there is plenty of other information for you to know to help you extend the lifespan of your tires. Continue reading and you will learn everything that you need to know about ATV tires and their lifespan.
Factors that Affect Tire Lifespan
The lifespan of an ATV tire is going to be impacted most by the driver, and while there are some factors that you can’t control when it comes to extending the lifespan of your tires, there and plenty of other factors that you can be aware of to help make your ATV tires last longer.
Driving Habits
The biggest factor over everything else is your driver’s driving habits. This not only affects the lifespan of the ATV’s tires but the lifespan of the ATV itself. Making sure that you have proper driving habits and take care of the ATV is the best thing that you can do to extend the tire’s lifespan.
This includes doing a regular maintenance check on your ATV every couple of months to ensure that everything is in good shape, and your fluid levels are full, and the tires aren’t too full or too empty. When driving, you will also want to make sure that you aren’t pushing the ATV too hard, as going faster will wear down the tires a bit faster.
Tire Pressure
As just mentioned, when you do your maintenance check on your ATV, you will want to check the tire pressure in order to make sure they aren’t too full or empty. The right tire pressure will depend on the size and type of tire that you have, but the right pressure level is listed on the tire’s user manual.
Quality of Tires
There are a lot of different producers of tires for ATVs, but the quality between these manufacturers varies greatly, and in order to make your tires last longer, you are going to want better quality tires. Typically, American-made tires are high quality and will last for a long time, however, these tires are typically the more expensive tires.
Road Conditions
This is the first factor that you can’t directly control, but making sure that you ride of the right type of terrain that your tires are designed for is going to affect the lifespan of your ATV. If you take your ATV with tires for mud or forest trails onto the highway, the tires are going to have a shorter lifespan, so when possible, keep your ATV on the terrain that the tires are meant for, and they will last longer.
Tire Age
As tires get older, they will begin to lose traction. This is extra true if you are storing your ATV anywhere where the elements can get to them. If stored in a safe, dry location, the effect of age is a bit less, but either way, over time the tires do wear down and start to lose traction. Typically tires will last anywhere from 3 to 5 years, even if they are stored properly and taken care of.
Overloading
Another aspect that is bad for both the ATV and its tires is overloading. Your ATV will have a towing or weight capacity, and going over that will force the engine and the whole of the ATV to work hard, putting strain on the machine and decreasing its lifespan. To avoid this, just be aware of what your ATVs limits are and make sure you don’t get too close to them in order to keep your ATV and its tires in good condition.
How Many Miles Do ATV Tires Last?
Typically, ATV tires will last anywhere from 5 thousand to 8 thousand miles before they need to be replaced. The maximum and the minimum lifespans are going to be affected by a variety of factors, including those listed above, so the lifespan of your tires might be slightly higher or lower depending on how they are treated.
Typically, if you are going to want to extend the lifespan of your ATV tires, you will want to ride on softer terrains, like mud or sand, as they wear down the tires less than tougher terrains, like rocks or forests with lots of tree roots. No matter how well you take care of your tires, you should replace your tires after 8 thousand miles in order to avoid any potential disasters or unexpected risks.
How Long Do Different Types of Tires Last?
You are going to want to choose the right type of tires for what you are doing with your ATV. You won’t want to choose mud tires to go rock climbing in, and they won’t do the job and will wear down faster. Making sure you have the right types of tires will let you be safer, make your ATV more effective at what you are wanting to do, and help make your tires last longer.
Stock Tires
This is the average tire that most ATVs come with automatically. Typically these tires are chosen for their cost or weight, not with their longevity in mind. While you can ride them on tougher trails or across rocks, they aren’t built for them and it will decrease their lifespan. These tires are built for softer terrains.
High-Performance Tires
These tires have some of the shortest lifespans out of any, as they are built with the purpose of sticking and gripping to just about any terrain. If order to stick to terrains such as snow, ice, mud, and other surfaces, the tires are made with a soft rubber, and this greater performance comes at the cost of the tire’s lifespan. Soft rubber wears down much faster than hard rubber tires, so in order to get this increased performance from your ATV, you are going to have to sacrifice the longevity of the tire.
Mud Tires
Made with both a soft and a medium rubber, and a very large tread pattern in order to get a grip in the mud, these tires are great in et conditions as they provide grip in both slippery and deep mud. You are also able to use these tires in snow, with them remaining effective, however, if you use them outside of these conditions you are going to be shortening the lifespan of the tires.
Sand Tires
Sand tires, or sometimes called “Paddle Tires” are built with movement on the sand in mind. With most other tires it is nearly impossible to move around the sand quickly or effectively. Because you typically have to drive over some pavement or rocks in order to get to sand dunes, sand tires tend to have a fairly limited lifespan. In most cases, sand tires lifespan is only about 500 to 1,000 miles, but they can last long depending on how you care for them.
Rock Climbing Tires
These are the hard rubber tires that are made to handle tough conditions that would typically wear out most other tires extremely quickly. These tires are also usually steel-plated in order to avoid punctures or tear the tire. These tires are going to be your best choice if you are going to be going over a lot of rocks or tough terrain.
General Purpose Tires
These are going to be the best tires for your ATV if you are going to be riding on a large variety of different terrains. They also are built to last, no matter what terrain, meaning you don’t have to worry about changing from forest paths to tougher rock terrains. Although, these tires are not built for more extreme of terrain such as deep mud biking or racing.
Racing Tires
Racing tires are built with the intention of going fast over hard surface traction. They are made with light, soft rubber that is made to help you go very fast, but they are not made to last very long. This means that you are going to want to be changing your tires out fairly often, and this might mean changing them out every time that you race.
Signs You Need To Replace Your Tires
Once you start to reach your 3 to 5 years or are nearing 5,000 to 8,00 miles, you are going to want to start looking for potential signs that your tires are wearing out. While you can always just change your tires out and the low end of this lifespan, you can also wait till you see signs that it is time to replace your tires instead. These signs include things such as:
- Tires balding at 50% or more
- Cracks anywhere
- Visibly punctured or not retaining air
- Missing a lug
- Vibrating or wobbling even after having them rotated
- Humming or thumping
- Losing traction consistently
If you do begin to notice any of these signs, then you are going to want to get new tires right away. Fortunately, this does offer a good chance for you to change into a new type of tire that matches what you use your ATV for most often. This can mean that you can get tires that will last longer for the future.
How to Make ATV Tires Last Longer
There are a variety of different things that you can do in order to make sure that your tires are in good condition and will last to the farther end of their lifespan. Some of them I have already mentioned before, however, there are a few other factors that you can remember in order to help make them last even longer.
Use The Right Size
The first thing you are going to want to do is to make sure that you are using the right size tire for your ATV. You can find what the right size tire is for your ATV by looking at an ATV tire size chart. This will get you the right size tires so that your ATV can run smoothly and without any issues.
Keep The Tires Clean
When you do maintenance on your ATV, you are going to want to clean off the tires. This will let you inspect the tire without any obstruction, and also prevent the buildup from damaging the tires. While cleaning off the tires when you do maintenance is good, the ideal is to clean off the tires at least once a month.
Inspect Them Before You Ride
A good thing that you are going to want to do in order to make sure that your ATV is in good condition and safe to ride is to give your tires a quick inspection every time before you start riding. While it may seem like an inconvenience to inspect your ATV before you ride it, this will help you ensure that everything is safe and good to go.
Have The Right Tire Pressure
The last major thing that you are going to want to do before you go out riding is check your tire pressure. I have already mentioned that it is extremely important that you check your tire pressure and the reason you should be checking, but you should give your tire a check before you go out riding as well. You can check your tire pressure fairly quickly by using a tire pressure gauge that can be purchased fairly cheaply online.