This is leading to a question as to what type tires everyone likes.  There is a Truism that no one ever sells a farm tractor with good tires on it.. decision time was when they contemplated either replacing the tires or the tractor.  My 2001 Tracker needed tires before it could pass inspection before getting title and registration.  I went to my local Po'boy tire shop and ordered a set of all weather (seemed like a compromise at the time).  The tire on the carrier is a 225/70X15 but the ones on the ground were / are 235/75X15.  Seemed like a reasonable change.  Well, I went out to the coast fishing again and when in the soft sand I thought I could use a little more flotation.   I got home and was thinking (dangerous but I have way too much time) so I went to   https://tiresize.com/comparison/ and plugged in the numbers.  The 225/70 is supposed to be 27.4 tall and 8.9 wide.  I measured and it is about 9" wide on the tread.  The 235/75 is supposed to be 28.9 X 9.3"...  I measured and on my cheap tires the tread is less than 7" wide (closer to 6.5)..  Yup, I could use some more flotation / width, like 40% more.  What that means is that because I want to change them, they will probably last me forever unless I can swap them to a trailer of something.  Watch me.

I drive about 57 miles to where the pavement ends and then 7 or 8 to my fishing spot.  Of course the same to get back.  Otherwise it may make a 5 mile round trip to town once in awhile (and as I think of it, I have made a couple of trips across (into Mexico for medications) for about 15 miles round trip.  So next tires I will be measuring before installed  (they were $73 each with mounting and balance).   Eventually I will also lift it a little so I don't drag the middle on the 2 tracks but I can't see 31" tires.  I think I can put up with road noise to not get stuck.   Question is how about the brand and do I go all terrain?  Tio Pick in Paradise on the Rio

OK, I see a bunch of views and no replies.  Help me out here.  I have been researching on my own of course.  The General Grabber AT2 (we are talking about 235/75X15 here remember) seems like a leading candidate especially based on Amazon price and one source the tread "ought to be" 9.25" but got a reply from Tire Rack saying it is 7.5".  I have an email contact us into General with questions but no reply from them yet.  What I do not want to do is order tires and find skinny tread once again.  Certainly someone here has Generals or even BF Goodrich or ?  Please pass on your experiences and tread widths.... 

Probably not the tire you're looking for, but I've been very happy with BFG Mud Terrains.  Samurai are so light, that flotation isn't much of an issue.  I went with the BFGs because of the large tread blocks, which don't get torn up to bad by the sharp rock roads I drive.  They also have one of the toughest sidewall constructions and rubber compounds on the market.

Zelgin, thank you, that is a choice but finally today I got confirmation from General that their Grabber AT2 does have an honest 9.3" tread width.  After buying X brand and AS instead of AT, I did not want to make a mistake again.

Happy day, my Lock Right came today and also we went to a Blues Club tonight just hanging with friends in the band jamming and I think I may have a guitar sold which will go along way on paying for toys.  Tio Pick from Paradise on the Rio

If you are  reading this but have not read Amy gets a Lock-right... here is an update.  No locker available for a 2001 Tracker (but some may work sort of) so NO locker and I will soon get wider tires...  Just for my peace of mind..  Pictures will be made on the next trip to the coast Tio in Paradise on the Rio

So if you are driving on a far amount of soft sand and no mater what tire you have you need to air down some to let the tire flex a little and when your back out to the hard road air back up, I let down to 10 lbs front and 8 lbs rear .

Kreator, when talking to Trail Tough about my lack of locker options they mentioned lowering air pressure to 8 or 10 pounds.  I would be interested in hearing what other people do.  I might even jack it up, deflate, "paint" tread and lower on cardboard to see what is the best compromise.  I might start at 15 or 16 lb.  More experienced 4X4 people would probably think I am just being a big chicken.  Maybe I am.  Once I am more familiar with the 2 tracks etc where I want to go I will most likely be much braver.

Google Port Isabel, TX, slide a little east to South Padre Island and then south across the channel.  That is basically known as Boca Chica Island.  Switch to earth view (lower left box).  scroll west from the South jetty and follow the shore line around Dolphin cove / bay and then swing to the SW along the Brownsville Ship Channel.  Shortly there is the entrance to "South Bay" and the land there is called Clark Island which is where I wish to camp.  Before you get all the way to south bay / Clark island there is a cut that runs inland.  Border Patrol tells me that if the tide is out and there has not been much rain, I should just be able to follow / drive along the shore.  Otherwise turn inland there and go around the cut.  More experienced people that know where they are going and where not to just cut across "uncharted" areas but have also told "horror" stories of getting out and walking it first and thinking it would be ok only to find they were planing and needed to keep speed up to reach the other side.  Next trip in about 2 weeks.  Will take pictures.  I intend to camp so I can drive out when the tide is out, stay and fish until it goes back out.  Thanks for the feedback, Tio in Paradise on the Rio (well, the river is about 7 miles S of me and it is about 56 miiles to where the pavement ends on Boca Chica then 5 miles N to the Jetty)

When I air down, I pull the valve stem and as the pressure drops it will whistle, when the whistle stops, put the stem back in.  On my rig and tires that puts me close to 10 psi,  and a tire gauge confirms that they all seem to stop whistling about the same pressure (air pressure, barometric pressure, orifice size all being equal, etc, makes sense).
A couple of strips of carpet could come in handy when stuck in soft sand,  I have got out soft sand (and a lot of trouble) using a bunch of boat rope under the tires of my dads car when it somehow was stuck on the remote corner of a river sandbar.

Hey guys, I'm just getting into 4 wheeling.  I'm reading a lot about lowering air pressure in tires.  My question is, what's the risk of a tire coming off the bead with lower air pressure and are bead locks necessary when running lower air pressure? Planning on running 31x10.5x15 tires on 15x8 wheels.
Thanks for any info.

craigmno1, me thinks you worry too much.  #1 I don't think you have the HP to spin the wheel inside the tire  #2 enough forward speed and a sharp turn and you may have more to worry about than pulling a tire off.  #3  There are limits to how much bigger you can make your footprint by lowering the air pressure and at some point you do have a danger of your wheel rims cutting the sidewalls of the tires.  Don't try to overdo stuff.  If your intention is getting air when leaping sand dunes, get a dune buggy / rail job.  I also have a "cheap" winch that I can chain on either end (or hook on trailer hitch) and tie it to a boat anchor with flukes in the sand or an axle driven in the ground.   Then there is the high lifter jack and carpet or boards.  I have a picnic table made from a single sheet of plywood that assembles like a puzzle and disassembles to lay flat and I could always sacrifice it for the cause.
Tio in Paradise on the Rio