Tsl groove patterns

tnford88 · Mar 3, 2016

I'm looking to groove my 44" tsl's. I'm going to get an ideal groover with probably #6 or #8 blades. I'm not wanting to go full blown dig tars (atena or tn). I'm wondering of the two styles shown is it worth the added time to do triangles vs straight across. Also if I do straight across I can always do tn cut later on.

TBItoy · Mar 3, 2016

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I actually prefer taking the material off the front and rear of the tread blocks rather than splitting them in half

wimpykid · Mar 3, 2016

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TBItoy said:
I actually prefer taking the material off the front and rear of the tread blocks rather than splitting them in half

That's how mine are cut. You can start with maybe a 1/2" cut on front and back, then as they wear, you can take 1/4 to 1/2 more out of the front. You can get quiet a bit of life out of them and keep a good leading edge.

scooter60 · Mar 3, 2016

wimpykid said:
That's how mine are cut. You can start with maybe a 1/2" cut on front and back, then as they wear, you can take 1/4 to 1/2 more out of the front. You can get quiet a bit of life out of them and keep a good leading edge.

Got any pics? I'm looking in to grooving my TSL's soon and am very interested in this topic. I know I am going to be needing tires in the near future but I would like to get a little more life out of them in the meantime. I have always been on a tight budget and just dropped some coin on parts to 4-link the front end so I need at least another year or two out of the current set. I have seen the two examples above and both seem to work good especially on older, hard tires like mine. It seems to soften them up so they wrap around the rocks better. I'm not sure I have seen where just the front and the back of the lugs are grooved. Are you cutting away more of the valleys and leaving the entire lug? Or are you just cutting the leading and trailing edges of each lug?

TBItoy · Mar 3, 2016

I did both on my ol wore out Iroks. Cut the front and back of the lug off square to "sharpen" it (Iroks have that stupid little interlocking center tread pattern) and hit another groove between the treads because mine were so bald.

On some SXs and TSLs I've cut, basically I just cut the front of the lug back to a square block and removed the little raised sections that are in between the center tread (wear bars I guess).

Hell on a buddy's 36 TSLs, we cut them 3 times over the years "sharpening" them back up, till the center tread looked like they were TN cut and all the outer lugs were the same length molaugh

MonnlightRacing77 · Mar 3, 2016

this is how we cut my buddy's SXs they hook really good

MonnlightRacing77 · Mar 3, 2016

dang double post

tnford88 · Mar 4, 2016

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Thanks for the pics and suggestions. My tires are a older set and looking to loosen them up a bit and add more biting edges. The regular tsl just seems like the center packs up more easily than my old irocks.

wimpykid · Mar 4, 2016

Front hasn't been cut as much as the back.

tnford88 · Mar 4, 2016

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That's looks interesting. Definitely opens the tread up more and has the staggering of a tn cut.

uglyoffroad · Mar 4, 2016

I did my sx's like this. It definitely made a big difference. I think other grove patterns may make the tires flex better but this has made a huge difference in forward traction. Not that it matters but My opinion is that your first choice would give better forward traction and your second choice would help the tire flex better and be a balance between forward and lateral traction.

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tnford88 · Mar 4, 2016

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That's what I've pondered on. Having that horizontal biting edge would be better forward grip vs the slanted lines. I'm probably going to do the across pattern, but was wondering if anyone has ever siped the center afterwards for better wet rock traction. Siping usually helps road tires grip in wet and icy conditions, so the same should apply right? Just a few cuts with a razor blade per lug was what I was thinking, but maybe it will cause chunking, dunno.

tnford88 · Mar 5, 2016

This is what I'm talking about doing after cutting the chevrons in half.

tyleecw · Mar 5, 2016

^^ Did that to an old set of TSL's and it did seem to help on slick wet rocks. May have just been in my mind though. :dunno:

On a side note, before sipping them they had that constant chirp on pavement when turning. After it was like they were twisting and then unloading the axle shaft, silent chirp hop, silent chirp hop, etc....Hope that makes sense.

poolman · Mar 5, 2016

uglyoffroad said:
I did my sx's like this. It definitely made a big difference. I think other grove patterns may make the tires flex better but this has made a huge difference in forward traction. Not that it matters but My opinion is that your first choice would give better forward traction and your second choice would help the tire flex better and be a balance between forward and lateral traction.

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Stickies or regular compound?????

uglyoffroad · Mar 6, 2016

They are regular compound. I'd like to go to stickies this year but haven't had the funds yet.

tnford88 · Mar 6, 2016

Re: Re: Tsl groove patterns

uglyoffroad said:
I'd like to go to stickies this year but haven't had the funds yet.

I believe this is a lot of people's situation. I'm just trying to increase the performance of what I got for now because the cost of wheels and stickies are too big right now.

joho75287 · Mar 7, 2016

uglyoffroad said:
I did my sx's like this. It definitely made a big difference. I think other grove patterns may make the tires flex better but this has made a huge difference in forward traction. Not that it matters but My opinion is that your first choice would give better forward traction and your second choice would help the tire flex better and be a balance between forward and lateral traction.

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Did this as well. Night and day difference on my SXs!!
And doing it with a chain saw took me about an hour for all four tires. Easy Peasy.

peanut · Mar 7, 2016

how long did it take to sweep all that rubber up

uglyoffroad · Mar 7, 2016

peanut said:
how long did it take to sweep all that rubber up

It took about 2 hours to cut them and clean it all up. I moved everything possible out away from the buggy to make the cleanup easier. Started with an electric chain saw on the first two tires and it was taking way to long. Moved to the gas chain saw and it was like a hot knife on butter.