Big Fat Tires

[Bcone1381]

Does the Patrol Gear leg need to be modified in order to fly with Big Fat Tires?

Beartracks 2009 Q3 has an engineering notice that shows how to modify the gear leg to accept big fat tires up to 29", but it does not indicate which Bearhawk model it applies to. Beartracks 2010 Q1 has instructions to mount Big Fat Tires onto a Patrol, and never mentions the need to modify the gear leg fairing. Patrol Plans p26 leads me to suspect that the gear leg in fact requires modification but I am in search of facts, rather than rely on suspicion.

What are Patrol Operators experiences?

Brooks Cone
Patrol #303

[Mark Goldberg]

My recollection is that the Patrol gear legs can take the bigger tires without modification. Maybe 35" monster tires might have an interference. But I think the 29" tires do just fine.

It is the 4 place BH gear legs that some kits require a small mod. Mark

[Rollie]

If you go to the Bearhawk website and look under "parts" for the 4-place you can see the stock gear legs for the four place. Compare that to your Patrol legs and you will see that while the trailing streamline part for the four place goes straight aft at the bottom (which is the part that would interfere with fat tires), the same part on the Patrol comes off the bottom of the gear at an angle and will not interfere with fat tires. I read either that Beartracks article or something similar on this forum and ran right out to the shop to see if I needed to modify my already covered gear and was very happy to find that it is Bushwheel ready right from the factory.