Sorry if that is not the exact phrase, but let me explain.

Brand new Nitto Terra Grappler M/Ts. 295/70R17 on new Raceline Predator 8's.

Only had the truck back for three days so I'm getting reacclimated to all the pops and noises again (gone almost 90 days total).

Driving down the road today I approached a turn a little too quickly and had to cut the wheel to the left. I can only describe the following effect as if the rear end of the truck actually fishtailed to the right.

Even my daughter felt in in the passenger seat. I began to "experiment" on the highway. If I turn the wheel left to right at a moderate pace I can FEEL the rear end "sliding" out to the side.

I am positive the tires are NOT losing traction. Picture this: the tires maintain traction but the weight of the truck pushes the WHEEL against the outside wall of the tire and the wheel actually moves toward the outside wall of the tire. Hope that makes sense.

So while turning the wheel side-to-side the axle feels like it is shifting in relation to the center of the tire. I had a little of this with my 285/75 "D" Destinations, but if this is what causes this, these Nitto "E"s (should have 10-ply sidewalls) are MUCH worse!!!!

The seat-of-the-pants feeling is very nerve-wracking, actually!!!! Do I inflate the tires more to reduce this? Not sure what is in there now, I need to check tomorrow.

Thanks!!

 

I've read those nitto mts are not very road freindly in the first place but yeah I'd check your air psi go off what the sticker inside the truck door tells you.... personally I'd try an return those and get toyo mts from all my researching they last longer ride better and are a lot less noisey put some in my truck a few months back 315/75/16 (35") and I think they are great

 

My Nitto Terra Grapplers did the same thing to me. Had them for three days and took them back. It seems quite a few people have had problems with the nitto's.

 

Hmmm...I've never experienced anything goofy in the 30K miles I've had my Terra Grapplers, but then again I don't drive it like I drive my Mustang, either. I like the Nittos and plan to replace my 285/70-17's with Terra Grappler 295/70-17's when the time comes.

 

I'm assuming the op is talking about the nitto mud grappler and not the all terrain Terra which I have had and was a good tire (would look better if they made the lil lighting bolts on the side a bit thicker)

 

so tell me why would you go off what the door tag tells you instead of what the tire mfg has stamped on the tire

this is what got ford in trouble years ago with explorer rollovers. come on you need to go by the tire they have engineered that tire for a psi rating .I would never go off the door tag. the mfg puts that tag on for the oem tires that were on that rig not an aftermarket tire

 

Haven't had those tires myself but I have a buddy with em and never noticed that while riding in his truck. I think something else might be causing this, not your tires.

 

I'm certainly not an expert but from all I've read up on the #s on the truck are what to roll with think it has to do with suspension ...can tell you on the vans where I work our tire company was slapping on new tires @ 80psi just like the sidewall says and every van would wear down the inside of the front tires like butter...until one day when a van was in for warranty work a GM mechanic told us the tire psi was to high on the front not because he noticed the worn out tires as these were recently replaced but because of the tires leaning in towards the van they were going to do an alignment but once they checked psi problem solved...not one van out of the fleet has had a tire wear prematurely since

 

The PSI rating on the tire is just the maximum rating for the tire. It has nothing to do with the vehicle it is mounted on.

The Explorer fiasco was due to under-inflated tires, IIRC.

 

[quote=RUNVS;11079437]Sorry if that is not the exact phrase, but let me explain.

Brand new Nitto Terra Grappler M/Ts. 295/70R17 on new Raceline Predator 8's.

Only had the truck back for three days so I'm getting reacclimated to all the pops and noises again (gone almost 90 days total).

Driving down the road today I approached a turn a little too quickly and had to cut the wheel to the left. I can only describe the following effect as if the rear end of the truck actually fishtailed to the right.

Even my daughter felt in in the passenger seat. I began to "experiment" on the highway. If I turn the wheel left to right at a moderate pace I can FEEL the rear end "sliding" out to the side.

I am positive the tires are NOT losing traction. Picture this: the tires maintain traction but the weight of the truck pushes the WHEEL against the outside wall of the tire and the wheel actually moves toward the outside wall of the tire. Hope that makes sense.

So while turning the wheel side-to-side the axle feels like it is shifting in relation to the center of the tire. I had a little of this with my 285/75 "D" Destinations, but if this is what causes this, these Nitto "E"s (should have 10-ply sidewalls) are MUCH worse!!!!



What you are reffering to is sidewall flex. I'm not sure which Nitto tire you are talking about because the "Terra" is an all terrain not an M/T. If you are referring to the "Trail" Grapplers that is the M/T from Nitto.
I just got a set of the "Trail" Grapplers and I love them. Now I bought mine with the expectations they were not going to handle well on the highway. I did a ton of research before I shelled out the $. I've read allllllll about the Nittos and the Toyos. They are basically the same tire made from the same plant. For all the things one guy one say one way, another would say the other way. Its a wash. Work with your air pressures if you want, but I sounds to me like you should just get a highway tire back on your rig. Some just dont know what to expect outta a mud tire and dont end up liking them. My Nittos are hard as a rock and dont sway at all on road. I dont expect anything out of my tires except getting me out of the pits when I go to a sloppy, rainy race. A 295 70 17 has a pretty big sidewall also and when I was researching, the 17" wheels were a common issue because of the bigger sidewall of the tires with the 17's.

 

The Explorer issue was more to do with people failing to check their tire pressures regularly, and soft vehicle suspension that the market "demanded" for a nice car-like ride. It would seem that this whole thing has caused us to now live with TPMS systems, as we can no longer be trusted to check tire pressures.

I wonder if those Nittos would behave better on a wider rim.

 

[QUOTE=Quad Racer;11080561]Nitto Terra Grappler M/T's - NOT the A/T. It's a new tire from Nitto. I originally ordered the Toyo Open Country M/T's which I read LOT of reviews about and thought they'd fit the bill. Performance Plus Tire was unable to get the Toyo's in time so they suggested the Nitto M/T as a replacement. Since it's new I couldn't find any reviews on them so I didn't have much to go by.

Truck was in the bodyshop and I needed to buy tires/wheels since those a-holes stole mine and I had to order them in a timely manner.

I had Firestone Destination M/T's on the truck previously. They did have some "flex" in them. However, these Nitto M/T's have a TON of it. It "might" be due to something else on the truck but since that is all the same as when I had my Firestones on the truck, I can only presume the suspension, geometry and components that affect the ride are not a variable here - only the rims/tires.

I didn't have a huge problem with the Firestone's except they were "D" rated. I wanted the "E" rated and actually expected them to have LESS flex than the "D".

My buddy put the Goodyear MT/R's on his F-150 and loves them. I will need to drive his to see how his feels.

My biggest concern is how this will affect the truck when towing. I am concerned that the weight of the trailer will amplify the flex even with a weight distribution hitch.

 

I need a picture...I'm only familiar with Nittos mud grappler ( an uuber agressive tire has large paddle like tread and massive v shaped shoulder lugs) , then the all terrain Terra grappler ( a mild tread with lil lightening bolts on sidewall not thick enough to offer traction only appearance) , then the trail grappler mt ( sort of all terrain/ mt hybrid with different sidewall pattern on opposite sides ...I thought this was Nittos newest tire ??? )

 

I agree, pictures would be nice here.

 

it's a mud tire, of course it is going to have tread squirm on dry pavement. It's not necessarily the tire moving in relation to the wheel, it is the tread blocks moving in relation to the casing of the tire.

This is what happens when you have tall tread blocks with large open voids (good for mud, not meant for handling on dry pavement). If you wanted something with good dry pavement handling you should not have gone with a mud tire.