Looking to get rid of my 42's.
There just too big and the fuzz won't stop yanking me over all the time.

Looking to get 37/38" rubber.
Use: Mainly hwy, towing work trailer, mild offroad use.

04 eX 8 x 170 0-15 offset rims.

What experience do you lifted guys have with what tire that size??
Any reliable places sell the combo's on-line?
Located in Manitoba, CA

Thanks in advance for any input

 

I have BFG A/T K/O's. They are 325/60/22. They are like 37.3". I love em. Alot of people on here will dispute the whole "D"-"E" rating thing. Mine are ""D" but the load rating in lbs is higher than my 325/50/22 Toyo's which were"E" rated. I regularly drive the PA turnpike here and have no trouble going over 80 with these tires. I also rarely ever tow. Not sure what size rims you have but....there are many options. And as you know, they are pricy. The other option is to get a set of Goodyear military OZ tires. They are 37/12.50/16.5. I can't drive fast with them as they are so much heavier and cant get them to balance. 60 mph tops. The weight on them are about 140 lbs each. They are cheap too. I have 2 sets of them with about 21/32" of tread and have no use for em..

 

didn't say what size wheel you have but falken makes a 37 now thats got really good reviews for street use.

 

Hey what kind of gas mileage do you get with 37's on that v10 if you don't mind me asking?

Seriously contemplating just pulling the trigger on a v10 ex

 

I have a set of the military surplus (ex-Hummer) Goodyear Wrangler Radials in 37 x 12.5 x 16.5 that RACERX7775 is referring to. I can neither confirm nor deny that I may or may not have had my X at speeds of 100 mph on those tires. Mine are pretty well balanced (ride match balanced, with regular weights); I get some vibration on them around the speed limit, but then it goes away if one either goes a little slower or a little faster. It's a little annoying that the vibration is right around the speed limit. My biggest issue with them is that I only got around 10,000 miles out of this current set; I started with > 90% tread, and there is not much tread left. My usage of the tires may be a little more extreme than most i.e. quite a few trips down to Baja, quite a few offroad trips, some moderate towing (~ 7,000 lbs), some enthusiastic street use, and general daily driving, but I can't imagine my use is much different. Diesels are working trucks after all. Anyway, since I already have 16.5" rims, I decided to give them one more shot, to see if I get better tread life out of my 2nd set. If I don't get much more than around 10,000 miles out of this 2nd set, I plan to switch to another tire.

Though I don't have direct experience, based on my research, my choice of tire on a 17" rim (your sig seems to indicate you have 17" rims) would be the Toyo Open Country M/T in 37 x 13.5 x 17 (I think min rim width for that tire is 8.5", but I would probably aim for a 9" or 10" wide rim). That particular size of the Toyo Open Country M/T is a Load Range E rated tire, and has a 4,300 lbs per tire max load rating (the highest in their M/T lineup). That should give you plenty of load carrying capability for towing (at that point your rims or other equipment become the limiting factors), is aggressive enough for offroading, is supposed to have reasonable street manners, and should last a long time. Many people seem to report getting 50k miles out of these tires, and other somewhat similar tires, like the BFG A/T, which is why I am not quite as gung ho about the Goodyear military surplus tires as I would be if they lasted longer.

P.S. My setup is '00 X 7.3L PSD, with 8" all spring lift front & rear, hooped double Bilstein 7100 resi smooth bodies in front with limit strap tied to frame, single Bilstein 7100 resi smooth bodies in rear, supplemented by air bags, 4.56 gears with ARB air lockers front & rear.

 

Wish those suckers would fit my truck. I'd love to pay $400 for 4 tires. Even if they only lasted 10k, that is still a great price. And they're pretty good offroad

 

Actually, if one compares a tire that costs $100 per tire that lasts 10k miles, and a tire that costs $400 per tire that lasts 40k miles, in the end the cost works out roughly the same.

The advantage of the cheaper tire is that the cost is spread out over time e.g. $400 for a set every year, instead of $1600 for a set every 4 years. Also, if you irreparably damage one tire, the cost isn't as hard to swallow. And at that price, one can afford to have an extra spare or two on hand.

The disadvantage is that good condition (i.e. > 90% tread, no funky wear pattern, no twisted beads, no sidewall or tread damage etc.) military surplus tires aren't that easy to get hold of; so unless you have a military surplus store nearby, you'll have to pay for shipping, or time & fuel to drive to pick them up. Also, you have the hassle of having to obtain, mount & balance a set of tires every year, along with the added cost of mounting & balancing 4 sets of tires, instead of 1 set.

 

good points xbox73

consider my current bfg's in 35/12.5/18...I'd be hard pressed to replace them for under $400 a pop...and they have a life expectancy of 10-15,000 miles

I drive 3-5,000 miles per year on average. So I'd gladly run military surplus to cut costs. My BFG's are noticeably worn and they've only got 3k on them now. I'm scared of what they'll look like at the 10k mark

 

Which BFGs do you have? Some people report getting 50k miles out of the BFG AT KO, and I believe also the MT KM2 (though BFG rate the AT KO 9/10 for wear life vs. 6/10 for the MT KM2), so the AT KO would likely be the better choice for wear life if your use is mostly road, mild terrain & sand.

If you're getting poor wear life, it may be worth checking the tire for uneven wear, and if found, getting the tires balanced or the truck aligned or worn front end components replaced. You can buy a cheap tread depth gauge to somewhat accurately gauge the amount of tread depth left (and hence wear), and check the tire tread depth at the inside, middle & outside, at various points around the tire, in order to gauge average tread depth & evenness. Rotating tires regularly can help, as can using the correct tire pressures. Too much tire pressure and the tire may wear prematurely in the center; too little tire pressure and the tire may wear prematurely at the inside & outside edges.

 

I have the original BFG M/T

they are wearing perfectly even...just very short tread life. it's not a matter of worn components or improper air pressure. Just very soft rubber on a 8,000 lbs truck

seeing all these 37" tire threads really makes me want to upgrade from my 35's. can't justify the $1,500 to $2,000 expense though. oh well

 

he has 17" Mazzi Hulks, it says so in his signature. The wheel doesn't have a very high offset, I'd be careful with say 38x15.50 as they might rub... but 37x13.50 should be great.

I like Nitto Mud Grapplers, they are amazing, but they suck the gas, and they are really loud.

 

The Falkens should be quieter than the nittos or the toyo MT's. When I replace my tires, with the research I've done, it will be with goodyear silent armors if I go with a 33 or shorter, or the falkens if I go with a larger tire. I want a good balance of moderate off road capability and nice street manners, along with reasonable tread life and low noise.

Looks like with a 17 you could not get any bigger than around a 35 from the falkens, though. the 37's are only in 20's.

I have known several guys that ran the military tires, there are actualy 2 kinds, the radial goodyears and the bias bfg's. The bfg's are better in mud and off road but they ride like crap and have the usual bias flat spotting. the goodyears are apparently good in sand, but around here they aren't well suited for the clay mud we have and get packed. I've never heard of someone wearing them out in 10k.. most guys claim to get at least 30k or more out of them, maybe you had a bad set. And thats the problem with military surplus tires, as noted. You buy a set and they are mismatched, some have bulges or broken belts, some have cuts, chunks, etc. Very hard to get a nice matced set for street use.

 

I am planning on sticking with 16" wheels and getting some 38x14.50 Mud Grapplers. The 38" tires are almost $600 each on 20" wheels and about $400 each on 16" wheels.

 

W.r.t. tire wear of the military surplus Goodyear Radials: Yep, it's difficult to draw any definitive type of conclusion based off a single set, which is why I've decided to try at least one more set to see if I get any mileage wear improvement.

Well, that & since I already have the rims & don't really want to spring the cash for a new set of rims & a set of new tires at the same time. $500 for a set of Grade A military surplus vs. $3000 ($1400 for wheels & $1600 for tires) makes the decision easier. Of course, you only have to buy the rims once, and I am sure I could get something for my old ones, but there's an initial higher cost of entry for me based on what I currently have right now.

My current set of tires had approx 90+% tread when I started, and have approximately 30% tread left by my estimation (I'll measure tread depth when I take them off & put the new set on, probably sometime this week), so I did get most of the usable tread out of them. Incidentally, one of the reasons I am also switching to a new set is that my left front tire has developed a slight bubble or bulge on the sidewall. I don't know if that's something that occurred as a result of something that happened during my use (entirely possible), or something that happened before I got them e.g. bruised tire, and then developed over time. Since I am already planning on replacing them in the immediate future (probably this week) anyway I'm not too fussed about it.

As far as the quality of the tires, it's definitely worth it if you can inspect & choose which tires you want yourself. The guy I get mine from is about 3 hours each way away from me, but with enough planning so far I've been able to combine my trips to pick up my sets in person with when I was near the area for some other reason anyway.

My guy sells them for $100 each, but has a special shed he keeps some of the better 'Grade A' looking tires (tread depth, wear pattern etc.), which he sells for $120 each. I looked at about 40 tires of the 'Grade A' type, picked about 15 of those to take outside to look at better in the light and roll around & inspect, and then picked the best 5 out of those 15. It's definitely worth inspecting if you can. Though most military surplus tires sold have been through at least 2 pre-screenings, one of the better tires that I picked I found a nail in the tread. After I pointed it out, the seller set that tire aside to be removed from the rest. Anyway, I rolled each tire around its circumference at least 3 times (and the final set a couple of times more each) to inspect the tread for tread depth, funky wear patterns, torn off blocks, nails etc. I also inspected the sidewalls, the inside of the tire for defects, and the beads to make sure they weren't torn or twisted. I picked up 5 (in case one of them has a defect I or the pre-screenings didn't catch), and will use the best 4 to mount, and keep the extra as an unmounted spare. I already have a near new mounted spare from the previous set, so I'll have one mounted spare, and one unmounted spare.

Incidentally, as with most 37s, the spare won't fit in the standard spare tire bay inside in the back on the driver's side rear panel. Stuffing them in the back is easy to get to if you have a puncture, but takes away a lot of usable space. I have my mounted spare on my roof rack, which is convenient as you always have it with you, and it doesn't take up any valuable interior space, but it's a huge PITA to take it down & put a replacement back up there if one were to get a puncture. Thankfully, getting a puncture on heavy duty tries like these is a rare occurrence, so is very rarely an issue, and it's nice to have the spare there just in case. On longer adventures, I might pack the extra unmounted spare as well, so I can still have a full spare if one tire gets a puncture or gets damaged.

P.S. these tire have a 3,850 lbs weight rating.

 

Yeah, even between similar tires (e.g. same manufacturer, model & tread pattern) for 17" rims & 18" rims there can be quite a price difference. If I make a switch from the 16.5" rims I have now (the previous owner didn't have the OEM alloys), I'll probably switch to 17" rims.

For on road handling & steering manners (larger rim, less sidewall flex), I had considered a move to 20" rims, but I don't like the look or 20" rims (too much open space & not enough sidewall), there would be less sidewall flex for comfort & off roading, and 20" tires seem really expensive, even when comparing like for like e.g. Toyo Open Country M/T 37" for 17" rim vs. 20" rim.

18" vs. 17" tire price differences seem more reasonable, but there seems to be a greater selection of tire sizes & patterns in 17" sizes than in 18" sizes, meaning a 17" rim seems a little more flexible in terms of available tire selection.