Nah I'm more of a classic country/rock guy myself.

 

.........

 

I couldn't do that to anything that was my own. But, I do have something that I've been wanting to do to Ka'Bluey, that does involve quite a bit of vinyl

 

Could be. Both tanks had the 2 barb style in them. The rear one had a cap on one end, and a hose to the first tank. The first tank had a hose to the metal line that runs to the front of the truck.

 

Been looking at tires for my truck lately, wondered what you guys think. I plan to stay with stock size but could be convinced to go slightly larger. My truck is a standard cab long bed 2WD, I may end up towing a bit with it, but no plans to convert to 4X4 or race it or anything, I've included a pic of her for you. Not sure if I should just get a Lt truck/SUV highway tire or maybe go with an AT tire. Searched the site and found 2 suggestions that seemed to be popular.






BFGoodrich AT T/A K02




General Grabber AT 2


What say you NC chapter?

 

The last shop I worked for was/is a tire dealer. The big money was/is in tractor trailer tires, but also did passenger car, light truck tires, earth moving equiptment, you name it, they did it.
I'm not a general tire fan, nor a fan of Goodyear. Also for a 2wd truck that will mostly see street and hiway driving, just get you a nice street read tire. You shouldn't need anything that has an aggressive tread pattern.
Depending on what you have to spend, Michelin, LTX M/S's is a great tire along with Michelin A/S, but those will also cost at least $200-225 a tire. Bridgestone Dueler H/L, Firestone Firehawk tires are nice. I would go with an LT (Light Truck) tire if there any plans on loading it down much. But if it's mostly a driver, you could easily get away with a (P) Passenger tire.

 

Matt,
Everyone does something different with tires. I run the BFGoodrich on my jeep as it did many years of trail duty and street use (hence the All Terrain's). If you plan on using the truck on non-pavement type applications, an all terrain is a good choice, the BFGoodrich are excellent for OHV traction, while still being very well mannered on the street. But they aren't perfect. I found with mine that they don't stay balanced, and very soft, so they wear quite fast. However, when driving home in ice one day in 2wd, I did get to do some nice 360's. I don't like these as a winter tire. (personal opinion).

Now on something like the F-350, I choose to go CHEAP, I never planned for it to be a daily driver, or anything more than a weekend truck. Since I do tow with it (or did) I wanted a Light Truck (LT) tire. The one's that fit the bill there ended up being the Pep Boy brand (I believe they are Dakota's). These have always been my go to CHEAP tire. Cheap mounting, cheap price, etc. They also have a fairly aggressive tread, and have served me well on ice and rain. (which is why the truck now has a new heater core and I know the rear window seal leaked!)

Lucille's shoes are Goodyear stock rubber that came with her when i bought her. I have no complaints about them, from on the beach, or towing the jeep, to heavy rains. However, since she's my daily, and she'll see everything from towing to heavy rains and probably some snow and ice, cheap is certainly not what I'll go with. My plan for her is to get Michelin M\S LT tires. Quite a bit more pricey than others, but it's a safety question for me. I've never run them, but in a dealership full of Master Tech's running full-size rigs, they were the go to tires, and some of those guys even reported as much as 80k on them. That may not be what we see, but when you pay nothing for a Rotate, Balance and Alignment every 6 weeks to two months (or rather when you we're slow and the rack was available) it can make a difference.

However some recommendations that I do have, which you can take or leave:

Mary get's free Rotate and Balance for her tires- when they were installed, they offered her the package, since she is very... fastidious we shall call it, she gets them balanced quite often. I believe she uses Discount Tire.

If this is a daily that you are going to rack up the miles, go with a tire designed for that. Michelin's and Goodyears are the key. If it's not going to see a lot of grass, dirt and such, drop the all-terrains, they don't help on pavement, and have much lower mileage ratings.

If you like to go local, Goodyear has a plant in Fayetteville. I'm all for supporting local businesses that employ us.

Oh and for towing, a smaller tire actually helps, less distance traveled per revolution. It's similar in effect to gear changes. Here's a chart that might help: RPM Chart

 

If you plan on doing any kind of mild offroad to get to ponds or camps I'd suggest the General grabber personally. I had a set on a 4x4 for a brief time and liked the way they pulled in most situations, I only swapped them out for larger tires. I do not like the BFG AT I had them on a truck aswell and the only situation they pulled decent in was sand.

 

First, thanks for your input guys, I appreciate you taking the time to reply.


I won't be driving this truck in the snow and ice, I have an AWD vehicle that does scary well in those conditions, not to mention it gets 36-37mpg highway. Will use the truck infrequently (definitely not a DD), will at times haul or move stuff, take hunting, and perhaps one day to tow a boat (if I'm lucky enough to be able to upgrade). My biggest offroad challenge will likely be my dad's rock driveway up in Boone, it's very steep. I would like to at least get a truck/SUV tire over a passenger tire so I won't have concerns loading the bed. Thus far, I have not visited any local tire shops, my info so far has been from the interwebs.


So for infrequent driving, and having essentially 1 wheel drive, is an AT tire going to get me through that mud puddle getting to the game lands where a highway tire would leave me stranded?

 

A full blown AT (All Terrain) tire doesn't wear well, at all. The tread pattern is too aggressive, and the tread "Cups" quickly, and usually the compound is softer, so the miles you get out of the tire is decreased.
Truthfully, I'd avoid the General Brand tire all together. The shop I put 9 years in was a general dealer as well. The tire is just like it's name "General". I had a set of Grabbers on Ka'Bluey, and I couldn't wait to get those tires off of there.
And my wife's 08 Excape that we bought new, went through 3 complete sets of General tires, in 50K, and all had decent tread left. Just a junk tire.
Id suggest something like the Firestone Destination. It's more aggressive than a street or hiway tread tire, and not as aggressive as an AT "All Terrain) tire.

Here's a picture of the Destination.

 

For weekend use, yes I would go for an AT. I don't know that it'll make much of a difference in the OHV uses, but my main consideration for a street tire is longevity. Since you won't be putting the miles on it, that won't be a concern. Even the BFG AT's will probably get you 30 k. When you look at the numbers, the BFG's will probably come in around 50$ a tire more expensive than the grabbers, which are more than the Goodyear AT's. I also checked on the Pep-Boys brand that I'm partial too, I've used them off and on for the past 20 years) but their prices are up, 120$ per tire. Putting them right in between the BFG's and the Grabbers!.

 

If you want Longevity, the last thing to suggest would be an AT tire.

 

Agreed, AT tire is not really a street tire. Compared toa street or highway tire, which I would choose if I wanted to get miles out of it. Dang it Bob! you know what I meant!!

I hadn't thought of the Firestone tires, really haven't had any dealings with them in years. Except that may have been what I put on that POS last truck that shall not be named, or that I will never admit to buying!!!!

 

Another tire I really liked, got close to 30k miles out of them were the Goodyear Duratrac AT tires. I loved the way the pulled in anything I found myself in.

 

I'd be mad if I only got 30K out of a set of tires. Unless it's rated for low miles. I got over 60K on a set of 50k Bridgestone Dueler H/L's.

A lot of getting good miles out of a good set of tires is maintaining proper air pressure, rotate and balance with every oil change. It does you'll get more miles out of that tire.