Well, back from vaction and back to reality. Sure sucks coming from 70 degree colorado/new mexico mountian weather to over 100 degrees back hear in lovely Oklahoma. Anyway, I have a set of falken rv 235/85 16 tires that are on my 1 ton and they are about done and were they every JUNK. Not to mention I slamed into a curb today and took out the right front tire but good thing there are 2 spare tires on these duallys!!!

Well, for a new set of tires Im considering a set of pirelli scorpion tires. I try to stay away from mud and snow in this truck for it seems to sink and get stuck easily but I do go down rough dirt roads. But most of my miles are mainly highway miles so I don't need a mud tire.

Reason for posting this is I keep seeing these michelin xps rib tires that are $220 a pice!!! and times that by 6.. Im interested in these because the reveiews on these tires is 100% excelent with a few people running over 100k miles on them and 1 guy claiming 200k miles. ARE THEY WORTH IT? What are yall expirence with these tires?

Also, would 225/75 tires fit. There is a set of 6 for sell for a good price possibly and wondering how much that would through off the speedo. DAVE, I used to have the formula you posted some time back to figure out this but have lost it in my files on my computer. Would you mind posting it again please. Thanks

Lastly, Do one ton diesel trucks just eat front tires? These falkens I have on now cost $100 a pice and in just under 30k miles they are not looking very good. I hope if I buy them michelins that they have a much better tread life than these. Well, Thanks.

Also, After today having my blow out on my front tire, it seems to be fairly important to keep your lug nuts and bolts in good shape. Instead of 8 front lugs, I now have only 4 lugs left on my front right tire. Twisted off the other 4 lugs with my 4 way in a large cement parking lot in 105 degree weather. I was starting to feel cold I was so hot. Not to mention the 8 rear lugs each fought to not come off and theres only 5 of those left now. Took darn near 1 hour to swap non stop. Not to mention the factory jack works great when you have air in the tire but with a flat it won't fit under the front cross beam. It won't pick up the whole front of the truck either trying it on the other cross axle beam or the fram rail. So it may be a good Idea to keep a floor jack from walmart in the bed. They work great!!! I think the kid at the last tire shop I went to crossthreaded my lugs and full powered his impact when I had my tires rotated last year.

Also, This tool box needs a good home......
eBay Motors: SNAP ON CLASSIC 96 3 BANK TOOL BOX BLUE (item 330258073152 end time Aug-10-08 16:16:14 PDT)

 

My truck eats front tires big time . 12 to 14 months at the most. 20,000 miles. haven't seen a full size 4x4 with straight front axle that did not eat front tires

 

What type of tires are you using?

 

Oops, I posted I had 235/85. I actually have 215/85 so how much would 225/75 through off my speed?

 

Your 215s are supposedly 30.4" diameter, the 225s will be about 29.3", your speedometer will be reading 3.6% too fast and when it shows you 60 mph you'd be actually traveling at 57.8 mph.

Tire size calculator

 

Try a set of Kumho KL51 tires ("E" load rating) for about $105-107 each from Tirerack.com in 215/85SR16 or 235/85SR16. I've had nothing but great experience from Kumho tires on my other DDs.

Doesn't hurt to try, especially when Michelins are going for $200+ each.

 

I've only had problems with Wild Cat mud tires on my Dodge, the fronts were definitely eaten up faster than the rears but THEY TOTALLY SUCKED all the way around for wear-resistence.
I have some Wild Cat all-terrains on my Cherokee that have been great.
I had some Toyos on it with agressive hwy. tread and they wore like iron. I actually got tired of them before they were even 25% worn out. They came off of the rear of a dually I bought and they were too skinny LOOKING for my tastes but they rode/drove/handled fine. They were 16-7.50s.
I now have Remington Mud Brutes I bought from the neighbor across the street from my shop at his yard-sale. They're 255 85 R16 and so far I love them. Too fat and tall for a stock-wheeled dually though.

 

I used to swear by michelins, now I just swear at them. In my experience the sidewalls weather crack far too soon. I once had a sidewall blowout on the front of my camper, at highway speed, on a perfectly appearing Michelin. I vote for Toyo or Kuhmo.
I've been using BFG All terrain TA's on my truck. No problems except they seem to wear quickly.
my $.02

 

I have heard several cases of the michelins sidewall cracking but if the guy will let me, I might be able to pick up 6 new michelin xps rib tires for $500 + 200 shipping. Otherwise walmart and big 0 tires quoted me 1800 for a set of 6 installed. If I don't pick these up, I may try some that yall mentioned toyo, kuhmo.

Thanks for the speed 0 calculation. I think I can live with that being off by less than 3 mph at 60. Thanks for the input.

 

I thought I would throw my two cents worth in. In my experiences as a former truck mechanic and owner of numerous trucks, I can honestly say to stay away from Goodyears as the wear fast and traction is horrible. My '06 F150 came with Hankooks and they weren't really that much better. I have Hossiers on my '76 Chevy Step Side and they have great traction and will climb through snow like nothing I have ever seen. I only have about 8000 miles on them so I can't saying anything about wear.

The best truck tires I have ever owned were BF Goodrich All Terrain TAs on my '97 F250 LD. Traction was almost as good as the Hossiers and I got around 80,000 miles on them and that doesn't include a few burn outs (I worked with a guy that just couldn't get it through his head that my Ford was better than his Chevy).

The Goodyears are coming off my '97 Econoline before winter a set of BFGs are going on.

 

I second the BFG AT's - went through three sets of them on my Jeeps, all sets lasted 60k+ miles. A bit pricey, but nice all-around tires.

The Kumho KL-series truck tires were a new addition to the market in early 2007, so I haven't tried a set yet; the last new set of truck tires I bought was in 2006. Will definitely recommend trying the Kumho KL71 or KL51s when I need a new set.

 

I've only had a couple of sets of BFGs and they were used when I got them so I can't testify to their mileage but I hear a lot of good things about them even on Ford and Dodge diesels which are both obviously HEAVY.

This is probably outside of what your usage of the tire will be but they brag about their sidewall strength/protection but I have seen a few punctured sidewalls on the trail. Most of these tires were ABUSED but other brands seemed to hold up better. The tires that did though ARE NOT HIGHWAY FRIENDLY so it's kind of an apples and oranges comparo.

 

dodge/cummins, Well, Sidewall puncture is a big issue for me. Thats just what blew out on my front right falken tire. I am very, very rough on tires but just don't need the traction for off road in snow and ice as Im mostly on hard dry surfaces and 90% highway. As easy as this thing gets stuck and as hard as it is to get out, I stay away from the mud/snow.
On the pirelli tires I had, The sidewalls were whiped off completly with a few cuts in them at 70,000 miles. You couldn't read nothing on the tire except close to the bead. They were a load range E scorpion heavy duty highway tire. I had only 2 flats on them the whole time,One was a loaded 270 rifle bullet with the primer end flush with the tread. Wish I took a picture of that one. The more I think about it, I should probably order the same tires again. They worked great on my half tone chevy, Wonder How good they work on heavy truck. Thanks for the post though. I did go to the tire shop yesterday and they also recommended the kumho tires like most of yall had. I think for a set of 2 mounted on the front was $308, sound right. doesn't seem too high to me.

 

I cannot believe that .270 cartridge didn't go off!!!!!!!!!!!

If the primer was exposed in the tread like I think you're describing that is almost impossible for it not to go off. Everything you drove over was a potential firing pin! That's gotta be like 2,347,965 firing pins an hour, or FPHs. LOL

Don't take this like I'm doubting you, I just can't believe it.
Not much would have happenned other than a severely damaged tire if it had gone off because the casing wasn't supported in a chamber. The bullet wouldn't even have produced enough velocity/energy to go through the wheel but it wouldn't be something I would want to happen to me. The case head coming out of the tread would have probably been the most dangerous projectile.
A blow-out that potentially severe could ruin your day though! The case diameter is .473" so it was almost a half inch hole.
That'll make another good story for my gunshop though!

I'll bet the guys at the tire shop were impressed!?

 

I like the new FPH (FIREING PINS PER HOUR) saying.

Well, when I got out of the truck that day, I actually heard it leak and I had just got off the toll road like 1 mile ago. The primer end of the shell was hardly damaged. I don't think I was running on it very long cause when i got out and found the leak, My tire was still somewhat aired up so I must have picked it up in under a Mile. I did think about that thing going off and what it would do.

I think If it went off, first the bullet casing is penetrating through a few steel belts in the tread which may not be as tough as a gun barrel but still should be very tight. Also, in order for it to go off, it would have to be under the tire so when it did go, the ground will be like the back of the chamber preventing the casing from comming out. Now how much velocity the bullet would have at this time im sure would be reduced some. When It came out I just had the guy at the tire shop pu some of the glue string tire repair stuff in the hole and put a patch inside. Held up great till I pulled them.