[northwoods]

I bought a "new" truck this week. I've been looking for a good straight and clean example of one of these trucks for at least 4 yrs now. I've been telling myself that if I ever found one I would grab it. Well I wasn't expecting it, but this week the opportunity finally arrived. I saw the for sale add on craigslist, and lucky for me, I was the first person to contact the guy and go look at it. After looking at the truck I told the guy I would think about it and let him know. I went to leave and got in my vehicle and thought to myself, "what the heck am I doing?" here is a good clean rust free truck, exactly what I have been looking for, I don't need to think about it! So I went back and offered him $500 less than he was asking and he accepted.
The guy took really great care of it, truck is originally from Oregon. When I got it home I looked in the glove box and there were all the receipts from recent repair work and maintenence records. Oil just changed using synthetic. New K&N air filter. New tires and clutch less than 10,000 miles ago. Work done in the last several months: brakes all around with new calipers and rotors on the front, complete exhaust, both front driveshafts, Ptiman arm, idler arm, tie rod ends & ball joints, new battery, recently aligned, new Bilstein shocks all the way around. Had a brand new hitch & emergency brake cable for it that he never got around to putting on which he gave me, even gave me a service manual! What more could a guy ask for?
I felt bad for the guy when I went to get the truck, I could tell it was his baby for a long time, and he hated to let it go, but he had to for financial reasons. He emailed me later and told me he had been swamped with people calling about the truck. Have good one. TC

 

[War10ck]

Nice find. Now dump the Mall-Terrains and get some real shoes for that thing.

Looks good.

 

[northwoods]

Nice find. Now dump the Mall-Terrains and get some real shoes for that thing.

Looks good.

What would you recommend? Small trucks like this are completely new to me. My 'other' vehicle is a 93' dodge ext cab 4x4 (almost 400,000 miles on her) that I have always run on Michelins. Had real good luck with those. Thanks, TC

 

[War10ck]

That kind of depends on what you want to do with the truck. I have 31-10.50 Toyo M/T Open Country's on mine and really like them. They ride smooth and are reasonably quiet. They also grip really well in the Northwest Much/Rock splooge that we have around here.

They also have a 60k Mileage warrentee on them.

Cheers,

 

[jakejjs]

I've been working at discount tire for a long time so i can offer my .02 about tires.

Michelin is pretty much a street tire company. their new AT is a lot more aggressive FINALLY but still not something for the avid off-roader IMO. They boast it's excellent traction on wet grass.

the hankook dynapro has been selling like crazy at my store. They have the same warranty as the BFG allterrain (50k miles) with one less ply of sidewall protection. The shoulder blocks also give it a bit of an agressive look.

We also sell a lot of these. yokohama's all terrain tire. They're not a bad tire. but i've always found them kind of boring and the tread seems as if it were deisgned for show rather than performance.

Then there's my favorite tire, the BFG all-terrain. i've used them on all my 4runners and will swear by them until the day i die.

 

[War10ck]

All four of the tires listed in the previous post are what we affectionately know as "Mall Terrains". They suck in the mud, they suck on rocks. They look great going across pavement and do ok on wet grass.

If you want to go offroad at all with your truck and I highly recommend that you do, put some real tires on it.

 

[EstebanC]

This thread is getting really interesting with the tire subject... You should re-start it on a thread of its own and maybe we'll get more opinions...

Oh, very nice truck! Congratulations! I always appreciate people color-matching their shells; shows dedication. Keep it up.

 

[northwoods]

All four of the tires listed in the previous post are what we affectionately know as "Mall Terrains". They suck in the mud, they suck on rocks. They look great going across pavement and do ok on wet grass.

If you want to go offroad at all with your truck and I highly recommend that you do, put some real tires on it.

Hi War10ck,
I think I see where your coming from now. What you said about those tires looking good on pavement, and doing only OK on wet grass made me laugh :lol: , but I would have to disagree with you simply because my experiences have shown that what you have said is just simply not true!
You see I do drive "offroad" quite a bit, in fact more than quite a bit, I do it almost every day. But not for amusement, I have to do it for my job because I work in the woods, and have done so for the last 22 years.
I like to run one set of tires all year long and have found the Michelin ATs' to be a good tire for my work truck. Granted, they don't have the most aggressive sort of tread pattern, but they sure have gotten me everywhere I have needed to go, and I am 100% certain that if you could see some of the places I have had to drive into you would have to agree! In JUne of 2007 we had a terrible tornado here that destroyed over 9,000 acres of timber on federal land right near my home. This was a major emergency and the size of the area that needed to be salvaged was enormous. All forest service rules about roads and the proper use of them had to go right out the window. We pushed roads into every corner of the damaged areas, and we had to use them regardless of conditions. Mud, snow, rocks, you name it, I had to get in these places every day to get the job done. Talk about testing tires, well mine sure got a workout with this particular job. I have never really cared for tires that are real wide with really aggressive tread patterns. One thing is when you get out on the highway after being in the mud you will be throwing off mud and getting the pavement all full of it. Another thing is the snow. What I have found to be the best for deep snow is a narrow tire that will cut through it. Your all over with a wide tire because it wants to float on top. Rocks? Well I still prefer a narrow tire, and something that is tough enough to last. Not to mention that with the more aggressive tires that are designed specifically for "offroad" use, there to much of a pain when you do have to drive on the pavement with the noise, highway driveability, and other things like gas mileage.
Not saying you shouldn't drive any kind of tire that you feel comfortable with, but when you say certain tires aren't good for offroad use.... oh boy, take it from someone who has driven offroad in every type of condition imaginable, you don't need an offroad dedicated tire to get around offroad wether your talking about mud, snow, rock, dust or whatever.

 

[ChiefRider]

Nice truck- looks like it has been well cared for, so I'm sure you'll get a lot of use out of it. Looks like you won't just be running groceries!

Chief

 

[War10ck]

When you live on flat ground, yes, those tires will work to a point. They highest elevation in Wisconsin is 1951 feet above sea level. Here in the northwest, we have hills that are higher than that and mountains that approach 10,000 feet. Your AT's would get laughed at by the loggers here and no, you would not be able to go more than about 100 feet off the pavement for 3-4 month's out of the year unless you had other stuff done to your truck and even then, even if you had 10k invested in your truck, using those tires, I would drive right by you with the tires I have on a stock truck. I have done it many times.

So, stick to your beliefs if you wish, come out here where we have some real mountains and you won't go where I do and I stay to established roads and trails.

The tires I have are very nice on the road and very quiet as well. So much so that I can't hear them in the cab of the truck with the windows down. So, the idea that agressive treads are in some way un-streetable or promote lower gas mileage is pure garbage. I still get the same mileage with my tires that I did with the AT "Mall Terrains" that came on my truck when I bought it.

As for the dirt on the pavement idea, well, the big lugs dump the dirt off before I ever get to the pavement unlike "mall terrains" which seem to like to hold it in.

Cheers

P.S. I need to find some pics from the recent wheeling run. Good stuff.

Hi War10ck,
I think I see where your coming from now. What you said about those tires looking good on pavement, and doing only OK on wet grass made me laugh :lol: , but I would have to disagree with you simply because my experiences have shown that what you have said is just simply not true!
You see I do drive "offroad" quite a bit, in fact more than quite a bit, I do it almost every day. But not for amusement, I have to do it for my job because I work in the woods, and have done so for the last 22 years.
I like to run one set of tires all year long and have found the Michelin ATs' to be a good tire for my work truck. Granted, they don't have the most aggressive sort of tread pattern, but they sure have gotten me everywhere I have needed to go, and I am 100% certain that if you could see some of the places I have had to drive into you would have to agree! In JUne of 2007 we had a terrible tornado here that destroyed over 9,000 acres of timber on federal land right near my home. This was a major emergency and the size of the area that needed to be salvaged was enormous. All forest service rules about roads and the proper use of them had to go right out the window. We pushed roads into every corner of the damaged areas, and we had to use them regardless of conditions. Mud, snow, rocks, you name it, I had to get in these places every day to get the job done. Talk about testing tires, well mine sure got a workout with this particular job. I have never really cared for tires that are real wide with really aggressive tread patterns. One thing is when you get out on the highway after being in the mud you will be throwing off mud and getting the pavement all full of it. Another thing is the snow. What I have found to be the best for deep snow is a narrow tire that will cut through it. Your all over with a wide tire because it wants to float on top. Rocks? Well I still prefer a narrow tire, and something that is tough enough to last. Not to mention that with the more aggressive tires that are designed specifically for "offroad" use, there to much of a pain when you do have to drive on the pavement with the noise, highway driveability, and other things like gas mileage.
Not saying you shouldn't drive any kind of tire that you feel comfortable with, but when you say certain tires aren't good for offroad use.... oh boy, take it from someone who has driven offroad in every type of condition imaginable, you don't need an offroad dedicated tire to get around offroad wether your talking about mud, snow, rock, dust or whatever.

 

[sb5walker]

Hi War10ck,
I think I see where your coming from now. What you said about those tires looking good on pavement, and doing only OK on wet grass made me laugh :lol: , but I would have to disagree with you simply because my experiences have shown that what you have said is just simply not true!
You see I do drive "offroad" quite a bit, in fact more than quite a bit, I do it almost every day. But not for amusement, I have to do it for my job because I work in the woods, and have done so for the last 22 years.
I like to run one set of tires all year long and have found the Michelin ATs' to be a good tire for my work truck. Granted, they don't have the most aggressive sort of tread pattern, but they sure have gotten me everywhere I have needed to go, and I am 100% certain that if you could see some of the places I have had to drive into you would have to agree! In JUne of 2007 we had a terrible tornado here that destroyed over 9,000 acres of timber on federal land right near my home. This was a major emergency and the size of the area that needed to be salvaged was enormous. All forest service rules about roads and the proper use of them had to go right out the window. We pushed roads into every corner of the damaged areas, and we had to use them regardless of conditions. Mud, snow, rocks, you name it, I had to get in these places every day to get the job done. Talk about testing tires, well mine sure got a workout with this particular job. I have never really cared for tires that are real wide with really aggressive tread patterns. One thing is when you get out on the highway after being in the mud you will be throwing off mud and getting the pavement all full of it. Another thing is the snow. What I have found to be the best for deep snow is a narrow tire that will cut through it. Your all over with a wide tire because it wants to float on top. Rocks? Well I still prefer a narrow tire, and something that is tough enough to last. Not to mention that with the more aggressive tires that are designed specifically for "offroad" use, there to much of a pain when you do have to drive on the pavement with the noise, highway driveability, and other things like gas mileage.
Not saying you shouldn't drive any kind of tire that you feel comfortable with, but when you say certain tires aren't good for offroad use.... oh boy, take it from someone who has driven offroad in every type of condition imaginable, you don't need an offroad dedicated tire to get around offroad wether your talking about mud, snow, rock, dust or whatever.

You have just described the ideal application of my current tires: 30x9.5 Bridgestone Dueler AT REVOs. I'm on my third set of Dueler ATs and I absolutely love them. My needs are very similar to yours - a tough tire that copes well with all kinds of conditions, both on and off road, summer and winter. On the set before the current, I found a roofing nail driven straight into the tire - drove to a tire shop to have it removed, but the tread was so thick there was no leak even though the nail was an inch long, lol.

The 9.5 width is narrow enough to work well in snow, but by going up to that size you are in an "LT" (light truck) size - which is a stronger tire with deeper tread. They are quieter on the highway than other AT tires, are absolutely fantastic on wet or icy roads, and they do very well in all off-road conditions, except they are not good for deep mud - the tread blocks are not self-cleaning. Bridgestone does make a Dueler MT that contains a more open and aggressive tread pattern that is better in mud - I have no experience with those.

The Duelers last real well, too - 55-60k miles on my truck. I bought my current set four years ago (not using my truck so much these days) and they were made in Japan. I'm not sure if the current REVOs are made in Japan.

 

[Blue Bowtie]

Nice truck northwoods, now you need to get some more pics and post them in the pic section.


War10ck, think you could get some pics of your tires? I haven't ever seen any in that size, and was thinking about them for my next set of tires.

 

[War10ck]

You asked for it, you got it...

http://tymeless-tech.com/wheeling pics/

The pics are large.

The red truck is my wife's.

Cheers

 

[Blue Bowtie]

You asked for it, you got it...

http://tymeless-tech.com/wheeling pics/

The pics are large.

The red truck is my wife's.

Cheers

:thumbsup:Thanks, and nice truck BTW, and some good lookng tires. I believe looking at that just sold me on the toyos.
Also, what is the other radio that you are running, I know one's a CB.

 

[War10ck]

The other radio is a Ham radion. I am KF7AYS to the FCC.

The Toyos are rather spendy, but with the 60k mileage, it is worth it.


Cheers

:thumbsup:Thanks, and nice truck BTW, and some good lookng tires. I believe looking at that just sold me on the toyos.
Also, what is the other radio that you are running, I know one's a CB.

 

[cd_god]

When you live on flat ground, yes, those tires will work to a point. They highest elevation in Wisconsin is 1951 feet above sea level. Here in the northwest, we have hills that are higher than that and mountains that approach 10,000 feet.

Hey, he said Wisconsin not Illinois. And to think I've been rocking these silly 18" rims and tires when I could have had some tires like have and "drive right by you with the tires I have on a stock truck. I have done it many times"

 

[soushoreguy]

I have 32 x 11.5 goodyear wrangler mt/r's. they are easy to find for cheep because they come stock on a rubicon. i bought this set used with over 90% tread left on them for $250. air em down to 20 psi they are like riding on a marshmallow cloud. not the absolute best in mud, but i've done alright. decent on sand, dirt, and rocks, but totally scary on snow and ice.