Yes this is copied from my post on another forum. It's mine so don't freak if you see a different name over there than what I have on here. Anyway....
My truck has had its fair share of tire and wheels combinations. Some only lasted a few weeks because I didn't like them or sold them to a friend that needed some.
First tires- Nitto Trail Grapplers 285-65-18's. I installed these in the summer of '09 on my 1500. Average temperatures around here range from 90-112 in the summer which is what most of our two seasons consist of (summer and spring here). I put the tires on at 7,450 miles (yes I keep up with my stuff well). These tires rode fairly decent and had a decent amount of road noise. They balanced out very well with two of them requiring absolutely no weight while the other two only needed 1/2 oz. or so to balance perfect. No steering wheel shake or truck bounce at any speed, even at 115 (an officer we know was shot and I was in a rush to get to the hospital rest easy J.R.). I pulled loads quite often which included but not limited to: horses, tractors, fourwheelers, trucks, cars, pipe, steel, and stair cases, no uneven wear pattern due to heavy load on rear tires. At 31,58# I sold the tires which is now 2012 and they had 40% tread from what I started with. Craigslist buyer has gotten another 15k out of them on his '05 F-150 and still had 1/4" of tread.
Second tire- BFG All Terrain- 285-65-18. Same truck, same wheels, same area as before. Installed at 31,900 miles(had to wait a week to come in). Tires balanced decent but took more than the Nitto. Slightly under sized compared to Nitto also. Minimal road noise at all speeds. Some wheel shake and some vibrations but checked balance and showed to be spot on. I put 2k miles on these tires pulling the same things but was in our cooler months and temperatures were around 80-90 degrees. At 600 miles the moldings fell off. Tires were removed at 33k with very little wear as a BFG is expected to have. Buddy bought these and still has the miles racking up on them at 50k now. Still has about 45% tread left! Very little time ever pulling a load though.
Third tire-Nitto Mud Grappler- 33-12.50-20. Same truck blah blah blah..yea. This tire...it rides horrible. Rode like a log truck. Wore horribly. I went to Dallas from West Monroe to pick up a chassis (weighed maybe 800 lbs) and these about shook me out of the truck. Got to Shreveport (60 miles maybe) and the moldings were GONE. By Dallas the tires showed signs of wear already! Got back to W.M. and took them off that monday and rode stocks for two days. Good pure mud tire I guess as it likes to sling mud everywhere. Friend bought these and they lasted another 28k before he needed new ones. They were wore bad. Also he needed tie rod ends and an alignment.
Fourth tire- Nitto Terra Grappler- 275-70-18 I believe I've started to lose track. Installed at 33,800. Balanced well. Rode smooth. Tires made very little noise at highway speeds. At 300 miles they lost their moldings. Truck got the best gas mileage with these tires also. No wheel shake or body movement on the road. Rotated once and never showed signs of scalloping in their 6k life. Guy bought them and put on 3/4 Ton dodge. Has put 20k on them and has 40% tread left and pulls decent loads with them. But that's a heavy truck too.
Fifth tire- Toyo M/T- 33-12.50-20. Good tire. Balanced well. Actually bought these used with 1800 miles on them. The outer tread still had some signs of the castings on them. Decent amount of road noise similar to the Trail Grapplers. Minimal wheel shake and very little body shake. Ran for 500 miles. Sold to friend. Put 15k on them and still had 70% tread when sold.
Sixth tire- Nitto Trail Grappler 35-12.50-18. For a larger tire they balanced well. Were true to their measurement and seated on beads well. Some road noise as before. No wheel or body shake on these. This set was my favorite set out of all. Rotated once and they showed no signs of scalloping(yes I do know alignment has a lot to do but not every alignment is spot on while pulling or turning). Tread wore well across the tire. Pulled off to sell to Big Kurntry with 3k on them. Amazing condition and had very little wear. He has put 12k on them probably and has yet to rotate them...and does burn outs...and other junk. Rear tires are at 30% while fronts are around 40%.
Seventh tire- Fuel Mud Gripper 35-12.50-18. For the price and the styling that copies the Toyo M/T the tire isn't that bad. I drove around town for a few days and thought they were alright. While rebalancing one took almost 12 oz. which to me is too much. It went on the rear for sure. Road noise is not too bad but the wheel and body shake was horrible. Talked to my cousins distributing warehouse and they got with Fuel. Fuel had been having issues with their tires not being true round. They had cases mess up also in the first batches they made. I had a hole punctured in a tire while driving to work and Fuel sent another. This corrected all wabble the truck previously had. I have now put about 4k on these tires and they are decent for what they are. I have rotated these once and they show no weird wear pattern yet. The size is slightly under a 35, with 40 psi they measure to a 34.5 and a 12.15 wide.
Eighth Tire- 35-12.50-20 Nitto Trail. Same as the other Trail Graps, great balancing, amazing wear, minimal road noise, and decently priced.
If I remember any details I'll edit as needed but for now here is the best I have.
Any questions please feel free to ask. I wanted to have an accurate detailed report on multiple tires so everyone on here could get a feel for what they are getting into when ordering tires. Hope this info helps someone in their search for their perfect tire!
My truck has had its fair share of tire and wheels combinations. Some only lasted a few weeks because I didn't like them or sold them to a friend that needed some.
First tires- Nitto Trail Grapplers 285-65-18's. I installed these in the summer of '09 on my 1500. Average temperatures around here range from 90-112 in the summer which is what most of our two seasons consist of (summer and spring here). I put the tires on at 7,450 miles (yes I keep up with my stuff well). These tires rode fairly decent and had a decent amount of road noise. They balanced out very well with two of them requiring absolutely no weight while the other two only needed 1/2 oz. or so to balance perfect. No steering wheel shake or truck bounce at any speed, even at 115 (an officer we know was shot and I was in a rush to get to the hospital rest easy J.R.). I pulled loads quite often which included but not limited to: horses, tractors, fourwheelers, trucks, cars, pipe, steel, and stair cases, no uneven wear pattern due to heavy load on rear tires. At 31,58# I sold the tires which is now 2012 and they had 40% tread from what I started with. Craigslist buyer has gotten another 15k out of them on his '05 F-150 and still had 1/4" of tread.
Second tire- BFG All Terrain- 285-65-18. Same truck, same wheels, same area as before. Installed at 31,900 miles(had to wait a week to come in). Tires balanced decent but took more than the Nitto. Slightly under sized compared to Nitto also. Minimal road noise at all speeds. Some wheel shake and some vibrations but checked balance and showed to be spot on. I put 2k miles on these tires pulling the same things but was in our cooler months and temperatures were around 80-90 degrees. At 600 miles the moldings fell off. Tires were removed at 33k with very little wear as a BFG is expected to have. Buddy bought these and still has the miles racking up on them at 50k now. Still has about 45% tread left! Very little time ever pulling a load though.
Third tire-Nitto Mud Grappler- 33-12.50-20. Same truck blah blah blah..yea. This tire...it rides horrible. Rode like a log truck. Wore horribly. I went to Dallas from West Monroe to pick up a chassis (weighed maybe 800 lbs) and these about shook me out of the truck. Got to Shreveport (60 miles maybe) and the moldings were GONE. By Dallas the tires showed signs of wear already! Got back to W.M. and took them off that monday and rode stocks for two days. Good pure mud tire I guess as it likes to sling mud everywhere. Friend bought these and they lasted another 28k before he needed new ones. They were wore bad. Also he needed tie rod ends and an alignment.
Fourth tire- Nitto Terra Grappler- 275-70-18 I believe I've started to lose track. Installed at 33,800. Balanced well. Rode smooth. Tires made very little noise at highway speeds. At 300 miles they lost their moldings. Truck got the best gas mileage with these tires also. No wheel shake or body movement on the road. Rotated once and never showed signs of scalloping in their 6k life. Guy bought them and put on 3/4 Ton dodge. Has put 20k on them and has 40% tread left and pulls decent loads with them. But that's a heavy truck too.
Fifth tire- Toyo M/T- 33-12.50-20. Good tire. Balanced well. Actually bought these used with 1800 miles on them. The outer tread still had some signs of the castings on them. Decent amount of road noise similar to the Trail Grapplers. Minimal wheel shake and very little body shake. Ran for 500 miles. Sold to friend. Put 15k on them and still had 70% tread when sold.
Sixth tire- Nitto Trail Grappler 35-12.50-18. For a larger tire they balanced well. Were true to their measurement and seated on beads well. Some road noise as before. No wheel or body shake on these. This set was my favorite set out of all. Rotated once and they showed no signs of scalloping(yes I do know alignment has a lot to do but not every alignment is spot on while pulling or turning). Tread wore well across the tire. Pulled off to sell to Big Kurntry with 3k on them. Amazing condition and had very little wear. He has put 12k on them probably and has yet to rotate them...and does burn outs...and other junk. Rear tires are at 30% while fronts are around 40%.
Seventh tire- Fuel Mud Gripper 35-12.50-18. For the price and the styling that copies the Toyo M/T the tire isn't that bad. I drove around town for a few days and thought they were alright. While rebalancing one took almost 12 oz. which to me is too much. It went on the rear for sure. Road noise is not too bad but the wheel and body shake was horrible. Talked to my cousins distributing warehouse and they got with Fuel. Fuel had been having issues with their tires not being true round. They had cases mess up also in the first batches they made. I had a hole punctured in a tire while driving to work and Fuel sent another. This corrected all wabble the truck previously had. I have now put about 4k on these tires and they are decent for what they are. I have rotated these once and they show no weird wear pattern yet. The size is slightly under a 35, with 40 psi they measure to a 34.5 and a 12.15 wide.
Eighth Tire- 35-12.50-20 Nitto Trail. Same as the other Trail Graps, great balancing, amazing wear, minimal road noise, and decently priced.
If I remember any details I'll edit as needed but for now here is the best I have.
Any questions please feel free to ask. I wanted to have an accurate detailed report on multiple tires so everyone on here could get a feel for what they are getting into when ordering tires. Hope this info helps someone in their search for their perfect tire!
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