ATX THUG Teflon Wheels and INTERCO TRXUS Tires E Rates PHOTO SHOOT and REVIEW

[Lorenz]

I heard about the Interco Trxus 35x12. 5x17 E from more than 1 client. When a product comes along, unsolicited, from more than 1 legit source, it usually perks my interest...

The guys that told me about them were both Oil Field Techs. One in Canada and another in New Mexico. I was told the Interco Trxus are called "Rubber Chains" by the guys in the field. The problem was the load range. Depending on the size, they were only C and D rated. These guys were tearing them up with the heavy offroad use they saw day in and day out. Along with the heavy equipment and tools they always carried on the trucks, the side walls couldn't hang.

I called Interco and had a lengthy conversation with on of the engineers. Interco has stepped up to the plate and the 33, 35 and 37" Trxus are now made in a 17 and they're E rated with a 3640 lb rating at 65psi.

More testing to come...

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[Lorenz]

The ATX Series Wheels caught my interest a while back with the Teflon coating. Yep the same stuff that's on you wife's pots and pans.

3300 lb rating and they never have to be cleaned or polished. Hose them off and call it a day!

The "THUG" is 1 of 2 wheels that has the full Teflon coating and enough backspacing to use on the 3rd Gen Ram. ATX specs the backspacing at 5 3/8". This is 1/16" less that the H2 Wheels when I compared them side by side. I can fit a 35" tire on these guys no problem. A 37" tire is questionable, and they may hit the rear lower part of the fender. Maybe a little fender massaging could make it work? I really like the look of 35's on the 3rd gen, and I think they're more proportional inside the fender compared to 37's and they're little easier on the auto trans.

A good day of sand blasting hasn't fazed these bad boys.

Hail to one of the best "surf and turf" shots I've come across... Thanks Suzy and Missy for catching it on film.

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[Regcabguy]

Thugs and Intercos?

Nice wheels and tires Sean! Teflon factor really appeals to the low maintenance guys like me. The ST grill really tones down the glitter up front too! How's the highway noise level? It'll be interesting to see how they do in the rain as we enter another drought year!

 

[nickleinonen]

it is a nice looking wheel, but still not enough backspacing

 

[jtnm]

Sweet lookin wheel & tire combo Sean & very functional!!! Compliments to the Photographers for the great pictures. The big rooster tail is awesome.

 

[Lorenz]

it is a nice looking wheel, but still not enough backspacing

Some guys get picky with the backspacing issue.



We've been conditioned to think wheel bearing will fail if we use 1/2" backspacing less than stock. I haven't run across an actual case of this. Sure we've come across a couple of failed bearing but it wasn't because of wheel backspacing, the truck was running stock wheels.



If wheel bearing were and issue the duallies would be blowing them out left and right. They have a huge wheel spacer sitting behind the front wheel. Were not talking fractions of an inch either. These spacers are 4-6" wide to accommodate the dished out dually wheels.



The H2 wheels are obviously stock on the H2 GM trucks, and they have @ 5. 5" of backspacing. The H2 trucks use AAM axels and they're not blowing out rear axel bearings.



I think the "bearing issue" is a mute point.



The other argument for stock backspacing is to keep the dirt and rocks off the side of the truck. Now if you think about it a little you'd realize your going to get dirt flung all over the place if your off roading, stock backspacing or not. You're going to turn in the dirt with OEM backspacing, and the tires are now out of the wheel wells. Even with the the tires fully tucked into the wheel wells and traveling straight on a dirt road, you'd need huge mud flaps to keep the debris off the underside of the door and body.



I'm one for keeping my truck in pristine condition. I used to attach the rear floor mats as mud flaps when I threw my sand paddles on. It worked great until I ripped a mud flap off and sand blasted the lower rear fender down to the metal. I was pretty upset until I painted that part of the fender black. Can't see it in the picture can you? I run without mud flaps now, and throw another coat of black spray paint on when I get home. I may step it up to Line-x, but a rattle can works for now.



5 3/8" backspacing on 17x8. 5 wheels works good with a 35" tire. No rubbing on the stock control arms or on the stock/unmodified fenders with or without a lift or leveling kit. I'm not one to spend $425 retail on a wheel in order to get OEM backspacing, half of that, and the price becomes a little more palatable. This is why I sought out the ATX Series wheels. The Dupont Teflon finish was the biggest draw for me, the 2nd point that swayed me to seek their sponsorship was the retail price points. The average workn' class joe won't get sticker shock.

 

[JDerbedrossian]

Nice combo, those tires look like they work good in the sand, how well do they work.

 

[HLewallen]

I really like those "thug" wheels. I have tried those TrXus MTs in the 35s before, however, and they were basically unusable by 9k miles. The tread was either gone or heavily cupped. Seemed unstoppable off road - followed "pink jeep tours" in Sedona with my '05 3500. The tires may be blamed on Discount's ability to balance - but I am not sure. Discount also has wheels now with appropriate backspacing. The wheels I have on my '07 are supposedly hub AND lug centric 18x9s darn near stock backspacing (but an inch wider wheel means it sticks out an inch farther than stock). I was looking to go to 18s for more tire choices in E ratings, and the Thug 18s BS is just a tad less friendly.

 

[DHuffman]

From my experience, the TrXus MTs are a terrible tire for diesel applications. I had a set on my Ford PSD - they wore out in 24,000 miles. I rotated them every 5,000 miles, but the weight of the engine, combined with the soft compound equals short tire life. They do look nice, and traction was OK.

 

[nickleinonen]

i am quite picky about wheel sizing and backspacing. i love the look of 35" [well, 315/70/17's] on the stock wheels, but the wheels are plain boring to look at. i have a grand total of like 1/2" clearance to the mud flaps up front when turning. . my truck is never going to get a lift kit [heck, i removed the rear spacer blocks to lower the back end]. i don't care for the look of a 35" tire and like 4" of suspension lift. too much wheel gap. if i had a need for a lifted 4x4, yeah, then i could learn to like/love it, but i only wanted 4x4 for a simpler front suspension and so i could get myself to work on those 3 days in the winter when a 4x2 wouldn't get me there.

now with a wheel with less backspacing, i could live with it if i installed flares [i don't want a tire outside the fender at all] but then you run into the situation that the tires can rub the fender edge as the tire will cut closer to it. i really like the centerline scout wheel, 17x8. 5" with 6" backspacing. now if american racing would make something like that, it would be nice [AR wheels are normally less expensive than centerline] with the teflon finish, and 6" backspacing, on a 8. 5"-9" wheel, 17" - 20" diam, i'd be all over that. .

 

[edgerat]

take em through the sand but do not chip them otherwise it will be just like your wife's pots and pans. I had a teflon-coated mojave from AR chip when they mounted the thing and it just kept getting worse.

 

[Code3TJ]

I have a set of the Trxus tires on my jeep. Other than having a rough time getting them balanced, I've been very happy with them. Not sure how much I'd like them if they spent much time on the pavement though. I like the look of those wheels.

 

[Lorenz]

After driving on the TrXus' for a couple of weeks, here's what I've found.



Road noise:

The 35" Interco TrXus MT's are a hair louder than the 315/70/17 BFG AT's (34. 5").

After getting up to 70mph, I put the truck in neutral on a slight down hill. Windows up, I coasted to 45MPH. I could hear the hum of the tires over the A/C with the A/C fan on the first click. I had the same results with the BFG AT's. Turning the A/C over to the second click I couldn't hear the tires.



Traction:

Amazing. On a gravel dirt road I can hit the trottle and the tires won't spin untill the turbo kicks in and the tires lite up. The BFG's would slip with a blip of the throttle. When I get the truck a little sidways on the dirt it will straighten right up with minimal oversteer. It is either the aggressive sipping or the compound that gives these tires a good name in the dirt? I'll know after 25k miles. If they're hooking up because of the compound then they may wear sooner than the BFG AT's.



On this note I will add that my last set of Goodyear Wrangler MT's didn't work so well on gravel roads in the traction dept. These are the same Goodyears that they use on the Military H1. Even though they were super soft, they didn't hook on the same dirt roads, and they cupped and wore pretty bad. The TrXus were much quieter than the Goodyears as well.



Even though I've had the TrXus' in the sand, I can't give a good review of how they hooked. I never dropped the pressure down because we were traveling all over the place using the freeways that day, and I didn't have a way to inflate them back up to a proper pressure...



Here's a pic of the H1 Goodyears.

 

[pwknapp]

I ran the Truxxus 255/85's on my dually and I swear your could watch them wear. They were exceptional in off road conditions, ice, deep snow, and rocky trails. They were worn out by 22k. JM. 02