Attention: TDR Forum Junkies After 50K miles on the factory Goodrear tires, it was time to purchase new rubber for my '98 12V, auto, LSD, 4x4 2500. I never really liked the 'tiny' OEM tires, and the chrome wheels just couldn't keep weights on them. So, having read about Rickson in the TDR, I called and arranged to purchase four of their 6"x19. 5" wheels. I was also going to purchase four Yokohama TY303 (225/70R19. 5) M+S tires from Rickson, but figured I'd call my Dad's neighbor to get info on them, as he works for Yokohama in VA. Because I'd given him a 16"x9' black cherry log for his woodworking projects, he offered to order the tires for me and use his employee discount. He talked me into buying five tires.
So, over Thanksgiving, I drove down, picked up the tires, had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, then drove to Sparks, MD, to have the tires mounted, matched, balanced and installed. I bought five wheels with the driftwood powdercoat.
Upon arrival, they used a couple long tire irons to mount the tires on the wheels. Then they employed their super-duper Hunter balancer/matcher. This machine finds the high spot on the tire and the high spot on the wheel. Due to sheer luck, they only had to rotate one tire on its wheel. This one tire showed around 60 pounds of force due to the out-of-round condition; matching the high/low spots brought it down to ounces. One or two tires have a fair bit of weight to balance them, but they are running *real* smooth. For grins, they checked two of the originals; one of them was matched high spot to high spot; it had around 119 pounds of force. So *that's* what was generating the nasty vibration. Since they couldn't bear the thought of having their gorgeous product sullied by dirty hup caps, they srubbed them bright. Service with a smile!
I also bought an Abbott Industries Electronic Pulse Ratio Adapter and a Flaming River steering shaft from them, which they shipped in advance to VA for me. I installed the EPRA before driving up and set it to 1:1 ratio, using the dip switches inside. After the tires were installed, I ran some quick mental calculations, and set the ratio to 1:1. 05. They then took some pictures of my truck with the new tires; the pictures might appear on their web site some day.
Upon paying, my brother and I hit the road back. After measuring 10 miles on the highway, we set the EPRA to about 1:1. 045 and continued our journey. Once on I-81, we took readings over a 100-mile span, and settled on a 1:1. 4 ratio. This results in the system reporting about 1. 5% under. After the 3/4" of tread wears off, the system will be reporting about 1. 5% over, so in the long run, the odometer will be accurate. In comparison, CC set the Controller, Antilock Brake (CAB) to about the exact size of the *new* tires. The system was reporting about 3% over by the time I took the OEM tires off.
The new tires, combined with the year-old KYB shock absorbers, seem to have eliminated most of the obnoxious rear-end bounce commonly experienced on the washboards that pass for roads here in Illinois. The RPMs dropped from 2000 to about 1880 at 70MPH, about a 6% difference. I can't really tell how the indicated mileage has changed, but I think the fuel consumed for distance travelled has remained much the same; it's hard to tell because we here in the cold North are converting over to winter blend fuel, which also affects mileage.
However, upon arrival back here in Wonder Lake, I noticed significant scuff on the front tires: time for a front-end alignment. Remke's in Marengo just did that for me today. They found the upper joint on the track bar was worn out, so they replaced it. *That* definitely made a difference in the steering.
On a humorous note, before I left VA, I installed the new steering shaft. And had it off by about four teeth (around 40 degrees). I told Remke's to correct this, but they said they weren't going to bother. You see, the Pittman arm was off by about the same amount, and centering it corrected my error!
In closing, the truck looks much more 'manly' with the big grey wheels. The tires are about two inches taller; they don't look quite so puny in the huge wheel wells. The EPRA does a great job of correcting the PCM's sense of distance travelled. The Flaming River steering shaft has removed the annoying clunk when driving over sharp bumps. I expect to get 100K to 150K miles out of these tires, if not 200K. The new track bar has greatly tightened the steering. I'm about $2500 poorer, but content, because I've got good rubber on the truck and will easily make it through whatever snow falls this winter, and will enjoy the smooth ride for some years to come. And the two guys at Rickson know their business and do a solid, competent job.
The only down side is that the fifth wheel didn't fit, which took them by surprise; the center hole was a bit too small. They ship a fair bit of product, and have never had this happen. I expect the new tire/wheel to arrive any day now, as they are going to ship it as soon as they get a replacement wheel and mount the last tire. Was no problem for me. I just kept the original spare hoisted up beneath the truck; I hadn't used it in 50K miles, and don't expect to need a spare for another 150K miles.
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All in all, a painless process combined with 2000 miles of pleasant Cummins drone!
Fest3er
So, over Thanksgiving, I drove down, picked up the tires, had a Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, then drove to Sparks, MD, to have the tires mounted, matched, balanced and installed. I bought five wheels with the driftwood powdercoat.
Upon arrival, they used a couple long tire irons to mount the tires on the wheels. Then they employed their super-duper Hunter balancer/matcher. This machine finds the high spot on the tire and the high spot on the wheel. Due to sheer luck, they only had to rotate one tire on its wheel. This one tire showed around 60 pounds of force due to the out-of-round condition; matching the high/low spots brought it down to ounces. One or two tires have a fair bit of weight to balance them, but they are running *real* smooth. For grins, they checked two of the originals; one of them was matched high spot to high spot; it had around 119 pounds of force. So *that's* what was generating the nasty vibration. Since they couldn't bear the thought of having their gorgeous product sullied by dirty hup caps, they srubbed them bright. Service with a smile!
I also bought an Abbott Industries Electronic Pulse Ratio Adapter and a Flaming River steering shaft from them, which they shipped in advance to VA for me. I installed the EPRA before driving up and set it to 1:1 ratio, using the dip switches inside. After the tires were installed, I ran some quick mental calculations, and set the ratio to 1:1. 05. They then took some pictures of my truck with the new tires; the pictures might appear on their web site some day.
Upon paying, my brother and I hit the road back. After measuring 10 miles on the highway, we set the EPRA to about 1:1. 045 and continued our journey. Once on I-81, we took readings over a 100-mile span, and settled on a 1:1. 4 ratio. This results in the system reporting about 1. 5% under. After the 3/4" of tread wears off, the system will be reporting about 1. 5% over, so in the long run, the odometer will be accurate. In comparison, CC set the Controller, Antilock Brake (CAB) to about the exact size of the *new* tires. The system was reporting about 3% over by the time I took the OEM tires off.
The new tires, combined with the year-old KYB shock absorbers, seem to have eliminated most of the obnoxious rear-end bounce commonly experienced on the washboards that pass for roads here in Illinois. The RPMs dropped from 2000 to about 1880 at 70MPH, about a 6% difference. I can't really tell how the indicated mileage has changed, but I think the fuel consumed for distance travelled has remained much the same; it's hard to tell because we here in the cold North are converting over to winter blend fuel, which also affects mileage.
However, upon arrival back here in Wonder Lake, I noticed significant scuff on the front tires: time for a front-end alignment. Remke's in Marengo just did that for me today. They found the upper joint on the track bar was worn out, so they replaced it. *That* definitely made a difference in the steering.
On a humorous note, before I left VA, I installed the new steering shaft. And had it off by about four teeth (around 40 degrees). I told Remke's to correct this, but they said they weren't going to bother. You see, the Pittman arm was off by about the same amount, and centering it corrected my error!
In closing, the truck looks much more 'manly' with the big grey wheels. The tires are about two inches taller; they don't look quite so puny in the huge wheel wells. The EPRA does a great job of correcting the PCM's sense of distance travelled. The Flaming River steering shaft has removed the annoying clunk when driving over sharp bumps. I expect to get 100K to 150K miles out of these tires, if not 200K. The new track bar has greatly tightened the steering. I'm about $2500 poorer, but content, because I've got good rubber on the truck and will easily make it through whatever snow falls this winter, and will enjoy the smooth ride for some years to come. And the two guys at Rickson know their business and do a solid, competent job.
The only down side is that the fifth wheel didn't fit, which took them by surprise; the center hole was a bit too small. They ship a fair bit of product, and have never had this happen. I expect the new tire/wheel to arrive any day now, as they are going to ship it as soon as they get a replacement wheel and mount the last tire. Was no problem for me. I just kept the original spare hoisted up beneath the truck; I hadn't used it in 50K miles, and don't expect to need a spare for another 150K miles.
#adAll in all, a painless process combined with 2000 miles of pleasant Cummins drone!
Fest3er
