need advice on tires for welding rig.

[Coalsmoke]

hi guys, I'm setting up a mobile welding rig and I need advice on tire choice. I curently have the toyo m-55 and they are ok, but I'll be lucky if I get 35,000miles out of them, probably closer to 30,000, and this is with a truck that is mostly unloaded. The alignment is right on spec and the tires are wearing great, just too fast. However, now I'll be running about 8500lbs most of the time, so I need something that wears like iron. Any ideas?



Here's a few more things about the driving I do:

- I don't care about ride quality too much, so long as they track well and balance ok, if they sing that's just fine.

- These tires see lots of different terrain. I need them in the snow, on the ashphalt, on gravel roads, and on sharp rocks. The m-55 have been great about not getting cut up, alright in the snow, and not too good in the mud. They cleat up real quick and then don't sling it back out.

-the single most important thing is that these tires don't puncture / delaminate easily, as I have to drive this truck through some pretty interesting off-road terrain to get to broken equipment.



Any ideas?



Thanks

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

I know that you probably don't want to hear this but... most the welding rigs I see running around WY gas/oil country are DRWs.



I would suggest trying Cooper Discover STs, Goodyear Workhorse (seem popular around gas/oil country that see a lot of off pavement driving), or possible the Toyo tires that KORE uses in the baja www.desertracingconcepts.net

 

[Joe Mc]

Best on/off tire I ever had was BFG-Trail A/T. Wore well & long, quiet, self cleaning and balanced well. They didn't bog down in the mud as they were self cleaning. I'm not sure if they make this tire anymore as I last had them on a truck 10 years ago and have since not purchased BFG products. I had Cooper Discoverer A/T's prior to my Nittos and although they lasted 46k miles out of the advertised 50 - I was rather disapointed with how they revealed their inner workings at the end of their life - showing steel between the cleats along the outter edge. I thought they were good though and inquired about a second set only to find they were discontinued (I was told due to "problems"). So a friend had Nittos and they looked great, he has had them for may miles told me they wore well and were a true "E" tire, the Coopers were "D"s. I got them on the internet (discount tires direct - I think) free shipping @ $162 ea. As far as balancing, I've had 305/70/16s both the Coopers and Nittos and have gone the route w/the Coopers from standard spin balancing to, Road Force ($$$-whew! @ $25 per tire then within a year $75 - 125 per axel - I didn't go for the last $$$), to dyna beads (forget the website - do a search here) and have settled with the dyna beads. They were about $65 for the complete set of 4 bags and filtered stems, (gotta check the site) it's a "one time" deal. The best is they re-balance every time you stop/start back up. MHO.



I'll bet before the end of today someone with a similar rig as you are setting up will have the best option for you. Best to ya!

 

[Coalsmoke]

thanks guys, I'm hoping others with similar rigs will also chime in. The tires on the Kore rig are nice but softer compound and more expensive, basically more offroad tire and less general all round than I need. I realize that if I had a DRW the tire wear would be a bit better, but I wouldn't get in and out of half of the places that I can with my SRW.



Joe, I checked and they don't make the bfg trail anymore. Thanks for the input.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Guys, maybe I'm not reading the wear bars on these M-55 tires right. I have abot 1/4 inch before the tread on the center is gone, but then there is lots left on the sides and the wearbars seem to be 3/8" below the bottom of the higher center tread???? Does anyone know if I should be following these much lower wear bars or replacing the tire once I run out of tread on the center section?

 

[Paychk]

If there is a difference in wear from the center of the tire to the shoulder then your tire preassure is wrong. From what you descride you are running too much pressure & the center of the tire is wearing faster than the shoulders... drop your pressure some.

 

[Coalsmoke]

That would be the first impression, but the pressures and alingment are all dead on . From the factory the tire was made with the tread in the middle 1/2" shallower than the outside lugs.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Alright, I have figured out how to explain this better.



If you go here you can open a half decent photo of the tire:

http://www.lesschwab.com/tires/light_suv/m55.html



In the center section are two rows of almost "z" shaped lugs. On the outside of these two rows, the tread right now is about 1/2 an inch deep and this is where the wear bars are located. However, the rubber inbetween these two rows of center lugs is only about 1/4" deep. So, once the tire wears another 1/4 inch, there won't be any tread defniition in the middle band of the tire, it will just appear as a zig-zag solid band. Do I run the tires into this band and down to the wear bars or are the wear bars only for measuring tread depth?

 

[joaker]

Well... I'd like to say difdferent... but all I have seen is trucks in the patch... and the old man actually is running a rig thats 11k lbs 7k across the rear... on singles... and the tires he has fiound to be remarkably good are the 285 Wrangler MT/R... just food for thought.

 

[Coalsmoke]

Ok, here's what toyo had to say:

Stephen,

My information shows the original equipment size as a LT245/75R16 10ply tire requiring 45psi front and 55psi rear on a 6. 50" rim. The overall diameter is approximately 30. 4"

The 255/85R16 119M (8ply) tire requires 37psi front and 46psi rear to match the oe tire capacity. The overall diameter difference (33. 3") is significant and not recommended by Toyo Tire. This difference affects several things on your truck including revolutions per km making your speedometer/odometer readings incorrect by approx. 9%.

Frequent rotations (every 8,000kms) and regular air pressure maintenance will also dramatically affect tread life.

The M55 is a heavy duty commercial use tire that is designed to withstand severe road conditions and provide good off road traction capability common with commercial applications.

Due to the heavy construction the tires have a lower maximum speed rating (M= 130km/h) compared to most tires. This heavy construction dissipates heat slower compared to regular tires. If the tires are used mostly on the highway the heat is greater and affects tread wear.

The center part of the tread is built up to withstand severe road conditions and makes the worn appearance of the tire seem worn out sooner than it actually is.

The tread depth should be measured in the open grooves as they provide traction till worn out stage (2/32").

I would recommend visiting an approved Toyo Tire dealer in your area to have them assess your wear concerns.

The M55 has been an extremely successful tire for Toyo for more than 10 years and typically wear life has been very positive.

Thank you for contacting Toyo Tire Canada. "

As it turns out, the tire was designed to run into that middle wear section, which means this thing still has at least half its life on it. So, I think once it wears into this center section, I will look into having it siped to help with traction. Thanks to those who helped.

 

[sootgrinder]

Tires

I also have to chime in for the Goodyear (not a goodyear fan) MT/R. Good tire. We have it on a fire truck F 350 4X4. They are excellent in all situations.

 

[nickleinonen]

maybe step up to 19. 5's and some 245 or 265 GY-124's???

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