Observations on M/T Classic II

[bigkavr]

Well after a year of pondering wheather to
get the M/T Classic II, I went down to the big 4x4 get together in Lima last weekend and bought a set. National Tire and Wheel gave me a GREAT price on the rims and BFG/AT.
Their service cannot be beat. .
Now with that said, on to what I've noticed
after installing said rims.
First, the finish is beautiful, top rate polishing job, smoother than a 16 year olds behind and very little weight used for balancing..... But, there is NO clearcoat
protective coating on the rims, so if you even LOOK crosseyed at said rims, they mark
and stain. (and yes, I knew this when I bought them. ) Even something as mild as
Westleys Bleach White (for the raised white letters) do a nasty job of staining into the polished surface. Fore warned is fore armed!

The other observation is the location of the valve stem. I've got the 8x16 rims and the stem (a short one) is sticking out to
just PAST the rim lip. . Quite a vunerable
spot for a valve stem. . I can see a rock or piece of wood easly damaging it or ripping it off... ...
(the 10x16 would have a more recessed valve stem though)
Would I buy them again for my truck? Probobly not. Their a good rim from a good company and they look GREAT on my truck, but in this case, "you get what you pay for"!!!

This rambling is just to help inform those folks who are pondering a purchase like mine.

As a side note, my truck rides 100% better
now that the steel rims are off. At 105 MPH
it's as smooth as at 60 MPH. (could never get the steel rims balanced completly)

------------------
97 2500, extcab, 4x4. BFG 285/85/16 AT, "warmed over" pump, JRE Stage III plate, AFC spring kit, BD gov. spring seats only, 370 injectors, K&N, 4" Edwards Exhaust with Dynomax straight through racing muffler & 5"tip, (Cat got "lost"), EGT, boost, oil & transmission temp. gages, Low Stall torque conv. & BD valve body, silencer ring "exiled", Grover Emergency air horn and a multitude of strobe lights and switches (Vol. firefighter)
15. 344 @ 88. 06 MPH

 

[BIG BOB]

I need to share my experience with the Mickey Thompson Classic II's.



First I must say, I got them from Summit Racing, and they have been absolutely great to work with.



After I ordered the rims from Summit, I called M/T and specifically asked what the torque spec's were. I was told to torque them at the auto manufacture's spec's. So I looked in my service manual, it said to torque them to 135 ft/lbs.



When I had them mounted, I told the installer to torque them to 135 ft/lbs. I then drove into Spokane and had a terrible vibration. Went back the next day to have them rebalanced.



I stood there and watched them balance them, the passengers side balanced fine, however, the drivers side were really out of balance! They could not even get them centered on the axle of the tire balancer. After futher inspection, we found that the lug nut holes had pushed into the center hub area. Some of the lug nut holes were even cracked into the hole of the hub. We thought we were given the wrong torque spec's and that is why the rim failed.



Needless to say, Summit got a call Thursday night, and I explained what had happened. Dennis at Summit said that he believed me but needed to hear what M/T recommended to torque the rims at.



Dennis called me Friday and "you're right, that's what M/T said". He let me keep them until I found another kind of rim, and then made arrangements with UPS to pickup the rims. No charge to me. He will now credit my account.



Sorry this is so long, just wanted to save someone else the headache!



By the way I purchases the American Racing Atlas Chrome. I really like these wheels!



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You have got to visualize a bigger hub and 8 duplex lug nuts. They look really good!

 

[groundpounder]

If someone likes that type of wheel they may want to consider the Eagle version. I am running the 589 and I love them. I have the 16. 5x9. 75 with 35-12. 50/16. 5 BFG Mud Terrains and not a minutes problem so far. (lug nut chrome is kinda crappy)