Pirelli Scorpion Problems

[TOWGUY]

I'v put 3 sets of Pirelli Scorpion ATR's on 05, 06 and 07 Dodge 3500 Dually trucks. These have all been the 235/80-17 E rated tires. They have all mounted, balanced and run very quiet down the road. The problem comes with the rim protection protrusion and the chrome plastic wheel cover. It appears that as the tire flexes, it starts to rotate the hubcap, which has torn the valve stem off on two of the trucks. We've pulled the caps off and put everything back in its proper place, drive 10 miles down the road and the cap has spun and folded the valve stem over. So far the fix has been, remove the caps on one truck, change tires on the second, and the latest we changed the valve stem to a heavy duty, all metal one. Anyone else having this problem?

 

[JDiehl]

That is the first problem I have heard of with the Pirelli's. I put a set of ATRs on the wife's Trailblazer and plan on a set for the truck before winter hits. For the trailblazer them really improved the handling and have much less road noise than the BFG's that were on it previously.

 

[BHaden]

Good timing on the post. It reminded me I've been meaning to post about these tires for a month or more. There was a RECALL from Pirelli on these tires, in this size only, for tread separation problems. I got a letter from Tire Rack a couple months ago. Tires built from early 05 to late 07 were affected. I could be off on the dates a little, but that's close. I bought mine around Nov 07. They sent me the info I needed (build date codes) to determine if mine were covered and they were. Tire Rack sent 6 new tires with early 08 build dates, arranged for UPS to pick up the old ones, and paid for the mounting and balancing. I had about 5000 miles on the ones they replaced.



That being said, I'm not particularly impressed with these tires. Based on the 5k I had on mine and a comparison of the old and new tread depths, I'll be lucky to get more than 35k from these.

They don't seem to ride or handle any better than the OE Generals and I'm not impressed with how much weight it takes to balance them. I need to take it back to the shop that balanced them now because one of the rears has some kind of weird shake. Last weekend

I put the truck on stands with the axle hanging free and played with different combos of rear wheels ,singles and in pairs, and one is so out of whack the axle vibrates up/down and in/out from 40-80 mph. Maybe it's just a bad balance job, but I'm p***ed that after $1200 and two mounting sessions I still have to fight a problem this basic. It has new Bilstiens all around.

 

[AMink]

I was looking for tires for my truck and found this thread. I have the Scorpion ATR's on my truck right now. They will not get to 26,000 miles without hitting the wear bar. They ride well, are quiet, worked adequately in snow and dirt, but they are shot. I like the price, but am not impressed with the wear. They rated extremely well, but that might be for lighter vehicles. Mine are 265/70-17's.

 

[BHaden]

First things first; YES I have hugged my guns today!!!



I recently sold my 06 in the post above yours. Being a dually, mine were 235/80x17.

They had about 20k when I sold it and looked like maybe they would hit 35k safely, maybe more if they hit the low point in the summer months when snow or rain was not a problem. Mine were horrible in snow and ice. Think of a megacab dually doing tail-out slides across an intersection under very light throttle. Not fun. In 4-10" snow I got stuck 3 times in 2 days and got pulled out by the neighbors 1/2 ton 4wd Chevys, with BFGs. It didn't help that the Dodge "limited slip" diff worked not-at-all on slippery surfaces. Since the duallies have plastic wheel covers I had the same problem TOWGUY had, not being able to seat the covers fully because of the rim protector beads on the tires. Why someone thought that a one ton truck with dual wheels and big old steel wheels needed rim protectors I don't know. I solved the problem by using a new and sharp razor knife to trim the rubber down. It took about an hour to do 4 tires and the covers will now go all the way down. Problem is some of the clips on the covers were broken from being loose for a while and I had to watch them. My "new" truck is a 95 dually ext cab that will need tires toward the end of the year and I'm going to look into Kumho's ats. The have a good rep and they can be had from Tire Rack and through Summit for about $110 each in a 235/85x16. I have Kumho street tires on my wifes 05 Liberty and they should hit 60k before they are gone.