Replacing my 19.5's

[tempforce]

wearing on one side or scaloping could be caused by a stearing control arm that has a slightly worn joint. it may be within spec's but with heavy tires, cause some issues. trueing your tires will resolve the issue for a long time. but if it returns, double check for worn parts, that may still be good with stock tires, but not be able to control the extra weight/size of aftermarket tires.

 

[Barry]

Thanx! I'll check it.

 

[Barry]

Lo and behold, a guy had a re-grooving tool in our local shopper paper. I gave him $50 for it. Came home and found new ones on line for $76 plus $24 for the blade of your choice.



The guy that did my last re grooving charged me $8 a line. My Michelins have 5 lines per tire. I think I will make my money back on two tires!

 

[Nyoest]

I put a set Cooper roadmaster 190's on my truck about 2k ago. They drive well and work better in snow than I had hoped. They sing a bit at 70 mph but any rough tire will. Got them for $260 each.



There is no way I would run a recap on my truck. It would completely destroy a bed side when it came apart.



Feliz navidad y'all.

 

[MChrist]

Barry, you can have a lot of fun with a tire regroover. In my experience, on the 19. 5s, you can typically cut 3/32" deeper than the bottom of the grooves. (2/32" if you are nervous). It is also recommended that you don't get down to less than 3/32" tread depth when you regroove. That gives you a clear path to follow. You can also alter the tread design at will for extra traction if you need. That is a great option, since you are low on tread at that point.
I've read tire regrooving spec sheets, and they usually recommend opening the grooves from, say, 3/32" wide to 5 or 6/32" wide. This way, you not only go deeper, you also cut wider grooves with new, sharp edges for better traction and water evacuation.
Do a search on tire regrooving on this forum, and you will find the pictures I downloaded. I was able to take a very street oriented tire and turn it into a much more traction oriented tread. That was on a practice tire.
Then, you can start siping!! All sorts of options...

"tire regroover and siper" is name of thread.

 

[Barry]

Hey thanx! I will do the search. I watched a guy do re-grooving about 30 years ago... ... ..... it's been awhile... ... ... ... I have some practice tires.

 

[MChrist]

When you practice, keep going deeper until you see where the rubber makes the diagonal "squiggles". If you have steel belts, when you see those diagonal squiggles, you are at roughly 1/32" from those diagonal steel belts. Back off another 2-3/32" and now you have your depth. You should maintain a 3/32" rubber layer. That is the "understood" depth to maintain.
Choose a blade just wider than your existing groove. Remove all pebbles or sand from tires. Make sure tires are dry. A trick I've seen but haven't tried: baby powder your tires. This helps the tool glide over the rubber, and easier on your arm.
I jack up the corner I'm regrooving and just spin the tire I'm working on. No need to deflate or remove tire. Set up a spotlight, get a comfortable stool and get comfortable.
Use a tire depth gauge, too. It's much easier than using a caliper, and then converting thousandths to 32nds. ($3 at any Autozone)
Also, I get my blades from VanAlstine. They have square bottomed or U-shaped bottoms. The spec sheets I've read say to use the U-shaped blades. Maybe the square edge is easier to tear at the bottom, since the U removes less material at the very bottom edge.

http://www.petroscan.ru/files/doc/pages/13086603651.pdf

This is an awesome source for regrooving information.

 

[Barry]

The one I bought is an Ideal Heated Knife. Unfortunately, it came with a U shaped blade. After looking at their website, I really wanted the square shaped blade.



My confusion lies in they want US Dollars but give me the dimensions in MM. So I am trying to figure out which one of the blades to order.



Here is the link: Ideal Heated Knives Inc Regroover with Pistol Grip (IHK-125): All Tire Supply Company



The Continentals I bought are 225/70/19. 5 HSR load G. I bought them from a guy in Parkland, Fl. for $120 for 4. They came off his 08 Furd 450 with about 45,000 miles on them. Since he ran empty most of the time and did not deflate them, they are worn more in the center than the outside.



Thanx for the link about regrooving. I have bookmarked it for further reference.



I guess my real dilemma is since the tires came off a Ford, should I pray over them before mounting them on my Dodge?

 

[MChrist]

There is another link, but it is a 135 page PDF. The shorter link gives you a very useable starting point of what pattern to regroove. I found it interesting that you don't necessarily follow the old groove path.

I bought several dozen blades of varying widths and shapes (U and square bottom). I think they were about $1 a blade. One blade will easily regroove 2 22. 5 tires before I notice it's harder to push. Even then, it isn't hard to push. . maybe 5 pounds of push versus 1 pound of pushing force.

The main difference between ours is the on/off switch, and how it heats. Yours heats the whole head, where mine only heats the blade, like a filament in an incandescent bulb. Also, my blades are extremely thin. I would compare them to the thickness of an actual razor blade, and much thinner than an Exacto blade. I would guess 1/3 the thickness of an Exacto blade.

You mentioned you had some tires to practice on... I recommend you get your hands on a junk tire and practice first on that. That way you can get the feel. You will quickly learn how everything falls into place, how wide and deep to go, what pattern, etc.



Since you seem to be a religious person, you mentioned praying for your tires since they came off a Ford... maybe you need to contact the Vatican to get permission to have an Exorcism performed... just in case.

 

[MChrist]

Here is mine:

Van Alstine G-1000 Tire Groover

 

[Barry]

Thanx for all the info. ! And there is no need for me to contact the Vatican, I already carry credentials. Been a "Turn around Pastor", Church Planter and Co-Founder of Cowboy Camp Meetings of America for decades.

Since I rescued the Dodge from a Ford dealer, the tires coming off a Ford will probably be OK!

I can adjust the depth of the cut so I think I will start shallow and work my way deeper as I get better at it. Tires are not mounted so I think I will just butt one against a wall so I can push a little... ... ... . Since they are the HSRs, I think I will open the centers up a little since they are going on my drive axle. Give me a little more traction. The Michelins I have on now would be scary if I had to run north right now. Need some bite to get thru the winter.

 

[MChrist]

These are the Continental HSR I use:
Continental HSR

Apparently, there are more than one style of HSR. Which style do you have? If you have the style pictured above, you may not need to open op the tread pattern, as they are pretty good as is. The HDR is the same, except being Drive (HDR) the shoulders are more open.

And since the tires came from a Dodge dealer, but on a Ford, you may not require an exorcism, but maybe just burning some sage...

Any pics of your tires? I can try to guide you in what direction you are aiming for...

 

[MChrist]

This page:

continental hsr tire review - Google Search



Shows about 3 different styles of Continental HSRs. Which one do you have?

 

[Barry]

My HSRs are not like any of those. Mine are like these:



Rickson Wheel Manufacturing



Broke the knife blade today... ... ... ..... never got started. Will order new blades tomorrow... ... ... ...

 

[MChrist]

Right, so the link I sent you had this one in the middle: http://www00.mailcar.net/MailCar/pictureImage?seller=vehicleserv&ite=380390546713&seq=0

I have those on my Isuzu trucks.



Are you looking for max traction, or just to spruce them up? I can make recommendations on what I would do if you are looking for a little or a lot. Just ask.



Bummer about the blade...

 

[MChrist]

Ok, I just took a closer look at the pic on the Rickson site, and they do seem to be different. The last pic I posted is what my trucks have, and what I was going to recommend to you ends up being what is in the picture from Rickson. Do you need more traction than what is in the Rickson picture?

 

[Barry]

What I want to do is dress them up for more miles... ... ... Wished I could get an assortment of blades but it appears they want to sell 12 at a time of the same blade.



I am going to call a couple of places listed on the internet about an assortment.

 

[MChrist]

How many 32nds tread do you have left? I think the pic of the used tires I posted may actually be the same tire as the new one you posted, just worn down. The new one has grooves, where the used one has those little divots on the side of the blocks. I think that once these tires wear down to a certain point, the grooves turn into solid blocks (ie: the grooves are not full depth)
I'm not at work today to take a close look. Also, the used tire pic is from a site that sells used tires, and the description said these tires had 6-7 32nds tread left. They were selling them for $70 apiece, so it sounds like you got quite a deal.

You also mentioned that they were more worn down in the center due to overinflation. What is the depth across the whole tire?

If you are only interested in getting more miles from these tires, my suggestion would be to regroove those 2 center, narrow, circumferential channels slightly wider than stock (so you create better water evacuation). I haven't had the opportunity to regroove any Continental HSR, so I can't tell you how deep you can go, but I would start at 2/32" deeper than stock, then probe the groove with a pick, (or an awl) until you feel the steel belts. The pick will "click" when you touch the belts. Measure.
Remember, based on your measurements, you have less tread to start with toward the center of the tire. You may be able to cut 4/32", and still leave the suggested 3/32" protecting the belts.

So far, in the 19. 5 tire size, I'm the most impressed with Michelin and Bridgestone. The ones I've practiced on and measured have allowed me to safely cut 5/32" fresh rubber. Those tires had about 4-5/32 remaining when I regrooved them, so I end up with 9-10/32" grooves, so they look like new!

If you decide to cut the circumferential grooves, and you still want more traction, I would then "connect the dots" on the tread blocks. That will give you angled grooves for traction, while not humming going down the road. Cutting grooves perpendicular to the tire will be very loud compared to angle cuts.

If I had to guess, you will probably end up using a 6-8/32" wide blade. Remember, don't go crazy with rubber removal. A little goes a long way.

 

[Barry]

Well, when all else fails, read the instructions! The instructions say to let the iron heat for 10 to 15 minutes before using. I tried to cut in less than 5 minutes and broke the little blade.



I also did some research and found I have a number 4 head and therefore will need a number 4 blade... ... ... ..... which is round. I can however order a #5 head and then use a #5 square/flat blade.



The blades come 12 in a package for $8. The heads are around $10. So for around $30 I can have enough supplies to last quite awhile.

 

[MChrist]

That's what I like about mine. The receiver for the blades is adjustable from 1/32" to roughly 1". And there is no warm up time.

I went to work to see what the story on the HSRs is. Here is what I found out: the "new" picture is the same tire as the "used" picture. New tires look like that until around 8/32". Then the groove ends and becomes one block. I then went to my HDRs and found that, aside from having traction grooves on the edges, the grooves are TAPERED, not stepped like the HSRs. So the traction grooves are "V'd" (narrower as tire wears) as opposed to the HSR step, which leans more toward stability than deep traction.
I took several pics, but will have to wait for wifey to get them to show up here.

In your case (HSR), I would cut the grooves right where they were when new if you need more traction.