The Radio Flyer received six new rubbers today.....

[gsbrockman]

My truck is at 79,491 miles......and my LT235/80R17 General Ameri*Trac TR's were at the end of their useful life. The front two had reached the TWI's within the last thousand miles or so.....so I stuck a fork in them and deemed them DONE.

Today, The Radio Flyer received six new General Grabber HTS's in outline white letter....LT235/80R17. They were match mounted & road force balanced. They appear to be quite smooth, up to about 82 mph anyway.

I never had any complaints of irregular tire wear, but had the alignment checked just to be sure something hadn't got knocked out in the last few thousand miles or so. Oddly enough, the toe was dead-on, but the caster was out on the right side. He adjusted both sides, as close to the middle of the specs as possible, and it's good to go.
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Thought about leaving the simulators off and running nothing at all. Thought about running just the chrome center caps for awhile. I also thought about running just the silver center caps from my '13 RAM 3500 in New Holland Blue......but in the end, I wound up installing all the simulators back on the truck when I got home.
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I hope these HTS's will get me another 80k miles or so. The Ameri*Trac TR's did me well. I got out the door with these for $901.68, plus I'll get back a rebate in the form of an AMEX card with $70 loaded onto it, making my net cost $831.68.

 

[Cummins12V98]

All I can say is I wish you the best of luck!

My factory POS Generals were 2/3 worn out at 25K and had a front tire tread separation. Replaced with MS2's and at 40K they were only 1/4 worn. Dumped the NEXEN's at 250 miles on the new 15 and installed MS2's at a cost of $1,278 out the door.

Sold the NEXEN's for $650 set of 6.

 

[gsbrockman]

All I can say is I wish you the best of luck!

Not sure what luck has to do with tire longevity. Proper maintenance, frequent air pressure checks, 12k to 14k rotation intervals, and common sense aided me in attaining 80k out of mine.

So.....based on your extrapolations, you "expect" to attain 160k miles out of your Michelins???

 

[ILIANBG]

I have few friends that are running the same tire- Grabber HTS. They are super happy with it. The trucks and vans are loaded all the time, commercial use. It will be probably my next tire. Really good traction on wet is a big plus.

 

[rynosback]

WOW, that is a GREAT deal.

 

[gsbrockman]

I have few friends that are running the same tire- Grabber HTS. They are super happy with it. The trucks and vans are loaded all the time, commercial use. It will be probably my next tire. Really good traction on wet is a big plus.

Oddly enough.....I never noticed a huge loss in wet weather traction with my Ameri*Trac TR's....even with the fronts down to the TWI's.

 

[6speed]

My first set of Michelins I attained 150k. I even tried to get Michelin to give me a set that maybe they were designing to try, but that didn't work. However I rotated every 5k, very little in town driving and constantly on the pressures. I now have 83k on the this set and should see at least
120-125 before replacement. And yes I have documentation to show the miles. And I tow heavy 25-26K.

 

[Cummins12V98]

My VW PU made it to 150K on the rear tires and they were well over legal tread left.

I should have said the MS2's on my 11 dually were 1/3 worn not 1/4 at 40K.

My 98 RAM 4X4 was able to make it to 120K with Michelins and well over 100K with BFG's.

So since I did proper air inflation with my POS Generals I should not have had a tire separation.

I wished you luck because I have read a lot of problems with Generals and I have heard of some that have good luck with them. My Dad's 12 Dually has them and they have been fine so far with 25K they are for sure wearing faster then the MS2's.

My experience with tires with driving well in excess of 1 million miles on my vehicles is that it does pay to buy the best tire available.

 

[MMeier]

My first set of Michelins I attained 150k. I even tried to get Michelin to give me a set that maybe they were designing to try, but that didn't work. However I rotated every 5k, very little in town driving and constantly on the pressures. I now have 83k on the this set and should see at least
120-125 before replacement. And yes I have documentation to show the miles. And I tow heavy 25-26K.

Just wondering, what do you run for pressures ? I put 125k hard *** miles on my Michelins, and the guy I sold them to put another 25k or so them before changing them out .

 

[Cummins12V98]

On my 98 I would run 72 front 45 rear solo and 80 rear towing.

My 11 Dually I ran 80 front all the time and 45 rear solo and 60 towing.

My 15 Dually I am running 80 front all the time and 40 solo and 60 towing.

On my Dually's I only rotate fronts side to side.

 

[rynosback]

On my 98 I would run 72 front 45 rear solo and 80 rear towing.

My 11 Dually I ran 80 front all the time and 45 rear solo and 60 towing.

My 15 Dually I am running 80 front all the time and 40 solo and 60 towing.

On my Dually's I only rotate fronts side to side.

No I'm a little confused. The sticker in the door jam states 70 psi in the front and 65 psi on all of the rears? With the difference your saying the fronts might were in the center a little more and the outer edges on the rears. Thanks for your incite. I could see a couple of pounds difference but those are some different numbers. Sorry about the blurry pic of the sticker. It does not state if that is loaded or unloaded pressure.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Your Sticker is for "MAX" load. Yours being 2 door and 2wd the front tire pressures are going to be lower. I would try running yours at 75psi front always and 40 rear solo and 60 loaded.

Here is my sticker.

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[rynosback]

Your Sticker is for "MAX" load. Yours being 2 door and 2wd the front tire pressures are going to be lower. I would try running yours at 75psi front always and 40 rear solo and 60 loaded.

Here is my sticker.

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So you do not thing inflating the front more then spec will wear the center of the tire out early? Or under inflating the rear will cause the outer edges to wear early?

 

[Cummins12V98]

So you do not thing inflating the front more then spec will wear the center of the tire out early? Or under inflating the rear will cause the outer edges to wear early?

No, I went 40K with the MS2's at 80PSI on my 11 Dually and the edges were slightly worn more than the centers.#ad

 

[rynosback]

Cool, so you filled it to your plated 80 psi on the front. So I think I will just keep mine at the 70 psi plated as my front. Between the extra cab space and the addition of 4X4 it specs out 10 more psi.

 

[6speed]

I'm running 265/70/17 as compared to the 235's. I run 65 front 65 rear when loaded and 65 front and 40 rear empty. Tires are a tad wide for the rims but it fills the fender well nicely. I run a 1/2" spacer in the rear to keep them from rubbing

 

[gsbrockman]

Today I went to my regular tire store and had 6 LT245/75R17 LRE Firestone Transforce H/T's installed on The Radio Flyer.

As previously mentioned, the tread width is .6" wider than the LT235/80R17's that are the OEM size for these trucks, and within 6 revolutions per mile of the OEM size. They look great on the truck, and still have plenty of spacing on the rear duals. The tires required a minimum amount of weight.....and were nice & smooth on the interstate on my return trip back home.

After I got home, plenty of soap & water was in order. Tomorrow.....I'll be detailing the interior.

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[Cummins12V98]

What was your out the door price?

 

[gsbrockman]

What was your out the door price?

A guy I recently became acquainted with in eastern Kentucky does some tire servicing for a couple of utility companies. These tires were new take-offs (less than 20 miles on them) from 2016 F-250 pickups. The utility company runs mud terrain style tires on all of their trucks.

$650 for a set of six tires.....$72.00 for six dismount, six mount, six balance, and four (old tire) disposal fees.....for a grand total of $722 out the door.

 

[Cummins12V98]

Can't beat that! I sold my NEXEN's with 200 miles on them for $650 on CL. Bought MS2's for $1,278 out the door. Did not want any problems like I had with the POS General Ameritracks on my last Dually.