Vibtation problem revisited, It's all in the tires

[Gary - K7GLD]

Here's something interesting I just located:



4 NEW 285/75/16 Nitto Dura Grappler Tires 285 75 16 E



Not at all familiar with the Nitto tires - anyone have comments? These particular tires are a highway tire, and since my truck isn't a 4x4, it stays in the garage in snowy weather - so snow traction really isn't a major goal...



(EDIT)



Anyone know what this means - will these fit the standard '02 16 inch rims?

*In select sizes 45,000-mile limited treadwear warranty for Dura-Belt* sizes 60,000-mile limited treadwear warranty for P-metric/Metric sizes

Performance Rating: Q R T H UTQG Treadwear: 600 (P-Metric and Metric Sizes Only) Traction: A Temperature: A

 

[Bouma]

Wednesday I will know more on my Goodyears. I think they are going to try to pound sand up my #@%. Does anyone know what tires are USA built? Anyone run coopers? I also run the stock size 265/70/17 load range e

 

[HBarlow]

The only good thing I can say about the Goodyears is they love snow. They dig very well. How many miles is everyone getting out of the Michilen AT2? Should I just bite the bullet and go with Rickson's? This is an expensive game to play. I don't want to do this again for some time. Can you belive the guy at the Goodyear store blamed the wear on my Cummins?? He said it had to much power:-laf I told him thats why I bought it.

I started buying Michelins years ago for two reasons. The tire guys at my local SAM's Club who do NOT work on commission told me Michelins were the best tires they sold, balanced perfect with little weight everytime and never a comeback for any reason. And two, an old friend who is an RV transporter told me he got over 100k miles out of every set of Michelins and used nothing else.

Michelins are the only tire I buy now. When I was transporting RVs running 130,000 miles/year I found that Michelins cost just over $0. 01 that's one penny per mile for six of them on a dually. You can buy tires that are cheaper to purchase but your per mile cost will be less with Michelins not to mention that you will never experience a tire problem or failure.

 

[2 Ram Fam]

I had nitto dura grappler's on my 04 that just got totaled. I didn't get to put many miles on them before the accident, but I did like them. They are An affiliate co. with Toyo, had E /128 or about 4,000# (approx. 800# over stock), smooth ride, balanced well,& no wobble towing heavy.

 

[TimothyLong]

Bouma, sorry to hear that you are having so many problems with your tires! I have the same Silent Armors you do only mine are 285's. I've got about 12K on mine with no significant wear or problems and my driving is about like yours. I have no complaints with mine so far. I agree with those who have stated that the GY Shop should have noticed an out of round tire pretty easily. Sounds like the GY shop you go to is staffed with idiots. Especially if they are blaming the Cummins. If there is another, more reasonable GY dealer in your area I'd go there. Unfortunately, I doubt that GY will give you 4 new ones unless you can prove all 4 are defective. Even then they will probably pro-rate the mileage, but I'd argue the mounting and spin balance costs. After all, if their tires wouldn't have been defective, you wouldn't have had to incur the extra mounting and balancing costs. If, after Wednesday, you decide to tell your GY shop what they can do with their tires, I'd recommend the BFG AT's. I ran them for years before I got these Silent Armors to try out. They are a well built, reliable tire and I never had any problems with them. The set I had before I got the Silent Armors lasted 56K, religiously rotating and balancing every 6K (or every oil change for me). If I end up not liking these Silent Armors, I'm going back with the BFG's. Just my $0. 02.

 

[GCroyle]

I think this started as a tire balance question, I'm adding my . 02$.



I had balance problems with a Concorde, multiple re-balancing. It does take a trained guy to balance a tire, let's agree on that. One company has a balancer that takes problem tires a step further, it measures the road force or maybe the easy way to look at it is it measures the spring force of the tire. Take a look at their website, might be of interest.



Hunter GSP9700 Wheel Vibration Control System Solves Wheel Vibration and Tire Pull Problems that Balancers and Aligners Can’t Fix

 

[Bouma]

A day at the Goodyear Store

Well I had my truck at Goodyear yesterday! They found that one of my tires was 5/8 of an inch out of round!! Then they found another on that was 1/2 out of round. The other 2 were fine. They originally told me that they would get me 2 new ones at half price. I thought no way these are 50,000 mile tire I went 11,000 and 60% is gone. They told me I was going to have to call Goodyear myself and complain. I did and after 5 minutes of negotiations they gave me 2 tire and sold me 2 for half price. I got 4 new tires out the door for around $225. 00 I didn't think that was bad!! ALSO THE VIBRATION IS GONE!!!!!!! I figure these Goodyears will last maybe 15,000 and then I will get some quality tires. You should see the amount of weight they had to put on these tire to get them to ballance. I have one that has 3 different weights in one side of the wheel. Atleast they did something about it. DON'T BUY GOODYEAR WRANGLER SILENT ARMOR TIRES>

 

[ZBrooks]

I have the Dura Grapplers (see signature). They have been a great tire so far and I can easily tell a difference (for the better) from the Cooper 315/70s I had on before. They came with a 45k mile warranty that replaces the tire, rather than just prorating.

 

[AWise]

I have had my Toyos for about 3k miles now, they seem to be a good tire but I cant really judge the wear quite yet. I will say I was surprised at the fairly low noise from them considering the aggressive tread. Now if I can just get the truck to steer straight, which will probably require replacement of most of the front suspension, I will be happy.

 

[CurtLee]

I don't have any experience with the highway terrain Nitto's BUT i have a set of their all terrains (terra grappler) and they are horrible!! They had good snow traction for the first thousand miles. I've around 5k on them now and the rear's are pretty much gone.



I had the tires put on in january 08 after a wild ride to christmas eve dinner with the stock michelins. Every bit of snow after i put them on it handle it great. Fast forward to this winter and some of the snow storms i couldn't get the truck outta the driveway w/o putting it in four wheel drive. Never had that problem before! Other's on the TDR have had some good sucess with them, but not me, i don't recomend them to anyone.



Sorry for the rant. My $0. 02.

 

[LBARTLETT]

You should see the amount of weight they had to put on these tire to get them to ballance.

That is exactly why I quite running Goodyear tires several years ago. I don't think any tire should take that much weight.

 

[seafish]

My Michelin LTX AT2's took only 2 small weights on the entire set of oem wheels to balance.
My local garage owner, who normally sells Cooper and Hankook, actually commneted on it when I arrived to pick up my truck.

 

[LBARTLETT]

Seafish, I never had hardly any weight on any michelins I owned either, my present Toyo's took minimum weight also but I think Michelin's are the most perfect tire to balance if you want to pony up the extra $'s for them, It was a long decision for me to go with the Toyo's vs: Michelin but on a dually the Michelin's were going to be another $300 in my size

 

[seafish]

Seafish, I never had hardly any weight on any michelins I owned either, my present Toyo's took minimum weight also but I think Michelin's are the most perfect tire to balance if you want to pony up the extra $'s for them, It was a long decision for me to go with the Toyo's vs: Michelin but on a dually the Michelin's were going to be another $300 in my size

LBartlett, I have read on other threads that the Toyos also balance well and ride quietly. In fact, the Toyo Open Country AT or HT might be my next set, only cause I am barely getting 20 k miles out of the AT2's... I am hoping to get more out of the Toyos, but there is not much agreeance on whether the Toyos or Michelins will last longer. Probably it has more to do with truck weight and use as well as roads and drving style. Still, I am alsways curious... how many miles did you get out of which Toyos (size also). TIA

 

[LBARTLETT]

235/85r/16 E Open Country AT Tuff Duty, getting45k out of them rotating religiously, my truck's an 01 they say the best mileage is the M55 but I've never had them

 

[seafish]

235/85r/16 E Open Country AT Tuff Duty, getting45k out of them rotating religiously, my truck's an 01 they say the best mileage is the M55 but I've never had them

Thanks for the info--How are the OC/AT on the highway--I do like a quiet ride, but I might be willing to accept some noise for 45k miles on a set of tires!! Do you tow heavy at all with the AT's??

 

[steved]

Another tire to consider is the Pirelli STRa. I have put at least 50k on my set, and still have half tread left. They ride nice, no noise, handle weight well... they are equal to the Michellin AS that I had on my 2nd gen.



I have had them since around 75k, but I swap winter tires on... I have 190k on the truck. These were the replacements for my out of round BFG ATs.

 

[LBARTLETT]

Seafish, I can't hear my tires with my turbo, you might consider the HT which is M+S rated, I towee hay last week weighing 34,100 lbs total, I also pull a large 4-horse living quarter trailer alot, I've never weighed it loaded but I'm sure it's pretty heavy



for hauling I'd put the toyo's right behind the michelins but be sure to get E rated

 

[kscheffler]

I sure love the Michelin's that came OEM on my truck - put TOYO M-55 285, load range E on the rear - been pretty disappointed with them for snow traction and wear - sure wish I could get the Michelins in a 285 E rating for the rear...

Gary how many miles do you have on your M-55's. I have 255/85/16 with 34k miles and should get to 45 or maybe 50 before they are toast. I have been very happy with my tires is snow. I do not tow heavy however and I can definetely see how the 55's would wear faster with tow weight, as would all tires. Like I said I have been happy with my tires I am just curious how long they will last...

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

Gary how many miles do you have on your M-55's. I have 255/85/16 with 34k miles and should get to 45 or maybe 50 before they are toast. I have been very happy with my tires is snow. I do not tow heavy however and I can definetely see how the 55's would wear faster with tow weight, as would all tires. Like I said I have been happy with my tires I am just curious how long they will last...

Sorta hard to precisely estimate "wear" on the M55's - they have a raised band down the center of the inner 2 rows of tread, and at about 20K miles, those inner rows are worn to that band - leaving a broad, smooth treadless area of NO value in snow! The outer rows have considerable tread left - but not sure how many more mile before that center area gets down to the danger point...