Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
After spending tons of cash and time on replacing and upgrading everything under my frontend, and then having a meticulous 4-wheel alignment performed by my friend on his state-of-the-art Hunter alignment machine, I still had a noticeable vibration coming from one of my driver side wheels that I chalked up to needing a rebalance. It was only at 70 mph or so (my cruising speed) so I just drove 65 and put it off until finances were better.
My sons took my truck to the parts store yesterday, and while they had it, they found and 'fixed' the problem.
At 70 mph on the interstate during heavy 5pm traffic, the left front BFG Mud Terrain vaporized with my 16 year old at the wheel and his 14 year old brother riding shotgun. I mean nothing but shreds of steel and rubber left!
The boy was quick, calm, and steady and made it safely to the shoulder -- and even had the good sense to drive as far as practical into the grass to get away from that damnedably deadly traffic whizzing by. Then he called me.
I gathered up the floor jack and a jack stand, 4-way, 7/8 socket and breaker bar, and my Metrinch tool set (just habit; I had no reason to expect I would need the sockets and wrenches).
My spare tire was sitting in the old chicken coop where I had put it after removing it from under the bed last winter to change rear shocks and do some wiring. Flat, of course.
I aired it up and felt the air come hissing right back at me where all the years of crud spray under the truck had compromised and rusted the rim bead. Useless junk. Now what? I have 5 other 8 lug wheels on my other truck that currently has the front axle removed. Trouble is, they have 37 inch tires on them and there is NO way they will fit the Dodge wheel wells.
Then there's the motorhome with 8-lug wheels -- but they are duallies. Fail again...
Then I spied my mom's 98 Dodge 1-ton van parked in the side yard since she left for Australia last winter. Oh Yeah!! Dinky doinky tires, but the rims ARE 8-lug and the spare on the back door holds air!! Yippy!! Oo.
Uh, oh... I removed the spare's cover to check it and found she had a key lock holding it on and the set of keys she left with me did not include that key... (Sorry Mom) but I really need that tire and rim, so I got a crowbar and hammer and persuaded it to see things my way.
I load all the stuff into that van and it even started after sitting for long. Off I go to rescue my sons and truck...
It wasn't very far down the road that I notice the volt gauge is sitting on 10 volts and maybe even dropping. Too bad; so sad. One mission and problem at a time.
I found my boys and we quickly got the tire changed. It was like putting on a space-saver donut, but it was round, held air, and rolled. I popped the van's hood and, sure enough, watched the serpentine belt glide effortlessly around the alternator pulley without turning it a bit.
So we caravanned our pair of crippled dodges to the nearest Auto Zone where I spent $150 on a new alternator for the van and used my Metrinch set to change it in the parking lot. Ah, nothing like a very hot engine on a very hot day in a very hot asphalt parking lot to work on... .
The '73 Camaro alternator the boys had originally gone after cost $45 with a lifetime warranty (and people wonder why I prefer old vehicles!).
The tiny van tire looked weird, drove weird, and was definitely ugly, but it got me home.
... and the shake and vibration was completely gone.
That expensive BFG with 1/2 the tread still left and precisely 60 psi cold in it was replaced today by a used 285/75R16 no-name tire I bought and had mounted for a total of $25 in a tiny nearby town.
I have NO desire, or means, to buy new tires right now, and I certainly have had enough of 8-ply tires -- no matter who makes them. That blowout could have been disastrous and it was caused by internal cord separation. My vibraation was the tire slowly failing; not just a lost wheel weight.
When it disintegrated, it also blew the valve stem out the rim -- a new one on me -- and I have been party to a hundred blowouts and flats over my driving career.
I argued hard with the tire guy that originally mounted them about the need for steel or brass valve stems on a high pressure, heavy load pickup tire and wheel. he insisted the rubber valve stems were 'more than good enough' and that he didn't have any metal stems. I'm going to find and install some metal stems now anyway. I do not trust rubber valave stems on 65 psi tires on an offroad truck. At all.
I can only hope and pray that I get some things sold around here so I can afford a set of those Vision 81 heavy hauler 19. 5 wheels and a set of H-rated 19. 5 tires before winter. And that the current, and now mismatched, tires last long enough.
I'm DONE spending good money on 8 or even 10 ply light truck tires for this diesel. They are a JOKE! It eats them like candy. I would prefer steel Ricksons, made in USA, but they are far too pricey for my bank account, so I will swallow my American pride and buy the ONLY alternative: the Visions.
WHY,with all the hundreds of wheels out there, are there NO other 8-lug 19. 5 super singles available?!! EVERYBODY that I know of that has switched to 19. 5's LOVES them and would never go back to 16 or 17 inch LT tires. So much so that you can never find any used ones for sale. When will the wheel manufacturers and dealers figure this no-brainer out?
Anyway, my shimmy was gone for awhile. Unfortunately, the tiny repair shop that sold and mounted the new used tire did not have a spin balancer. So the guy tossd some packet in the tire as he mounted it. Alarmed, I asked what it was?
Apparently, it was a paper pouch of lead shot that is supposed to balance the tire through centrifigul force like centramatics do. After just a few miles, he said, the pouch would break open and the lead shot would find its way to wherever it was needed.
It actually worked up to about 55 or 60 mph, but at 65 to 70 mph, I am back to having a mild left front tire shake. So I'll need to get the new used tire dismounted, the lead shot removed, and then have it spin balanced. The jury is in: lead shot inside the tire does NOT work.
My sons took my truck to the parts store yesterday, and while they had it, they found and 'fixed' the problem.
At 70 mph on the interstate during heavy 5pm traffic, the left front BFG Mud Terrain vaporized with my 16 year old at the wheel and his 14 year old brother riding shotgun. I mean nothing but shreds of steel and rubber left!
The boy was quick, calm, and steady and made it safely to the shoulder -- and even had the good sense to drive as far as practical into the grass to get away from that damnedably deadly traffic whizzing by. Then he called me.
I gathered up the floor jack and a jack stand, 4-way, 7/8 socket and breaker bar, and my Metrinch tool set (just habit; I had no reason to expect I would need the sockets and wrenches).
My spare tire was sitting in the old chicken coop where I had put it after removing it from under the bed last winter to change rear shocks and do some wiring. Flat, of course.
I aired it up and felt the air come hissing right back at me where all the years of crud spray under the truck had compromised and rusted the rim bead. Useless junk. Now what? I have 5 other 8 lug wheels on my other truck that currently has the front axle removed. Trouble is, they have 37 inch tires on them and there is NO way they will fit the Dodge wheel wells.
Then there's the motorhome with 8-lug wheels -- but they are duallies. Fail again...
Then I spied my mom's 98 Dodge 1-ton van parked in the side yard since she left for Australia last winter. Oh Yeah!! Dinky doinky tires, but the rims ARE 8-lug and the spare on the back door holds air!! Yippy!! Oo.
Uh, oh... I removed the spare's cover to check it and found she had a key lock holding it on and the set of keys she left with me did not include that key... (Sorry Mom) but I really need that tire and rim, so I got a crowbar and hammer and persuaded it to see things my way.
I load all the stuff into that van and it even started after sitting for long. Off I go to rescue my sons and truck...
It wasn't very far down the road that I notice the volt gauge is sitting on 10 volts and maybe even dropping. Too bad; so sad. One mission and problem at a time.
I found my boys and we quickly got the tire changed. It was like putting on a space-saver donut, but it was round, held air, and rolled. I popped the van's hood and, sure enough, watched the serpentine belt glide effortlessly around the alternator pulley without turning it a bit.
So we caravanned our pair of crippled dodges to the nearest Auto Zone where I spent $150 on a new alternator for the van and used my Metrinch set to change it in the parking lot. Ah, nothing like a very hot engine on a very hot day in a very hot asphalt parking lot to work on... .
The '73 Camaro alternator the boys had originally gone after cost $45 with a lifetime warranty (and people wonder why I prefer old vehicles!).
The tiny van tire looked weird, drove weird, and was definitely ugly, but it got me home.
... and the shake and vibration was completely gone.
That expensive BFG with 1/2 the tread still left and precisely 60 psi cold in it was replaced today by a used 285/75R16 no-name tire I bought and had mounted for a total of $25 in a tiny nearby town.
I have NO desire, or means, to buy new tires right now, and I certainly have had enough of 8-ply tires -- no matter who makes them. That blowout could have been disastrous and it was caused by internal cord separation. My vibraation was the tire slowly failing; not just a lost wheel weight.
When it disintegrated, it also blew the valve stem out the rim -- a new one on me -- and I have been party to a hundred blowouts and flats over my driving career.
I argued hard with the tire guy that originally mounted them about the need for steel or brass valve stems on a high pressure, heavy load pickup tire and wheel. he insisted the rubber valve stems were 'more than good enough' and that he didn't have any metal stems. I'm going to find and install some metal stems now anyway. I do not trust rubber valave stems on 65 psi tires on an offroad truck. At all.
I can only hope and pray that I get some things sold around here so I can afford a set of those Vision 81 heavy hauler 19. 5 wheels and a set of H-rated 19. 5 tires before winter. And that the current, and now mismatched, tires last long enough.
I'm DONE spending good money on 8 or even 10 ply light truck tires for this diesel. They are a JOKE! It eats them like candy. I would prefer steel Ricksons, made in USA, but they are far too pricey for my bank account, so I will swallow my American pride and buy the ONLY alternative: the Visions.
WHY,with all the hundreds of wheels out there, are there NO other 8-lug 19. 5 super singles available?!! EVERYBODY that I know of that has switched to 19. 5's LOVES them and would never go back to 16 or 17 inch LT tires. So much so that you can never find any used ones for sale. When will the wheel manufacturers and dealers figure this no-brainer out?
Anyway, my shimmy was gone for awhile. Unfortunately, the tiny repair shop that sold and mounted the new used tire did not have a spin balancer. So the guy tossd some packet in the tire as he mounted it. Alarmed, I asked what it was?
Apparently, it was a paper pouch of lead shot that is supposed to balance the tire through centrifigul force like centramatics do. After just a few miles, he said, the pouch would break open and the lead shot would find its way to wherever it was needed.
It actually worked up to about 55 or 60 mph, but at 65 to 70 mph, I am back to having a mild left front tire shake. So I'll need to get the new used tire dismounted, the lead shot removed, and then have it spin balanced. The jury is in: lead shot inside the tire does NOT work.
