New Member & H/3 Tire question?
#11
I have to weigh in here...and only speak from my own 1st hand experience. I'm sure that there are those who will chime in and say that I'm completely wrong, but its their nickel.
The negatives: It is A LOT of rubber for the H3. with a 3" Truxxx leveling kit (the necessity of which is a debate for another thread), the tires still rub against the sway bar at full turn...this is annoying and increases minimum radius of your steering. the shift points change and it always (often) seems as if the engine is prematurely downshifting...just my opinion. Yes, you can get the chip re-programed by PCM For Less, but I didn't. (For all of you who are going to jump on me about the size of the tire not affecting the cv's & rack....I KNOW) but theory and reality are two very different things.
GO WITH THE MTZ's in 285 and sleep well knowing that you've got great, aggressive tires that arent going to bite you in the *** down the road through wear-n-tear on your cv's / steering/ sway bars, etc. --- It's just my experience ---
The negatives: It is A LOT of rubber for the H3. with a 3" Truxxx leveling kit (the necessity of which is a debate for another thread), the tires still rub against the sway bar at full turn...this is annoying and increases minimum radius of your steering. the shift points change and it always (often) seems as if the engine is prematurely downshifting...just my opinion. Yes, you can get the chip re-programed by PCM For Less, but I didn't. (For all of you who are going to jump on me about the size of the tire not affecting the cv's & rack....I KNOW) but theory and reality are two very different things.
GO WITH THE MTZ's in 285 and sleep well knowing that you've got great, aggressive tires that arent going to bite you in the *** down the road through wear-n-tear on your cv's / steering/ sway bars, etc. --- It's just my experience ---
You stated a 3" truxx leveling kit? Leads me to believe your problem was created by raising the front too high. Virtually every 3 I have seen with CV joint and steering rack trouble was caused by over-lifting the front. I haven't seen your truck so this is only a guess and not meant as a criticsm. I do have to ask, what was the measurement from the center of your hub to the fender well up front?
Many of those "leveling kits" had instructions stating 24.5" was the max, and at that level, you're asking for trouble.
#12
I went with Mickey Thompson MTZs in the 305 size, still 33", but an inch wider than the 285s.
I have burned through many sets of BFGs All Terrain T/As on prior trucks, while they are a better street tire than the MTZ (just barely) they suck wind in every other catagory. BFG are also no longer an American company! Mickey Thompsons are made in OH.
What really made me switch, the BFGs are the same old tread and tech design I had on my trucks in the early 80s! I thought they were great then, but no I know better.
I have burned through many sets of BFGs All Terrain T/As on prior trucks, while they are a better street tire than the MTZ (just barely) they suck wind in every other catagory. BFG are also no longer an American company! Mickey Thompsons are made in OH.
What really made me switch, the BFGs are the same old tread and tech design I had on my trucks in the early 80s! I thought they were great then, but no I know better.
Doc, this might be a stupid question, but you said the 305's are 33" but the 285's are too, right? I figured if the 285's were 33" and the 315's were 35", the 305's would be somewhere in between?
#14
and the 305 has a tread width of 9.8", this is the same width as the 315, but the 315s are 34.5" (almost every brand of 315s are actually 34.5 or 34.6").
The MTZs do look good!
#15
#16
Thanks for the responses. I missed that Doc's were 305 - "70" - 16 first of all so that was my first problem. Secondly, I always knew about the ratio from a guy that worked on my first car, but for some reason I kept thinking 305 was the mil of the sidewall which makes no sense since that would mean the width was thinner than the height was tall. What was that I said about a stupid question???
#19
For what it's worth I have 315-75/16 Goodyear MTR's with Kevlar and I love them. I went on a trip from NY to Sedona to Moab to Breckenridge and back. No problems at all, they are quiet and tough as nails. I ran all the trails in Sedona, Elephant hill in Moab, and I ran Wheeler Lake and a few other trails in Colorado. If you don't want the larger size get them in the 285 size. They are really good tires and seem to be quite an improvement over the old MTR design, which I had on my Grand Cherokee. The big problem with the steering is so many people insist on turning the wheels without moving the car. Just a little forward or backward movement tremendously reduces the effort on the steering linkage and rack. If you're good to your truck it will be good to you! I put about 6500 miles on these tires (they are on spare wheels) and have since switched back to the factory wheels to save a little on gas and get better acceleration. Next wheeleing trip the MTR's will be back on.
Here is a link to some pics if it helps:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rhoffroader/OFFROAD2009#
Here is a link to some pics if it helps:
http://picasaweb.google.com/rhoffroader/OFFROAD2009#
Last edited by oruna1; 10-10-2009 at 03:45 PM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
samiparts
PRIVATE For Sale / Trade Classifieds
15
08-23-2016 01:10 PM
stophummertime
PRIVATE For Sale / Trade Classifieds
0
07-27-2015 09:10 PM
ArmandoRodz
PRIVATE For Sale / Trade Classifieds
0
11-04-2010 09:26 AM
IN2deep
PRIVATE For Sale / Trade Classifieds
0
10-15-2007 09:23 PM