Well, been putting it off ..... and today decided it was time. My '07 FX4's OEM Pirelli Scorpion ATRs had 51,xxx miles now (3 did, one was replaced when truck was a few months old) and the three were down to 3/32nds in places, almost to wear bars. The 4th one is some better, it was on LR, I'll keep it as a "back up" for temp use should a need arise.

It was mid 80s and very humid today .... I backed the '07 into the lower carport about 1:30 PM and got it set on 4 stands and wheels marked for location and off. Already sweating. I should have done this another day.

I loaded the 4 wheels into my '77 along with the other 4 very near new Pirelli Scorpion ATRs I purchased from a forum member a few years ago, he took them off his near new truck. $200 plus shipping. He had marked them for location, I checked by tread wear pattern to make sure of markings. I checked tread depth, the tires all 4 have 11/32nds, the two he had on front were wore maybe an extra half 32nd or less on the shoulders so I decided to put them to rear but to keep rights on right & lefts on left, etc. They only come with 12/32nds when new so I figure he had 3-4K on them at most .... and no spinning.

I then hauled them all to a buddy's shop sipping a bottled green tea out the fridge, he was out on a wrecker call and the shop closed up tight. Just as well, his shop is some hot and crowded near the tire machine and balancer.

I then drove to another buddy's shop, found it was a slow day and he had an open bay and didn't mind the company. The tire machine is also near the two bay doors so some breeze. These 275/55R20 tires are heavier and take up more room than anything else I have, 8 were a crowd in the bay.

I swapped the tires on the rims, got them all 4 balanced, new valves installed. Damn ..... was my shirt ever wet from sweat! Loaded up all 8 again in the '77. Come home guzzling a large iced tea from Hardees, 14 miles, ran through rain shower (that felt good) , and got home to unload and put my new shoes on the '07 ..... but first I got out a soft brush and Simple Green and the hose and washed them all over. Install the "new" rubber, remove jack stands, get out my torque wrench and do the deed.

Look like new tires now! Got done in time for supper, took a shower first though ..... been thirsty all evening for some reason.

The truck even looks "newer" with the extra rubber in view. I set all 4 at 40 psi ..... I'll check them all tomorrow evening again. My TPMSensors still work. Surprised how little weight there was on the wheels or how little I put back on to balance them. The "new" left front balanced with just 1.0 oz on outside and no weights on inside. Amazing.

Anyway ..... I have been putting this job off long enough as I knew it would not be fun, but now it's "done". I normally take my time and enjoy doing my own tire swaps but I tell you, these 275/55R20 's are no fun. Maybe age and my picking a wrong day didn't help. But now it's "done", and both my '92 and '95 T-birds and the Merc GM have near new Goodyears and the wife's Forrester has Bridgestones that are still well over half left and my '77 is unlikely to need tires for years and the Mustang got new shoes last year so all have good shoes ...... I'm going to bed.

 

Good read! Now I want an iced tea. Also, great deal for practically brand new set of tires.

Sounds like your wheels are in great shape and that's why they don't take much weight. My last set of oem wheels were a little out of round somehow and took a lot of weight.

 

A new set of tires for cheap! Good deal all around!

 

Man I've got to befriend someone in a tire shop. Good job on the new tires!

 

They are alloys so they are straight as a straight arrow. Those that took all the weight, were they steel wheels maybe?
.
Thanks .... I must have partially dehydrated myself? I even woke up thirsty ....

In all seriousness ..... I should really have drank a couple glasses of water while sweating like that. I'm usually very tolerant of heat but it was very humid and little moving air in that shop and at near 62 (not old, but a good time in life to start thinking smarter), I probably should have taken in some water. Had I realized before getting all the wheels off the truck how it was gonna be, I'ld have waited and done it in a late evening or early morning ..... not the heat of the day.

Yeah, they were a "great buy".

Thing is he hadn't even advertised them. He just made a comment in a post about new OR tires for desert riding with his truck which was near new, so I sent him a PM asking about the take offs and we PM-ed back and forth a couple times. He suggested $200 and shipping, he said he worked at UPS Kansas City, we agreed and then there was the "trust thing" as he put it, he uggested I send him $200 and he'd send the tires and then I could send the shipping which by then he'd already computed by weight at his work.

I said OK and then ..... just sent the whole amount at once the next day .... and apparently he did same thing because the tires were here in two days .... so he did not wait for any money.

I lost my notes or messages with his name & screen name.

 

I was going to say why would you go back to the OEM tire, but not that's a bad thing. They are a comfortable road tire. But that's an awesome deal. I enjoy purchases like that. Overtime me and Fine_style150 had developed that trust between us. He's hooked me up and I've done what I could for him also, great business fellow. I recalled awhile ago when I got my painted emblems that I shipped my old emblems to a person 2 days before he even made payment. He was delighted to get them so quickly and I guess I didn't care too much about losing out if the event happened, but it did not and he was very honorable.

 

I must say, except for the last few months when the tread was near gone (well, still good, just "nearer worn" out than "new") I have been pretty happy with the OEM Pirellis. They do ride and drive fine and they look much better in the fender openings after that 2" drop (maybe nearer 2.25" in front) than they did when the truck was stock height (I thought they looked "whimpy" then .... ). When they wear down the ride does fall off some as the shorter stiffer tread rubber transmits more road noise and vibrations.


If I had bought new tires I likely would have looked at Goodyear Wranglers All-Terrain Adventure wKevlar or BF Goodrich All-Terrain A/T KO2 ..... and I would still have considered the Pirelli Scorpion ATRs ..... but even paying shipping, I'm in for well under half the $$$ as it stands.

Now .....I'll keep my eyes open and someday maybe score the next set?

 

Generally, you get a little better mpg with the OEM tires opposed to replacements. They are lighter. On my 2011, when I replaced the OEM Michelins with Toyo H/Ts, I lost about 1.2 mpg. Each tire was about 9 lbs heavier even though they were the same size.

 

Yes, lighter tires of same diameter are easier to get rolling, to stop, and easier to steer and easier for shocks to control on not smooth surfaces .... and after reading your reply, I looked at weights this morning ... 'cause I thought "no way" on the 9 pounds in same sizes (though I knew there was likely a few lpounds differences) ..... but .....

The B F Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 came in at 54 lbs each
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

The Goodyear Wrangler All-Terrain Adventure with Kevlar comes in at only 41 pounds each?
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

The Pirelli Scorpion ATR however at 43 lbs.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

I had not looked at the weights of these tires all in same size. I expected the three to be close, but the B F Goodrich is way heavier! The BFG will allow up to 65 psi and carries a higher load rating as a result.

Anyway, drove her to Lynchburg and back yesterday across the mountain, surprised at how much better the truck drives.

As some may recall, back in 2011 when truck had just 37,xxx miles I lowered it and then followed with my "at home front end alignment" job using level flat floor and levels and jigs and some math. After that the truck drove better than when I got it at 24,xxx in 2009, but last year (2014) a slight wander or "hunt" had developed. .... and so I had rechecked alignment last November at 48,xxx miles. That check revealed purt near zero toe so I reset toe to 0.209 degrees (that's 7/64" at 30") and that did cure most all of it and what was left wasn't bad so I had attributed it to the tires wearing thin (in my judgment).

Well, that "hunt" is totally GONE now.

 

I remember you telling me about these tires couple yrs ago through PM when I was looking for winter tires for my OEM 20's .

Glad you finally got them installed and there working for you.. And you got a better deal on them that I got for mine.

 

Back in my first post of this thread, I wrote :
Well, since then we have taken the truck on several drives. Apparently it was more "amazing" than I realized, even more than possible?

On back roads, it was good, on old highways with dips, etc .... 55mph like, it was OK. On really smooth highways that should have been smooth, there was a cyclical shake in the steering wheel telling me that at least one wasn't balanced so well. Worse at 65, worse at 70, etc. I suspected that tire that was on LF with just one 1.0 oz wgt. but then, if it was cyclical ..... that meant something was cancelling it out ..... like another unbalanced tire on RF?

I rotated the tires front to rear, steering wheel was smoother on next drive but there was still a slight shake. It was a long drive, most of it on slower roads so it was tolerable. Still, if just one, why was I feeling a slight shake in wheel still? Maybe it was just shaking the whole truck slightly ?

So .... today I was off and since it's been bothering me ..... I drove the truck to the "other garage" where I first went that hot day but where my buddy Larry was out on a wrecker call then. ( Not Rick's where I installed the tires back in open post as he was closed up until Monday .... and I wanted to try a different balancer). Today, Larry was putting a fuel pump with sending unit in a Chevy PU whose owner brought it in to him "full". The pump wasn't bad, the level sending unit was and I guess they were afraid they'd run out?

Well, one by one I pulled the wheels off my Ford and checked each with his electronic balancer, first just like they were, then with no weights so I could rebalance them ..... I got totally different results than at my other buddy's station back when I mounted these tires.

Not much weight, just different amounts and in different places! Did all 4 one at a time, used two jacks and rotated my tires back like I originally intended them, stopping to help my buddy take down and later, put back the gas tank on that Chevy ..... though we pumped 20+ gallons of gas out once it was on the floor.

I torqued my nuts and slipped my caps back in place as my buddy pumped his customer's gas back into his PU, we talked a spell about how we should buy a bunch of Army of No. Va. Battle Flags and go sell them at Daytona ..... enjoyed some cold tea, etc., talk parts and wrecker calls, etc. ..... then when near time for supper, I headed home. About 14 miles, I decided to hit I-81 and see how smooth they were .... or were not .... at 70 or more?

This time ..... this time, they were "Glass Smooth".

Now I need to tell my other buddy at the first shop that his balancer is out of calibration ..... bad. Monday I'll call him.

 

Good read, glad to hear you got it figured out and everything is smooth!

 

Guys forgive me for coming in COMPLETELY off topic but....

I'm trying to find the member on here that has the Molon Labe signature (the one with the Consitution, Ben Franklin glasses on it), but can't remember their sn to look them up--anyone know who I'm talking about?

Like I said before, apologies about being out in left field....

 

I've seen it ..... and now ...... next time I see it, maybe I'll remember to come here.

 

Just updating my thread .....

10-03-15 , having put four near new P275/55-20 tires

10-04-15, we took the truck to Harrisonburg

10-05-15, after work,

Will follow up next drive anywhere.

Follow up is today, 10-09-15 I met a buddy and we road together to the range ..... with some Interstate .... and at higher speeds, she still had some vibes there. Never was sure I was on the right path chasing that thrown wheel weight so I pulled all 4 ..... one at a time ..... and rebalanced each taking extra time to make sure everything was set right and then doing a second spin in a different position on the balancer after reaching 0.00 in each window.

Three of them were very close .... I knew because I had the marking where I had pulled the weights. The one which threw a weight .... I wasn't even close to the right spot when I was thinking it was missing a weight. It was apparently missing one, but my guess based on a clean spot was still 90 degrees off.

But I got it now .........