well, i got a flat on saturday night..... so im riding around on that ugly ole steel spare. but, i went to get the tire patched today and they told me that it couldnt be fixed, so tomorrow i have to go in and get new tires. they said it looked like someone slashed the tire. (i know this did not happen because the truck was in my garage, and wasnt flat till morning) so, it must have been a slow leak, thats why i dont understand why they cant patch it. but, i dont mind too much becasue the rears were pretty much shot anyway. so, tomorrow i am getting the new Goodyear Eagle GTII V speed rated 275/45-20. these came on the 02 HD. they look a little diffrent so it might look goofy... but i will get the fronts when they wear out. I was thinking about putting the new tires on the front and the old fronts on the rear. mainly because i have a shake in the front end at about 65-70 that i cant get rid of.... it is driving me nuts. i have had the fronts balanced twice and it doesnt help. I was thinking about getting an alignment, i dont think that is it, but it cant hurt. the guy that balanced my front rims today told me that the front right was slightly bent, but he was able to "zero" it out. but it is still shakeing. i think if i dont get it resolved tomorrow i will take it to the dealer. you guys have any suggestions? Oh, by the way... the new GTIIs are gonna cost me around 160ea. they have them listed for 200 but said they would match tireracks shipped price, which is about 160. said it would be 10ea to mount and balance. any suggestions on the shake, or anything else, let me know. thanks for the help.

-steve

 

You'd be suprised what a good ole alignment can do. The tire is balanced on the machine, not on the truck. If the wheel was properly balanced, then it sounds like you are in need of an alignment (I think Sears might check it for free, but I could be wrong).

Really, not enough info provided to make a good educated guess. Does it happen above 70? Are you accelerating, coasting or braking at the 65-70? Is it 65-70 mph or at a certain RPM, which is could be coincidentally at 65-70mph? Do you feel it in the steering wheel?

 

Forgot to mention...all the local Ford dealers say that tire is on national backorder until mid-Sept. ( I had treads falling off one of mine the day after we bought the truck.) Make sure they have it in stock or can get it mucho speedo. I ordered mine from Tirerack and got them in about a week.

 

I got the tires put on at tire kingdom today. they had the tires at the location!!!! they didnt even have to order them. They also matched Tireracks prices, includeing shipping. so i paid about 163.00ea. then 10ea to balance them. They said they could not ballance the front tires perfectly because one of the rims is slightly bent???? so they put the new tires on the front and moved the fronts to the back. that took care of all the vibration. (it was mostly in the steering wheel, and was related to speed not RPM, so it wasnt exhaust resonance) I am very pleased with the service of this tire kingdom. i have been to another and they sucked. but this one is very knowlegable and happy to match prices and really serve thier customers. and thay had all the #1 plaques to show for it. I was also wondering what Pressure you guys are running. i had about 40 in my old tires, but they wore unevenly..... worse in the middle. so i know i need to lower the pressure to get even contact, but i dont know how much. I also like the looks of the new GTII better than the old ones. It looks a little strange with 2 diffrent tires on the truck, but not too noticeable. thanks for all your help.

-steve

 

I'm running 40-42 psi, and the wear on mine is fine. I'll probably get 40K miles out of this set so like 2 more years. I'm not looking forward to getting new tires, because don't they need a certain machine to change the 20's without touching the rim so they don't damage it??? Wasn't it like the hunter 7700 or something like that???

ALso, i like the looks of the new tire sidewalls, but all those ridges will be a PITA to get tire shine into

 

you just need a machine that is used for rims and not steel wheels. the one tire kingdom had was the hunter 7700.... most places have them. so you should have a problem. i still dont know what pressure to run. and if you run 40-42 your tires will be worn worse in the middle. you probably just cant tell because you have alot of tread left. i could have gotten some more miles out of my rears if they wore evenly. because i had a little tred left at the edges but in the middle it was past the treadwear indicator. i think i might try like 35-38 im not sure though..... ill hav to play around with it. i havent had the chance yet.

-steve

 

How many miles did your tires have on them? Mine have 20K now and they look fine and even tread. I run 40-42 psi, and rotate them every 10K miles. I'll get around 40K miles out of them, so another 2 years. Did you rotate?? Thanks

 

i have about 20,000 as well, but i did not rotate. i was very hard on these tires. but i dont think any of that would affect how evenly they wear. but, mine were slightly uneven. Less tread in the middle at 40PSI (when the middle has less tread it is because there is too much pressure, and the tire is bulging) if this is happening though it means you are getting less grip, and you should run less pressure. most of that doesnt matter on the street on street tires. but i figure that it couldnt hurt. i never noticed the uneven ness till the middle of the tire was at the treadwear marker and the edges still had a little ways to go. I also kinda want to change my pressure because the truck it too harsh over bumps... i didnt mind it for a while but im getting kinda sick of it. if you like thae way your truck rides and feels at 40PSI i wouldnt bother changin it. because the wear diffrence wont be very noticeable, and may not even happen for you, since you rotate and dont beat the crap out of your tires like me.

 

LoL, no i baby my truck most of the time . Anyway, i pulled the rims today to get it ready for the show, and repaint the calipers a glossier silver, and measured teh tread. It is SLIGHTLY less in teh middle than the outter edges. But its so little i'm not even going to worry about it. I'll probably just drop down 1 or 2 psi.

Maybe on this set of tires you will rotate so you can get longer out of them LoL

 

yea, its not a big diffrence, but it will make a diffrence. i would just lower it a bit. i will still run mine about 35. probably about 38. good luck with the show. and the exhaust tip looks great.

-steve

 

Thanks steve. I'll post pics of the show when i get back. I gotta leave in like 10 minutes for it. ANyway, i probably will start running like 38-40. Thanks