Hi guys. My name is Hutch out of Oklahoma City and this is my first post but I have been sand bagging for several days now and I just wanted to thank everyone for all the great info.

I found the site and this message board while trying to determine what the largest tires that I could squeeze under the 2001 4x4 Scerw that I bought in September. It came with some really used up 265/70 17 street tires and I have been wanting to get some new shoes on it ever since I bought the thing.

After much deliberation and reading of this message board I decided that I am going with the new Goodyear MT/R in the 305/70R17 (34" in height)

I done a lot of research on this tire on a lot of off roading websites and from everthing I have been able to find they are almost bulletproof. The /R means reinforced sidewalls.

One review that I read on them the guy ran the Rubicon Trail whenever Goodyear first introduced the MT/R on a goodyear sponsered trail run. They were not his tires and they had spares with them and he actually tried tearing the darn things up and couldn't manage to really even damage them due to the new silica based side walls. They had a really nice rectanglar contact patch when aired down to 10PSI and got awesome traction. I didn't just base my decision on this one reveiw but several and I kept hear the same good things.

Below is a pic of the truck with the street shoes on it. I am going to get the tires this afternoon and will post pics with the new tires in the next couple of days.

Again, thanks for all the help. The info I have found on the tires, torsion bars adjustment, superchip mods and jsut a whole lot more. You guys are a great bunch and I am sure you will be hearing more from me.

Thanks

Hutch

The screw

 

Well here is a pic of the new tires. The light was really bright so the contrast stinks but a least you can get an ideal. I will Try to get a better set of pics this evening. They are 305/70/17's

Hutch

CLICK HERE TO SEE SEVERAL PICS OF THE NEW TIRES

 

I have the 285/70/17s because the suggested maximum rim width for the 305s was 8" and the stock 17" wheels are only 7.5".

So far I love my MT/Rs and when these need replacing may get the 305/70/17s.

My questions are...
do they rub?
do they fit on the wheel with no problems?
does it really suck with the 3.55 gears with the 34" tires?

By the way nice looking truck, looks like I have a brother now!

 

Here is a comparison is size.

My 285/70/17


Your 305/70/17


Dosen't look like much clearance but if the tire compresses strait up it shouldn't matter.

 

There was absolutley no clearance problems in front - The torsion bars had already been tweaked up (or at least it was already level when I got it)

On the rear tire there was slight rubbing on the little plastic fender flare at the rear of the tire if you got the suspension twisted up pretty good. For some reason these plastic fender flares hooked in toward the tire at the back of there

I took a flex shaft dremel tool with a cut off wheel and drew a straight line that followed the original line of the inside of the flare and just basically removed the offending part of the flare that hooked toward the wheel. This was done in a very controlled manner and followed the lines of the flare so unless you knew that the flare originally had that hook piece you would never miss it or notice that it wasnt there.

Now there is a good two inches clearance between the tire and that flare.

By the way I took it down to the river yesterday evening and put the new tires through thier paces. All I can say is awesom!

Have a good one - nice to know I have a brother out there.

Thanks

Hutch

 

I have some ?'s though...

How loud are they on the road?

How much were they?

How is the traction?

Oh yeah.. How's the power difference? DCovell, I'd like to hear from you also since you actually have the 285's and those are what I am looking at getting...

 

GREAT traction, even on a wet road. The noise is thier but really not that bad for the aggresive tread on them. With the windows up you barley notice a hum and soft classical music would drown it out.

I paid about $180 each at tirerack.com, the 305s are about $5 more each. I bought 5 of them (spare) so next time I only need to buy 4.

As far as power diffrence goes, it is definatly noticable, but I can still step on it and haul a........

The main problem is the computer can't conpensate for the shifting without a change in the computer. So the shifting is the main problem, it tends to be in too high of a gear most of the time and you have to press on the gas a bit more to downshift. Easily fixed with a reburn of your chip or if you don't have one, a superchip or power programer or something like that.

I have not reburned my chip yet as it hasn't been in since the gas prices sky rocketed. That and I am still pondering the 4.10 gears, the chip re-burn is $100.

These tires are load range D. I have driven though and over brush, and even bushes. Not much more than some small scratches on the sides of the tires. Plus if you love the sand you can't beat these tires!

If you buy them locally your going to pay around $200-$220 each plus tax, so tirerack will be cheaper even with the $90 shipping and handeling because of the difference plus tax. Although WalMart has a good price on them, yes WalMart...

 

dcovell,

Looks great. What rear end do you have now?

Mike

 

They are not loud at all considering the tread pattern. You can hear a buzz at highway speed but not anoying nor loud. That is one reason I chose them over the SuperSwampers and other "luggy" tires on the market.

I paid $251 each installed. You can get them for $185 each + $100 appx shipping at www.tirerack.com Then you also have to pay to have them mounted and balanced which is not cheap for tires of this size. Plus I jsut wanted them NOW! and I get free balancing and rotating for the life of the tire by getting them local.

The traction is awesome. I took them to the river yesterday and ran some steep hills and busted a few good mud pits. I didn't find but one place that I really felt I needed to shift to 4 wheel drive. I am very happy with them so far but it's still early in the game. They say that they get louder as the tread wears down.

There was a noticable power loss that was to be expected but it will still light both back tires up on dry pavement so it is still not hurting too bad.

I went to google.com and done a search for Goodyear MT/R and read every review I could find. All the Pros are swearing by them. Plus 7 out of the to 10 placers at the "Goodyear/SkyJacker Extreme Rock Climbing Competition" were running this very same tire. Like I said in an earlier post, every thing I have been able to find about these tires was that they were bullet proof. Thats why I shelled out the extra bucks for these as opposed to one of the cheaper brands. That 3 ply puncture resistant sidewall is what really sold me though.

Just my two cents. I would suggest going to goggle.com and read some of the stuff that I did.

Thanks

Hutch

 

I still have the 3.55 gears but want 4.10s

 

I personally don't need a mud tire, been there, done that, but I am actually considering getting the BFG A/T KO's in the 285's. I am concerned about power and such with the larger tire though. That tranny already sucks with the shift patterns and all without the heft of a larger tire. And yes, they will get much louder as they wear but it is a gradual progression.

For both of y'all if you don't already know - be sure to periodically check your treads watching for even wear and adjust tire pressure accordingly. I had to run the tires on my Jeep lower than "normal" because at highway speeds, they would expand a little and thus make a flat contact pattern. If I went any higher pressure, they were louder and cupped the treads... Lower, they got sloppy handling. Handled great though at the pressure I had them - sports car almost! This was a Cherokee 4x4 with a 4" Tomken Lift, Loc-rite locker, 32.5" tires and it would climb up and kiss it's own **** if ya let it...

DCovell, Don't take this wrong but if I were you, I would consider 3.90's (or whatever the size is in that range - 3.93, 3.92 etc.). I put 4.10's in my jeep from the stock 3.55's and I ended up dropping to 3.78's - I believe that was the gear... People love to throw out "Dude, get some 4.10's!!!" and they don't know their **** from a hole in the ground, but they heard "4.10" before and wanted to look cool.. You will even find that same ignorance at some 4x4 stores. If you've done your homework and are set on the 4.10's, then cool... If not, I personally would opt for the 3.9x ratio which would still be a big step up from the stock 3.55's on stock tires in both power and RPM's at speed. That is really the fine line, the RPMs at highway speeds.... You have to aks yourself, do I want to be running at 3k RPM at 80 or 2500? I'd want the 2500.....

Later and thanks again!

Chris (ReelWork)

 

I hear ya on that, I just may never get to new gears at all with the cost of replacing both front and back plus labor. But I will research that on your advise.