spare set for off-road?

[michaelb]

I did a search for this, but no luck...

I'm relatively new to wheeling (just got my X a month ago ) and I finally have some cash to replace the Grabbers. I was gonna go with some MT's and I was considering buying a set of wheels just for the new tires.

I go two to four times a month, and I have a few excursions planned for the near future. Is the effort of switching the tires each time worth it? Or should I just put the MT's on the stock rims and get rid of the Grabbers?

I do a lot of highway driving in between my trips. Road noise doesn't bother me.

thanks

[ChuckH]

If you go wheeling that often I would run the M/T's all the time at least during your wheeling season. I pretty much leave mine on through the summer, but if I'm doing a long road trip or soemthing I'll try and put my A/T's back on to save gas and get more power. I also put the A/T's on for winter driving since they have better wet road and ice traction.

Anyway, if you go with an M/T and you're going to drive it on the street, I would definately be careful which tire you chose. Even if road noise doesn't bother you, the noisier tires won't last long on pavement and some of them will literally rattle your fillings loose at speed...not to mention rattle your truck to pieces. I would highly recommend either the Bridgestone Dueler M/T (what I run) or the BFG M/T for their smooth quiet rides and their excellent offroad abilities. They also have good wear characteristics and will last longer than most M/T's. A couple of the Interco tires are pretty smooth and quiet too, but since I can't remember which ones I'm not going to suggest them. I do know that the Super Swamper Bbias ply is NOT a good choice.

I just noticed you're in Cali, so you can run them all year around no problem. Save you money on the extra wheels and all the trouble of changing them all the time.

[Schludwiller]

Chuck, you might have been thinking about the Interco Truxus which is a lighter quiter tire than their beefy TSL line. I wish they had that in a 32.

I pretty much do the same thing Chuck does (switching from MT's to AT's). If I had an impact wrench and compressor I'd switch more often but it gets to be a PITA after a while doing it by hand.

[Schludwiller]

Oh, I almost forgot. You can get the steel Xterra wheels very cheap from Canada, and some US dealers if you look around and chat up the parts guy.

I prefer my steel wheels for offroading and have the MT's on them, then AT's on Pathfinder Alloys.

[IceChickenX]

michaelb,
If your like me, it took me a couple of months to decide what I wanted in an offroad tire (whence the 4 month reply to your orig. post).

I have a separate set of offroading tires and wheels. I also chose the MT Baja Claws (Bias ply) which is the reason why I bought a separate set of wheels. Plus, the size I purchased (31x11.50R15) required an 8" wide rim (I've been in discussions with Brent about this issue, I know others have chosen not to follow the manuf. specs when buying a tire).

I don't think it's a big hastle, 30 min. at the most to swap.

Have you decided on something since your first initial post?

IceChickenX

[warmonger]

I am going to jump in here since I went against the grain from the out set. For street driving, I use a set of ProComp ATs (265/75R-16) on a set of AE 16X8 wheels. They have proven great for general road driving as well as snow driving while skiing in the winter. They have lasted over 40,000 miles and are just now getting in need of replacement.

For off-road I trailer the X and switch to my 11.50/32-16 Swamper TSL SX's. They are FAR more aggressive than the ProComps and unbelievably effective off-road. If you are going to run two sets of tires, I wouldn't go with an MT, I would go as aggressive as I can stand. They are not going to be on there all the time so who cares what they ride like! (And believe me when I say, the ride on the Swamper TSL SXs totally sucks!) Due to the soft compound on the Swampers, I wouldn't run them on the road. They will wear out way too quick. The same with anything with a Mickey Thompson name. They grip well on the rocks, but will wear out quick on the highway. Here is a photo of my X on the first climb at Daniel in Uwharrie and it will give you an idea what my off-road tires look like on my X:



Keep in mind that there are a lot of modifications I have made to my truck to make this tire and wheel combination run with no rub. With my street tires I get up to 18 mpg highway and with the Swampers it drops to 14 - 16.