Check out the new shoes!! (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Dec 24, 2003
Threads
23
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494
Location
SE Iowa
As a few of you knew, I cashed in my gift certificate for tires on the way to the Spring Meeting. Thanks to Flatt Tires for donating to the TCCC08 raffle. I'm sure that I will like these more than the old AT's that I had on there before.....:clap:

I was looking at using Dynabeads to dynamically balance, but it was going to cost $90 to balance all 5 tires :eek:. After a little research, I found that a lot of folks are using airsoft pellets instead. They are made of plastic instead of ceramic like the Dynabeads. I bought enough for all 5 for $20.

I stripped all of the old weights off and just mounted the tires as-is. I wanted a baseline to see if they indeed make a difference. My first "control" run tonight showed these tires to be very well balanced. I did not detect any significant vibrations all of the way up to about 70 mph. I figure that I'll run them this way for a while and at some point install the airsoft pellets anyway.
Cruiser new tires (3).jpg
 
The spare even clears the carrier with no modification, though it is a tight fit. Of course, the wider tire decreases the clearance between it and the rear hatch. I haven't measured it, but I'd say that there is still a couple of inches of room.
Cruiser new tires (6).jpg
 
You officially suck. I'm the president, what I say goes!

The only problem I see with that rear tire is that if you drop off of a big enough ledge it WILL kick the tire into the window. BASH! You could mitigate the effect by installing a type of spacer block with a rubber end 2-3" thick that will hit the metal first....

The only time it ever became a big deal with my carrier was when crossing a really steep "V" notch in moab, the rear tire hit the descending wall on the way up the ascending wall and I have a dent in my hatch now because of it.
 
I've got a 1" spacer that I can throw on there pretty easy, but I'm going to be doing some work on the swing out soon anyway. I don't know how much everyone else's spare moves when driving, but this is a little too much for my taste. My plan is to redesign the latch (it was a quickie design anyway) and beef up a few things.

Tony
 
Mine is rock solid while driving- unless driving offroad. If you want some pics of the arm I can send some?
 
As long as the road is smooth, it's fine. But you know how some of the roads here in Iowa can be.......it doesn't flop all over the place, but if I look close, I can see it moving a little. Some pics of yours would be great. I'm fairly sure what I need to do to fix it, but I can verify with some detailed pics.

Tony
 
Nice! Looking good.
 
Sorry- I'm a bit slow...

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Don't worry about timeliness, I got bumped to third shift for a while, so I'm not getting anything done around home anyway.......Those gussets at the bottom are just about what I had in mind. I think that once I brace the wing to the frame and modify my latch a little I'll be golden.

Tony
 
Don't worry about timeliness, I got bumped to third shift for a while, so I'm not getting anything done around home anyway.......

I am thinking the same thing cause I got bumped from third to first.
 
It's a pain, isn't it?? I've worked a lot of third shift in the past, but getting used to living backwards takes a while. I just finished my first week, I'll be at least one more before anything is close to normal. Of course, it's the same thing in your case - once you've been on third for a while, working days is backwards.....

The really bad thing is, this may only last 4-6 weeks or so and then I get to do it all over again. We'll see......

Tony
 
Tony- now that you've had time on for a bit:

How do you like 'em? Did you loose a lot of power or braking ability?
 
Overall, I love them. I'll love them more once I get a spacer built for the front springs. Haven't had a chance to play in any mud for fear of rubbing without them.

Road noise is more, but not bad at all. I still have not installed beads yet, though I am getting a very small amount of oscillation in the steering wheel (it's so slight that I hesitate to call it a vibration). In fact, just the slightest amount of crosswind makes it entirely disappear. I'm curious to see if the beads eliminate that.

The braking ability is about the same. I suppose there is a difference, but I hardly notice it if at all. Power.......fine under normal circumstances, but if there is a headwind it is very noticeable. I would not want to be living in the Rockies with this setup. I'll live with it for a while, though. My hope is to have 4:88's about this time next year (and maybe an ARB locker or two).

Tony
 
I used the dynabeads in my 33x10.5's for a week and that was it for me. Worse thing I've ever done. Put almost 20k worth of wear in a week on my tires and they were never round again. Ended up buying new tires they were so bad due to the dynabeads. The best way to balance our tires is to use clamp on wheel weights not the stick on ones even if they are prone to getting knocked off on the trails. The stick on's only balance the radius and not the lateral which is what causes the shimmer. I am running 255/85/16 Maxxis Bighorns and they are the best tires I have ever owned. The guy that mounted my tires absolutely hates stick ons and says they are worthless which I have to agree. I can run 80 mph with my hands off the wheel with absolutely so shaking shimmering anything. It's drives like a Cadillac. I think that guy went to UCLA Tire School. He knows his sh#t and has my business for life.
 

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