New Tires, spare tire mod, removed gold from emblems... PICS

[firetruck41]

Pic 1- My favorite little buddy, 13 mo old.

Pic 2 & 3- My new tires, they are Cooper Discoverer STT in 285/75/16 Load Range D, 3 ply sidewall, factory siped. There is another model called Cooper Discoverer Radial STT that are alot different, non siped, less aggressive, don't get 'em confused. I made sure to explain exactly which ones I wanted to the tire shop. They were purchased at Discount Tire/America's Tire, they had to order them which took about 1 day. Total cost out the door for a set of 5 was $1165 (which includes $110 for tire replacement certificates) including mounting, lifetime balance, rotation etc. No tax because I bought them in Oregon.

 

[firetruck41]

Pic 1- Tire on dusty chrome/blingy wheels (anyone want to trade for non-chrome?)
Pic 2- Close up w/tire load/ply info
Pic 3- Spare tire lift mod w/new 285/75/16 spare, looks like it's tucked up better than the old tire w/out the spare mod. I used 7 nuts to lift the spare bracket and 4(or 5?) nuts to lower the lifting mechanism. It allowed me to raise it quite a bit while still accessing the spare lowering mechanism w/out any problems

 

[firetruck41]

Cool pig emblem, and gold removed from 4wd emblem

Gold also removed from emblems in previous pic. I used 400 then 600 grit sandpaper to remove the gold and then used a buffing wheel and buffing compound w/a dremel tool, took a couple hours to do all the emblems. I did the front "L", the antenna base nut, the rear "L", the hatch key latch cover, and the 4wd emblem. The 4wd emblem turned out the worst, but the others were pretty close to what a stock Chrome emblem would look like. It was a small project but gave me immense satisfaction as it looks like a new rig to me know. I absolutely hated the gold.

 

[firetruck41]

I will be doing a OME Heavy (850/863) lift next week, and will post pics after that for comparison.

 

[psfpilot]

Those tires look sharp, and that silver trim looks classy.

If you want a more subdued appearance for the rims, you may be able to take them to a powder coating shop. A pig owner in our club had a set of 4 steelies coated for under $100, IIRC.

 

[Beowulf]

Ben,
Are your tyres bias ply or radial ply?

I love the way they look. Do they come in 35's?

-B-

 

[firetruck41]

Beo- They are radials, that's the confusing part about the names, both the "Cooper Discoverer Radial STT" and the "Cooper Discoverer STT" are radials. I assume they are phasing out the "Radial STT", as I can't understand why they would have nearly identical names for different tires.

They are available in 315/75/16, and even up to 37" for 17" wheels. The tire appears very similar to the Toyo Open Country M/T, but is much cheaper and seems to have better availability. I like the idea of 3 ply sidewalls, the factory siping, and they just look "right", with decent pricing and availability, it was an easy choice.

Check the link in my first post to go to Cooper's website, go to products>tires>light truck and you will find some more info on them.

 

[Capocaccia]

Wow they look REALLY good. I really like the sidewall.

 

[alvarorb]

Ben,

James emblem looks good on your truck.
La Cabra also came with the gold bling. I got rid of the front one by painting it black.

Regards

Alvaro

 

[bluto]

Pic 1- Tire on dusty chrome/blingy wheels (anyone want to trade for non-chrome?)
...

Just an idea to consider to lessen the full chrome effect - just sand, primer, and paint the area around the windows (holes of the wheel) and the stripes on the spokes. I used Rust Oleum primer and Hammered black (matches my bumpers color). LX450 rims on my 95 LC.
Take plenty pics since Ill be doing the Heavies also (noob).

 

[Tools R Us]

Beo- They are radials, that's the confusing part about the names, both the "Cooper Discoverer Radial STT" and the "Cooper Discoverer STT" are radials. I assume they are phasing out the "Radial STT", as I can't understand why they would have nearly identical names for different tires.

They are available in 315/75/16, and even up to 37" for 17" wheels. The tire appears very similar to the Toyo Open Country M/T, but is much cheaper and seems to have better availability. I like the idea of 3 ply sidewalls, the factory siping, and they just look "right", with decent pricing and availability, it was an easy choice.

Check the link in my first post to go to Cooper's website, go to products>tires>light truck and you will find some more info on them.

According to their tech rep that I talked to at SEMA they are a hybrid, 2 radial plys and 1 bias ply. They make a 37" for 16" rims too, 325/80-16.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Ben,

Looks sweet - a rewarding week, eh? I have the same pig emblems on each fender of both trucks. Gets a surprising number of comments. That wheel treatment of Bluto's makes quite a difference - the wheel looks less flashy and more 3 dimensional/functional somehow.

Well done

DougM

 

[photogod]

Just an idea to consider to lessen the full chrome effect - just sand, primer, and paint the area around the windows (holes of the wheel) and the stripes on the spokes. I used Rust Oleum primer and Hammered black (matches my bumpers color). LX450 rims on my 95 LC.
Take plenty pics since Ill be doing the Heavies also (noob).

That truck needs an ARB! Yuck Yuck... On its way.

 

[firetruck41]

Bluto's wheels look great, I might have to try that.

I honestly don't fully understand what makes a radial, a radial vs. bias ply, but my tire does say "radial" on it. I would post a pic, but my wife just took the camera with her on a 4 day trip.

 

[Poriomania]

How well did they balance?

 

[firetruck41]

How well did they balance?

They feel better balanced than the MT/Rs and my half worn road tires, don't know how much of that was the tire or just how the tech did the balancing. I don't think they spent any time "matching" or rotating the tires on the wheel for better balance w/less weights. I just went and looked at the tires, the tire shop used the stick on weights on the inboard side of the wheel. They were 7gm weights and there were the following number of weights on each wheel:

9 x 7gm=63gm or 2.22oz
8 x 7gm=56gm or 1.98oz
17 x 7gm=119gm or 4.2oz
12 x 7gm=84gm or 2.96oz

 

[kai38]

B]Another Fire Fighter and a black 80 w/ Cooper STT tires.
I'm going to order a HYBRED logo from Toyota to put on the back of my 80 to confuse people[/B]. http://www.pbase.com/kai38/image/27233952

 

[BPMOU]

Ben,

That is funny that you point out the diffrence between the two STTs. I talked to the shop, and they originally gave me a price of 170 a tire, thought it was a great deal so I dropped my truck off. Picked it up that afternoon as they had to get the tires from the warehouse. They put the radial STTs on. The guy at the shop didn't know that there were two of them. Told me he needed to order the STT and that I could keep the radials on until they came in. Got everything squared away a couple days latter. Love the tire.

 

[firetruck41]

Ben,

That is funny that you point out the diffrence between the two STTs. I talked to the shop, and they originally gave me a price of 170 a tire, thought it was a great deal so I dropped my truck off. Picked it up that afternoon as they had to get the tires from the warehouse. They put the radial STTs on. The guy at the shop didn't know that there were two of them. Told me he needed to order the STT and that I could keep the radials on until they came in. Got everything squared away a couple days latter. Love the tire.

Heh, exactly what I was afraid was gonna happen to me . Glad it worked out for you, too.