Second set of tires for offroad

[Riley]

Ok guys, being very paranoid I searched many tire threads on this topic but no luck.

Flame me if it's been discussed.

Now that I've got my rig lifted, I just need sliders, more roof rack pieces and then there's my tires (oh no! another tire question ).

When talking to DaVe a few months ago, he put the idea in my head to just keep my LTX tires and OEM rims for my wife's DD usage and find a second set of rims and tires for off-road use. Not a bad idea if you've got the room to store them and if you can find another set of rims for not too much $$.

The objective would be to keep the cruiser on nice & safe LTX tires for my family 80% of the time and then in the spring put on some off-road tires for like 2 months and perhaps again in the summer vacation period if any off-road trips are planned.

Questions are:

Do many people run 2 sets in this way ? (not including winter tires).

The drawback is likely - will I really want to change them around and then back again? Could be a pain in the a$$.

would I want to run swampers for the second set?

My spring usage is some fairly rough 4x4 roads that can get pretty wet in the spring (I know we hate mud). I've done all these trails in my 60 series with Bridgestone AT tires (Dueler) with not much problem.

As I write this I'm thinking it's overkill. I should probably just do 1 season as is and see how it goes.

I'm worried that for the 2 or 3 months that the off-road tires are on the truck, my wife would kill me (her DD and my weekend truck).

Maybe there's a good off-road tire that would do fine in this setup and yet keep my wife happy.

Any advice would be helpfull. Even just knowing if others run 2 sets like this.

Riley

 

[Junk]

My recommendation would be to get a 2nd set. This way you are neither comprimising your trail grippage nor your road manners. A lot of guys I know, including me, do this. Works great and you can swap tires in your driveway in like 10 minutes.

As for prices, you should be able to find some used tires, from someone else going up to another size, relatively easily and thus get a great price. They may not be the exact tire you want, but will give you a great cheap way to find out if this is what you want to do.

I would keep the street tires on all the time, and only swap when you want to go wheel.

I use BFG AT/KOs on the street and Swamper TSL bias ply on the trail {for now }

 

[Riley]

Thanks Junk. That's exactly the advice I was looking for. I'll pursue this idea. I never thought of used.

Now I'll go read up (and search) on Swampers like the TSL as well as beadlocks.

cool...

 

[Junk]

I would not waste your money on beadlocks yet. They are expensive!

Used tires are hard to sell, but you would be surprised at how many guys around you are looking to dump 33's as they move to 35's etc. It's the best way to get wheeling tires unless you know exactly what you want and are making mods to fit specific tires.

Just take your time and look around for the right deal. Remember to not spend too much money on this, because, at least what I would do, is treat this as an experiment. Will you hate swapping tires, will the wife give you grief, will you actually enjoy it etc. I wish I had slowed down on my mods because I got way out of control (no shock there) early on.

Almost any heavy duty mud tire you pick up will be better than all terrains, so worry less about the brand and make - just make sure you get a good deal.

 

[e9999]

dang, that's exactly what I want to do with the '03 but I can't find inexpensive steel rims for it...

as far as the wife hating the ride and not wanting to drive the cruzah any more... what's the problem with that again....? give her the corolla to drive, eh!

Eric

 

[Riley]

OK, back on Jan 15 somebody posted a site that has 80s rims for $300 I think. That post has been lost.

Can you repost?

man this is weird going back in time.

 

[cruiserdan]

Time travel requires 1.21 jigawatts IIRC.

 

[Junk]

So does your momma Cdan.

Riley - I think it was MTN. Not sure though.

 

[Riley]

Ok, I'm going to try to recreate where this discussion got to which was lots different opinions on the hassle factor.

I'm thinking that 33" tires, perhaps not swampers, so that I can leave them on for a few weeks at a time. Added bonus would be if they are not swampers, I would be able to carry the spare under the "trunk". note that I've done the spare lift kit with the longer bolts and washers.

So that puts me to find a very aggressive, used AT tire, perhaps the MTR?? I'll search to see what would look like.

Rear bumper and carrier will have to wait. Finding cheapesh steel rims will be the trick.

Junk - swampers under consideration but I think that will mean a rear carrier right off the bat. No point dragging that underneath you.

Riley

 

[Junk]

My opinion only, but if you go with other ATs, that's

.

I believe that if you are going with 2 sets of tires, one for street and one for trail, that the trail tires purchased should be as aggressive as possible. Otherwise, why bother?

MT/R's are a decent tire, yes, I frickin said it, ok!

The MT/Rs are still a comprimise though.

Why would you leave these on for a few weeks? It sounds to me like you haven't truly decided to get 2 sets, one for trail and one for street, but instead 1 for street and 1 street and a few trails.

Swap the tires the night before, and the morning after if you have to. It does not take long. Even if you have to drive for a few days like that, so long as it's not 100 miles a day, you'd still be fine.

 

[Riley]

Good points, what about the spare issue. Now I gotta phone Christo and spend another $1K7.

You think a swamper stored underneath is gonna work?

I guess I need to look at some swampers..

Thanks

edit - forget about storing inside or on top. When I'm camping/offroading there's barely enough room for clothes.

 

[Junk]

For the spare, I don't think the brand is going to determine if it fits, but rather the size. So a 285 should fit whether it's an MT/R or a TSL.

If you reconsider the inside the cargo thing, one thing to think about would be storing it vertically. I know that Geiger made a tire holder, as I have, that holds it up vertically thus minimizing the floor space it takes up. Mine bolts to the 3 holes where the 3rd row bracket is and bolts to the top grab handle holes. It's pretty solid and keeps it out of the way, yet available for use if needed. The bad thing about keeping the spare underneath is the scraping etc. It would be easy to slice a sidewall keeping it down there. If that was the only option, then go for the roof. I don't like them on the roof, but it would be better than down there.

 

[Junk]

Riley,
I'm no swami, so obviously do what you think is best for you. I just made a lot of mistakes when I started, and still do by the way, so I'm just trying to keep you from spending money on things that I think you could be greatly disaspointed in.

Just because it didn't work for me, doesn't mean it wouldn't for you. But these are my opinions and hopefully they at least give you another view to consider.

 

[IdahoDoug]

I agree with Junk on the tires. If you're going to have the luxury of trail specific tires then get serious trail tires. Personally, I would not do this as there are a lot of street friendly tires that kick serious butt on the trail unless you're into a specific condition like heavy duty mud tires or sand paddles. Seems to me the price of road tires/wheels + separate trail tires + separate trail tires would be pretty steep compared to simply wearing out the LTX's and buying a set of 285 MT/R's or the like. That way, you haven't compromised the road handling dramatically, but you have dramatically improved the trail capability. As an added bonus, you've added an onroad safety factor as the MTR can slam a curb or piece of road debris without leaving your wife with a flat. I say this as I've blown an LTX on what I considered fairly wimpy road debris and it got me thinking that a stouter full time road tire would be a good call. Seems kinda imbalanced to have a stout highly capable rig my wife could put in 4 low and traverse an embankment to get off a freeway blocked by a flaming semi truck if the tires would blow on a stray rock, ya know? Having found myself changing a flat on a lonely highway due to a piece of debris brought this home to me one day. If I'd had the winter Kellys on that day I would have simply heard a thump and continued on my way. In today's world, that type of challenge is really the more likely safety issue - that the LTX could find your wife and kids on the side of the road.

DougM

 

[sjcruiser]

Riley,

The local ads is still here. The asking price is $300 for a full set of 5. They appear to be in excellent condition (seen them personally). Would get them for myself but wanna avoid the griefs from my wife...You know how it feels.

Let me know if you need more info...

Frank.

 

[landtank]

Watch those used tires closely. If they have been trail run aggressively you might have balancing issues if the lugs are tore up abit.

 

[Riley]

What, Junk's not a swami ?

Your right that I've still undecided on this, just proposing different ideas. It was stupid of me to think that a 33" swamper would have more difficultly mounting underneath than a 33" AT tire.

Doug - the problem with the 33" AT tire is that for everyday driving (wife's DD), I will be comprimising her drive with higher center of gravity, road noise ect.... The LTX last forever I hear, is smaller and quiet.

Assuming one has the captial then the only additional cost is the extra rims. Having 2 sets of rubber simply means that I pay now instead of a few years from now once the LTX has worn.

Good point about the LTX getting wacked by something evil laying on the road.

I'll hunt around, I've never really seriously looked at a swamper, time to educate thyself.

This truck is getting up there in height with the OME and with 33" tires, that's another 1".

Bye the way - my wife found this thread last night .

"You never told me you were getting another set of tires. Gee you make me out to be such a b!tch...." I pointed out that this is just an idea that I'm discussing with the boys.

Actually she's been really good about the mods, never griped at all about the OME springs. I'm lucky I've got a cruiser chick.

 

[Junk]

[quote author=Riley link=board=2;threadid=10172;start=msg91307#msg91307 date=1074361314]
my wife found this thread last night . [/quote]

She didn't find that other one you posted about her did she? You know the one with .... just kidding Mrs Riley.

Riley, do to an offroad shop, if there's one close by. Look at some of the tires they have to see how aggressive they are. Or if your local TLCA chapter has some guys around, go look at their trucks again. I don't think you would have to buy beat up old swampers, or even need swampers at all. Most tires, when used for a season will be pretty cheap as the sellers are motivated to dump them to get bigger tires. Don't get something that's been through the war, get something in decent shape, but still agressive.

In all seriousness, your wife may appreciate it. This way you will have the trail toughness you need, yet you are not sacrificing her road driving at all. You both get to enjoy the truck that way.

Then again, it's just my view. (which is always right )

 

[Asiarider]

Then again, it's just my view. (which is always right )

The ten commandments of Junk

Mike

 

[scottm]

Explain to the missus the many cost savings of fleet standardization.