Since I never took the time to do it before. My name is Brad.
I've PM'd plenty of you and have already stacked up a pretty nice pile of new friends here, so I don't feel like a newbie. But anyway, lemme introduce myself. I was looking for something to tow my racecar with. Basically I needed something that could tow about 4700-4800 pounds and carry a bunch of crap in the back while keeping the "crap" safe. I have great memories of riding around the mountain in my dad's buddies 60 when I was a kid. Green and white 2-tone. Sweeeeet. We went just about everywhere in that thing, and I've always respected Cruisers since. I had a few SUV's to choose from but the Landcruiser was the only one that I wanted. I was kinda worried about the towing ability, but loved everything else. I was at the track and one of the guys had a 93 Landcruiser, and was towing a car about 300 lbs heavier than mine so I took a look at it. I heard that the 93 was the first year of the 4.5, and that it still had the "bus tranny" which appealed to me, so I asked him about it. He'd just bought a new rig, and it was gonna be for sale. Done.
Then I stumbled around the web to learn more about what I'd bought, and stumbled onto this place. Lucky me... this place has $hitloads of info! Since I've had experience with other auto forums I knew all about "Use the f'n SEARCH function rookie" and "RTFM". No worries. Although I did learn that was actually a friendly greeting, and should be used liberally. I won't blabber on, but this is one of the best forums that I've been on. And SORRY to Christo about my username. My side company is called "Shortbus Motorsports Inc.", which is my racing venture. I didn't know that I was being a total dick until I was searching thru the SOR site and saw pictures of the "Shortbus". Much different than mine. Since I'd been wearing the name for a while, it was hard to just think something else up. Talked to Christo on the phone about OME springs and apologized, but I still feel like a choad for using the name. If I can think of something besides "DICK" to use, I'll change it. Anyway......... thanks guys.
For Rogue, 96cruiser, and the rest of you... here are a couple pix and a short review of the Nitto Terra Grappler. I've had a wholesale account with Discount Tire Direct since 93, and been dealing with the same guys there since. My rep recommended that I try the Nitto Terra Grappler on the cruiser. He lives in Scottsdale AZ and has a set on his F350 which he takes offroad and tows a sand rail with. He loved the tire and had sold hundreds of them without a single complaint. I really wanted to use a 305/70/16 to keep the OD as close as stock as I could, in order not to lose too much power for towing. I could swap out diff gears or put on an S/C, but those mods will come later. In the 305/70/16, the Nitto recommendation fit pretty well. In something more aggressive I could only get the BFG TA-KM in that size, so I bit.
So far I've had the tires in snow, ice, light mud. They've been absolutely perfect. I'm coming from the stock Michelin LTX's so that's all I have to compare to on this rig. They're make a little more noise, but ride well on the road. They balanced out real nicely on the stock aluminum wheels, and had virtually no run out. They've been great in the snow/ice this last week. I've been just about everywhere due to my job, and haven't been denied once. Plus they look 100 percent better than the Mich's and I shook off the mall cruiser look too.
Here are the details of the tire:
Nitto Terra Grappler LT305/70R16
Load range E
6 plys total: Tread is 2 steel / 2 poly / 2 nylon
Sidewall is 2 poly
Max load: 3525 lbs @ 65 PSI
I know alot of you guys wouldn't want to run these as they've got a 2 ply sidewall. And, you're probably right if you're gonna be in the rocks alot, etc... But for a relatively rugged all around tire, I think they're excellent. They feel much stiffer than the Mich's did, and I'll be curious to see how they do in the rocks. One of my friends has a rock quarry in Chelatchie Prarie, so I'm gonna get it up there in the rocks and snow, and see if I can destroy one. I do have the hazard protection on them, so anything goes. For anyone who was curious about these, I think they're excellent. They seem VERY solid, handle great in water/snow/ice, and have a pretty aggressive look with square shoulders. Definitely an LT (Light Truck) tire and not a P (Passenger) style tire. If you're truck is devoted to some serious offroad duty, you may just be smarter to run the BFG TA/KM.
Following are a few pix on my white truck. (Sorry Junk )
1)
I've PM'd plenty of you and have already stacked up a pretty nice pile of new friends here, so I don't feel like a newbie. But anyway, lemme introduce myself. I was looking for something to tow my racecar with. Basically I needed something that could tow about 4700-4800 pounds and carry a bunch of crap in the back while keeping the "crap" safe. I have great memories of riding around the mountain in my dad's buddies 60 when I was a kid. Green and white 2-tone. Sweeeeet. We went just about everywhere in that thing, and I've always respected Cruisers since. I had a few SUV's to choose from but the Landcruiser was the only one that I wanted. I was kinda worried about the towing ability, but loved everything else. I was at the track and one of the guys had a 93 Landcruiser, and was towing a car about 300 lbs heavier than mine so I took a look at it. I heard that the 93 was the first year of the 4.5, and that it still had the "bus tranny" which appealed to me, so I asked him about it. He'd just bought a new rig, and it was gonna be for sale. Done.
Then I stumbled around the web to learn more about what I'd bought, and stumbled onto this place. Lucky me... this place has $hitloads of info! Since I've had experience with other auto forums I knew all about "Use the f'n SEARCH function rookie" and "RTFM". No worries. Although I did learn that was actually a friendly greeting, and should be used liberally. I won't blabber on, but this is one of the best forums that I've been on. And SORRY to Christo about my username. My side company is called "Shortbus Motorsports Inc.", which is my racing venture. I didn't know that I was being a total dick until I was searching thru the SOR site and saw pictures of the "Shortbus". Much different than mine. Since I'd been wearing the name for a while, it was hard to just think something else up. Talked to Christo on the phone about OME springs and apologized, but I still feel like a choad for using the name. If I can think of something besides "DICK" to use, I'll change it. Anyway......... thanks guys.
For Rogue, 96cruiser, and the rest of you... here are a couple pix and a short review of the Nitto Terra Grappler. I've had a wholesale account with Discount Tire Direct since 93, and been dealing with the same guys there since. My rep recommended that I try the Nitto Terra Grappler on the cruiser. He lives in Scottsdale AZ and has a set on his F350 which he takes offroad and tows a sand rail with. He loved the tire and had sold hundreds of them without a single complaint. I really wanted to use a 305/70/16 to keep the OD as close as stock as I could, in order not to lose too much power for towing. I could swap out diff gears or put on an S/C, but those mods will come later. In the 305/70/16, the Nitto recommendation fit pretty well. In something more aggressive I could only get the BFG TA-KM in that size, so I bit.
So far I've had the tires in snow, ice, light mud. They've been absolutely perfect. I'm coming from the stock Michelin LTX's so that's all I have to compare to on this rig. They're make a little more noise, but ride well on the road. They balanced out real nicely on the stock aluminum wheels, and had virtually no run out. They've been great in the snow/ice this last week. I've been just about everywhere due to my job, and haven't been denied once. Plus they look 100 percent better than the Mich's and I shook off the mall cruiser look too.
Here are the details of the tire:
Nitto Terra Grappler LT305/70R16
Load range E
6 plys total: Tread is 2 steel / 2 poly / 2 nylon
Sidewall is 2 poly
Max load: 3525 lbs @ 65 PSI
I know alot of you guys wouldn't want to run these as they've got a 2 ply sidewall. And, you're probably right if you're gonna be in the rocks alot, etc... But for a relatively rugged all around tire, I think they're excellent. They feel much stiffer than the Mich's did, and I'll be curious to see how they do in the rocks. One of my friends has a rock quarry in Chelatchie Prarie, so I'm gonna get it up there in the rocks and snow, and see if I can destroy one. I do have the hazard protection on them, so anything goes. For anyone who was curious about these, I think they're excellent. They seem VERY solid, handle great in water/snow/ice, and have a pretty aggressive look with square shoulders. Definitely an LT (Light Truck) tire and not a P (Passenger) style tire. If you're truck is devoted to some serious offroad duty, you may just be smarter to run the BFG TA/KM.
Following are a few pix on my white truck. (Sorry Junk )
1)