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Old 10-28-2020, 07:53 PM   #61
McRod
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There are Firestone Transforce A/Ts and Firestone Transforce A/T2s.

The A/T2s have better tread depth, better traction and longer life.

The OEMs use the A/Ts. The A/T2s would be an upgrade from the OEM tire. I have found them to be the best on-road and off-road tire.
 
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Old 10-29-2020, 05:13 AM   #62
Dave W
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General HTS60's are going on my truck this morning.


If you are looking for LT275/70-18 tires right now there seems to be a shortage of many versions. I had our Escape in for service at Ford and about the only tires available were A/Ts - Firestone and a couple off brands. Same thing with Tire Rack though they did have the 4 Generals
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Old 11-12-2020, 05:52 PM   #63
Dave W
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Finally got to put a few miles on these new General tires today. Very smooth ride.That ride is not anywhere near as harsh as the Michelins they replace. Now, just hope they wear as well and as good in wet weather.
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Old 11-13-2020, 09:26 AM   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by McRod View Post
There are Firestone Transforce A/Ts and Firestone Transforce A/T2s.

The A/T2s have better tread depth, better traction and longer life.

The OEMs use the A/Ts. The A/T2s would be an upgrade from the OEM tire. I have found them to be the best on-road and off-road tire.

I guess that explains why most complain about the OE Transforce being a terrible wearing tire , myself included , I got 28K out of them.
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Old 11-13-2020, 02:40 PM   #65
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I put on Cooper tires and coming home the front right lost all its tread at 60 mph. The truck, sensing a collision , shut down the fuel , and shut off the ignition. Steering and braking were greatly reduced but I did finally stop safely. The tire was still inflated. I replaced all tires in Blyth, Ca, and brought the defective tire home. There were 24k miles on the tires. I put in a claim for $ 7000.00 CDN to Cooper tire. After 4 mos. of stalling and excuses I got my cheque. Thanks to God that it ended safely. We were in the Mexican mountains just a few hours before.
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Old 11-21-2020, 04:21 PM   #66
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truck came with good year wranglers ..but these are all weather and lower milage (tracking)

and they will only do 3640 lb weight each

changes to yokohama geolander ..they will take 4080 lb each and have more of a highway tread and are a lot quieter

see photos
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Old 11-21-2020, 05:45 PM   #67
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What type Coopers?

Quote:
Originally Posted by artfuldodger View Post
I put on Cooper tires and coming home the front right lost all its tread at 60 mph. The truck, sensing a collision , shut down the fuel , and shut off the ignition. Steering and braking were greatly reduced but I did finally stop safely. The tire was still inflated. I replaced all tires in Blyth, Ca, and brought the defective tire home. There were 24k miles on the tires. I put in a claim for $ 7000.00 CDN to Cooper tire. After 4 mos. of stalling and excuses I got my cheque. Thanks to God that it ended safely. We were in the Mexican mountains just a few hours before.
I have heard of problems with the Cooper Discoverer AT, what kind did you have?
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Old 11-28-2020, 07:16 PM   #68
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Finally got to put a few miles on these new General tires today. Very smooth ride.That ride is not anywhere near as harsh as the Michelins they replace. Now, just hope they wear as well and as good in wet weather.
Dave,
I had 2 sets of P Metric HTS's on my old F-150 that performed very well. It was a 2 wheel drive and only really deep snow gave me issues. I did 90% city driving and towed a boat with those tires. First set lasted 45,000 miles which I thought was good. I'm sure the LT's will be just as good traction wise.
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Old 11-29-2020, 05:01 AM   #69
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One more update and I'll stop blathering.


I did a comparison vs the Michelin and these Generals weigh in at 5 pounds more each and have 1/64" more tread. I kept the two from the front and they have 10/32nds left after 47.5K miles, or 3.5/32nds wear after being rotated at each oil change except the last. The rear tires were barely legal, 4/32nds, even with regular rotation but 7500 or so miles without being rotated did them in, either towing or 70mph+/- interstate driving
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Old 11-29-2020, 07:25 AM   #70
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Originally Posted by ForBruce View Post
truck came with good year wranglers ..but these are all weather and lower milage (tracking)

and they will only do 3640 lb weight each

changes to yokohama geolander ..they will take 4080 lb each and have more of a highway tread and are a lot quieter

see photos
Interesting, thanks for that, I had not considered the Geolander AT...

I'm curious why you went up in weight rating, and why you say "only 3640 lb" for the OEM tires...
To me the OEM tires at 125 load rating is balanced with the GAWR of the vehicle, and increasing to a tire with a load rating of 129 won't increase the carrying capacity and often results in a harsher ride...

Or am I missing something?

Thanks,
Brad
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Old 11-29-2020, 12:13 PM   #71
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Ok --there are some that will climb all over me for my reasoning...but i am a rather safe than sorry man.....

my F-250 with "High Capacity trailer tow package" has the exact same rear axle (dana275) as a f350 and upon examining the springs they are also the same as the 350.

so what is the weakest link here....... the tires which are rated 3640 lb. each or a total rear axle tire weight of 7280

2020 F-250 diesel 3.55 rear
upon weighing the REAR AXLE of just the truck following were found:

Empty truck alone 3460 lbs

new from dealer unloaded truck and trailer rear axle is 6740 lb (#385br 2021 high country)

loaded truck and trailer 7100 (rear truck axle )

2 rear tires rated 7280 total gives me 180 lb extra the tires can handle.

but what happens when you hit a few bumps in the road with 2660 lb pin (plus hitch of about 260lbs) all of a sudden the weight on the rear tires can hit up to 400lb more and stress side walls or blow out tires.

with tires rated 4080 and totaling 8160 i now have a lea way of 1060 lbs

the highway ride is smooth and quiet.

I rest my case.......WHY WORRY
be kind guys
No worries, and I'm not saying you're wrong; but I do think it is unnecessary. The caution though is that at times increasing the capacity on one component can have a negative effect on other components.

For example, on a suspension thread on this forum, someone with one of the shorter Montana's asked about upgrading the suspension from 7000lbs to 8000lbs. The answer from the factory and the upfitter was that this was not necessary and would result in making the ride harsher...

To dig into the tire example here a bit more... all of the suspension component ratings have a margin of error. So, when you hit those bumps in the road, all of the components will experience a sudden increase in load, and as you noted this could temporarily exceed their rating. That would include the tires, but also bearings, axle, springs, shackles, frame mounts, etc.

The potential danger you've created is that by increasing the tire rating, the tire may pass more of that load on to the suspension; IOW, you may have made the tire safer, but the rest of the suspension less safe.

For a more extreme example of this, a few years ago some had upgraded to 19.5" rims and the higher rated semi tires on their RAM SRW trucks. But after a lot of miles were put on, some experienced early bearing failures.

In your case, I believe you are still completely safe, but I'm not convinced you are safer than when you started.

But, I'm no expert, so I stand to be corrected

Brad
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Old 11-29-2020, 12:59 PM   #72
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I have heard of problems with the Cooper Discoverer AT, what kind did you have?
Sorry for the delay. Yes they were Cooper discoverer AT tires. They were replaced at Ford in Blythe California with Kellys. That's what they had in the size. When I arrived home, I drove the truck very little. This summer I noticed a shimmy in the truck and suspected a balance issue. Had them roadforce balanced and two tires were over max tolerance by a lot, indicating an out of round problem. I am now waiting for my appt. to see what warranty will do for me.
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Old 11-29-2020, 02:06 PM   #73
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A vehicles gross load is based on the weakest link... springs,tires,brakes and axle......
Sort of; GVWR is what is published by the manufacturer, and while that is often based on the weakest link, it is often more based on truck classification. A typical example is the 3/4 ton segment which often has similar components to the 1 ton, but has lowered ratings to meet other legalities (insurance, etc)

Either way, you cannot legally exceed the manufacturers published ratings... which means you cannot legally exceed the ratings of the OEM tires.

But, also agree that you are making a good choice and it may result in some additional safety... or not

Brad
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Old 11-29-2020, 03:41 PM   #74
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so what you are saying is that if the manufacture ( ford) uses a 10 ply tire to save on their vehicle cost..no one can legally go to a 14 ply tire.

also if someone feels the all weather tire that comes on ford super duty is not good enough in the SNOW BELT you cannot legally put on a "SNOW" tire
because that would be better than what ford originally provided .

you are not making sense
No, I'm not saying that at all... of course you can go to a higher rated tire, but you cannot exceed the legal rating -the GAWR- for that axle grouping, which includes the tires.

So if your Ford has a 7000lb axle (not sure if you said the rating or not); you cannot exceed 7000lbs on that axle no matter what your tires are rated for. (I don't know your truck, but I think even the F350's have max of 6500 front and 7000 rear GAWR on the SRW models)

While I don't work in the industry anymore I was in trucking for many years and still maintain my CDL. If you drive commercial and you ever exceed your GAWR, it will not make any difference if your tires exceed the rating. If you are over the GAWR, you will be unloading or shifting your load. Putting higher rated tires won't change that.

And, in your example, your axle is not rated higher than 7000lbs, and the OEM tires are as you noted are rated combined at 7260. You now have put a combined tire rating of over 8000lbs of tire on that axle grouping, but you did not, and cannot, change the GAWR. Your extra tire ratings have not added any more legal carry capacity -at all.

--thus for the above reasons, I say your loaded weight cannot legally exceed the rating of the OEM tires, as the GAWR is already lower than their combined rating.

And as I noted before, manufacturers build significant buffer into their ratings, so a load rated 125 tire (3640) won't blow up because you hit a bump and momentarily hit a few more hundred pounds, as long as it is in good shape and properly inflated. (which your new higher rated tires would need to be also, obviously)

If it makes you feel better that you have a bit of a safety buffer, beyond what the engineers have designed as safe, then I will say it again -you have done nothing wrong and I don't think you've made it less safe. But for the reasons above, I question as to whether you've actually made it more safe.

Now, if your intent is to regularly exceed the legal GAWR, that is a totally different discussion

Hope that clears it up.


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Old 11-29-2020, 03:51 PM   #75
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but what if the exact same axle has 2 different ratings on f250 & f350 how do you explain that
simple, look at the door sticker... but what's your point?

Brad
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Old 11-29-2020, 04:42 PM   #76
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Brad,

i don't want to go back and forth on this ......i'm done..have a great day
I understand, it seems you know what you are doing and don't need my advice. But, my sincere concern is that you aren't discussing basic things like GAWR and how it applies to your decision.
...for example, you shared your weights and you are already over on your rear GAWR. If you were driving commercially and got stopped, you'd be ticketed -even 50lbs over gets you a ticket in most jurisdictions. And, I think I'm being generous in thinking you have a 7000 rear GAWR; for your truck it may be much lower and you may be many hundreds of pounds over... I'd recommend you check your GAWR and adjust your loads as needed.


I'm further concerned that others may not know to check GAWR also, but it is important. So, for the benefit of others who want to know more...

This from the Ford towing guide: "load weight and weight of passengers and cargo must not cause vehicle weights to exceed rear GAWR or GVWR. These ratings can be found on the vehicle Safety Compliance Certification Label."

Manufacturers provide ratings and all the information required to safely drive whether empty or loaded. They also provide the ratings for any replacement parts. IMHO, there truly is no need to second guess that.
Buy the tires with similar ratings, but never lower if you are going to load heavy. If you want to go a bit higher, that's ok, but it will not allow you to legally carry more weight.

---
Now, @ForBruce -back to your original recommendation?
Thanks for sharing the info on the Geolanders; I didn't know about them and they do look good so I will check them out. Thanks again!

Peace.

Brad
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Old 11-29-2020, 04:58 PM   #77
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Originally Posted by kowbra View Post
simple, look at the door sticker... but what's your point?

Brad
Brad is correct. Your GAWR is determined by a formula set by the DOT, and in fact they determine all the weight ratings on a particular vehicle by using these formulas. I don’t have the formula but DOT actually determines what the manufacturer specs are and the manufacturers use that formula to determine all of the ratings when the vehicle rolls off the assembly line. I do know the wheels/rims, tires, and axle manufacturer specs make up the GAWR. Even though there is wiggle room in their ratings, you never want to exceed your GAWR. You can exceed your payload rating, though I don’t recommend it, but you never want to exceed your GAWR. You are just asking for problems. There is no reason to have tires that exceed your GAWR by more than just a few pounds. If your load is close to your GAWR rating, you are way overweight. You need a bigger truck, or truck suspension modifications made by a certified DOT modifier. I do have the specs on those, as I had my truck modified, and DOT certified, to handle my intended load. I increased my GVWR, and my RGAWR by 1000 lbs., but
thats another story. 😎
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