New Tires! (Long read, go grab somethin to drink)

**imported_truzoom** · 08-03-2006, 05:08 PM

I`m proud to say I`m the happy owner of a set of Kumho Road Venture HT tires on my Ford F-150. :spot

It has been a bit of a struggle up until now, and I have learned a lot from the initial set of Goodyear Eagle GTII tires that really helped me realize what to look for when buying tires.

My odometer is just about to pass the 45K mile mark, so I suppose the Goodyears have lasted quite a while, despite the fact that they became unbearable to drive on at around 35K miles.

Here are the original Eagle GTIIs sitting on my truck after a good cleaning and dressing.

They obviously aren`t swampers, and I obviously don`t have upgraded wheels, but I think they filled up the space decently and left a (relatively speaking) aggressive stance. But upon close observation, it is easy to see some problems that have come across them.

I don`t think I need to explain, as anyone with any common sense can see they are NOT wearing normally. This came up to be a problem when I went to a family member who actually works at a tire plant to see if they could find me any decent deals on a new set. Their response was that the tires were fine and still had at least 10K miles left on them. This later became a problem because everyone seemed to believe him over me concerning just how much `ride time` I had left on the Eagles.

Well, I`m no fool and the fact that the wear bars were exposed was a pretty clear indication that it was time to get some new shoes. Anyway I did some shopping on TireRack to see what I could match in terms of style and price and performance. Well, with gas at $3/gal right now and no sign of it going down, I put serious consideration into sensibility and price.

I was originally planning on getting a set of Kumho Ecsta STX tires in 265/55/16 since they seemed to rate well and they just looked killer.

But then I realized how "well" these Eagles performed in the ice and snow (apparently it is categorized as a sporty tire like the Ecsta), so they got marked off the list right away. The last thing I want is to spend a couple hundred on some tires and then find out they are jack squat when bad weather rolls in.

So back to searching. With the Eagles being 285mm in width, I was hoping to find something equivalent because I had become accustomed to the wide stance. Well, I had no luck-- but it was a good thing because the idea of bad weather hit me and I realized that wide tires probably can`t "cut" into snow as well.

With style no longer a criteria for my search, I looked up tires in the OEM size of 235/70/16. Right away, the Kumho Road Venture HTs seemed to be a great value with GREAT reviews when it comes to treadwear, noise and handling. So after a few restless nights, I jumped in and made the purchase. During the checkout, I was given an option to ship the tires to a local shop to have them mounted and balanced, so I had them shipped to a Big-O Tires about 10 miles away. (This factors in later)

After anxiously watching the UPS tracking website, it finally showed this afternoon that the tires were delivered. I called Big-O and made sure, and headed off. The staff was incredibly helpful and did not hesitate to get the job done. They used a Hunter TC3500 to mount and a Hunter DSP9000 to balance, which are supposedly some of the better machines available. The total cost of mount+balance+valve stems+disposal was exactly $70, which, when added onto the $334 that it cost to buy and ship the tires, brings the grand total to $404. Not bad! :getdown

I am glad to say that Kumho has won my heart with these Road Ventures. I used to dread driving with the Goodyear Eagles because they were just so LOUD. At speeds greater than 10MPH, they would make a horrible glug,glug,glug,woosh,woosh,woosh sound that could not be drowned out with closed windows or the radio on at ear-splitting volumes. They also vibrated like mad at speeds above 30MPH, but I think they were more out of balance than anything. Well, the Kumhos are a pleasure to be riding on because they literally make NO NOISE. Even at 75MPH, all I am able to hear is the wind and the engine, which actually makes me want to drive without the gas pedal depressed because it is just so quiet. There is no vibration, but of course I think that is attributed more to the balancing. On the way back home on the interstate, I passed through a random torrential downpour, and the Kumhos gripped like it was dry pavement on a 100* day. The Goodyears would not have been able to do much in rainfall like that.

Anyway, here are some pics I took after I got home. Even with the drastic change from a 285/60/16 to a 235/70/16, the stance isn`t altered much, except for the sidewalls that do not bulge out like the Eagles. For what it`s worth, I`ll lose the look if I get comfort and performance in return. I opted for the blackwalls because honestly, it is a MAJOR PITA to clean RWLs!

I suppose now all I need to do is clean up the residue from the old wheel weights and dress `em up. Thanks for reading. :usa

**JasonD** · 08-03-2006, 05:44 PM

truzoom,

Congrats on the new tires. They look great. Your truck is spotless too, good job!

Just a thought on the premature wear pattern on your Eagles. I`ve owned a few Ford trucks, not counting the Dodge`s and Chevy`s that my dad has owned, and we have learned something when it comes to tire inflation on pickups.

The manufacturers have to give you a specific inflation to meet payload specs as per their advertisements, and manuals. Well, the problem with following the recommended tire pressure for the rear of a pickup is that you obviously require totally different inflation pressures when running loaded vs. unloaded. If you inflate your rear tires to be ready for a full load 100% of the time, you will end up with a wear pattern like you experienced on your Eagles.

What I have found to work for me is to lower the rear tire pressure down to a level that "I" am comfortable with, and whenever I plan on carrying a large load or tow anything, I bump it back up to OEM specs. After I remove the load from the truck, I lower the pressure back down. We have found that this provides the most even wear pattern on pickup tires. As for the front, don`t ever touch that because you are always carrying the load of the engine, and you need the correct pressure up there.

Here`s an example of what I`m talking about. On the 03` F250 that I used to have, the manufacturer recommended 55psi in the front, and 80psi in the rear. Well, with 80psi in the rear, the back of this truck bounced all over the place with nothing in it, and road like a brick. I lowered the rear pressure down to 50psi when unloaded, and bumped it back up to 80psi before carrying or towing anything.

This gave me a great ride, and proper wear patterns. Hope this helps.

**imported_truzoom** · 08-03-2006, 06:03 PM

Jason,

Thanks for the input and the advice. Would you say there is a certain % of manufactuer recommended PSI under load that I should go by for my tires? I think the shop filled them all up to 32 which seems fine, but it does ride a bit bumpy, yet I don`t want to fill them too low and risk a blowout. Possibly 22-25 PSI for daily driving?

**JasonD** · 08-03-2006, 08:22 PM

Wow, your recommended tire pressure is only 32psi?? That sounds a bit low to me for OEM specs. You might want to check in your driver`s side door jam (or in the fuel door) for the sticker that lists the recommended tire pressures (cold). I don`t think I`d ever put less than 32psi in a vehicle`s tire, so if yours really only calls for 32, I`d leave it right there. My father`s current 04` F150 calls for 40psi, front and rear. We have the rears set at 35 and the front left alone at 40.

Check that sticker, and let me know what it says. If you can`t find the sticker, look in your manual, it`s there too.

As far as your question, no, I wouldn`t say that there is a certain % of manufacturer recommended tire pressure to use as a standard. I only assume that every vehicle is different, and their "interpretation" for customers` intended uses will be different with each said vehicle. In other words, no truck is the same.

You will be able to feel the difference when you lower the pressure in your rear tires. If there is too much air, the back end will feel very light, bouncy, and rock hard. You will also notice that the rear of the truck "skips" during hard cornering like clover style on and off ramps. On the other hand, if you don`t have enough pressure, the back end will be very soft, and will wiggle around a lot. This would be caused by the tire rolling from side to side on the rim since the sidewalls won`t be very strong. Your perfect UNLOADED pressure will be somewhere between the two.

Please keep in mind that this is just something "I" do, and not something recommended by manufacturers.

**imported_truzoom** · 08-03-2006, 08:24 PM

Yup, the gas door says 30PSI front, 32PSI rear.

I`ve always wondered if the previous 285s I had were "too wide" for my 16x7 factory wheels, and essentially the tread wore unevenly because the wheel is unable to distribute pressure across the entire face of the tread. I think that makes sense?

**JasonD** · 08-03-2006, 08:45 PM

Ahhh, okay. I see what`s going on now. I`m sorry, but I didn`t read your entire post, but simply skimmed through it. I missed the part about the Eagles being non-OEM sized tires.

You are completely correct. The 285`s were definitely too wide for your rims. 285`s are intended to be used with 8-10" rims, not 7" which is completely unlike the 235`s which call for a 6-8" rim. This is definitely why they were wearing like that.

Well, we had a good dicsussion about tire pressure anyway, lol. I would leave your pressures alone since they sound very low to begin with. I don`t ever like running less than 35psi, but if your OEM specs are 30/32, I`d leave it just like that.

On a good note, you may experience better fuel mileage with your OEM sized tires now too. I did a quick search for tires of each size (285/60 vs. 235/70), and it appears that a 285/60 weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 58lbs, while the 235/70 only weighs around 25lbs. That`s roughly 33lbs per tire less your truck has to turn.....BIG DIFFERENCE!!

After a couple tanks of driving around, post back and let me know if there`s a mpg change. I`d love to know.