First time haulin' in the pickup

[Whitespider]

i have been thinking of switching myself...
i have to admitt i am a little worried going to bias, my truck can sit sometimes and i am worried about permanent flat spots or i might not like the performance.

Jredsjeep, I've been thinking about your post and how to best respond to it...
There are definite disadvantages to running bias ply tires on dry pavements... and that's why I run radial A/T type tires during the mid-summer months. If you drive dry pavement for any distance you'll probably be disappointed with bias ply tires... my truck rarely goes more than 6-8 miles on dry pavement (to town and back) during winter. But dirt, gravel, crushed rock and sand roads are not pavement.

I found this article on an off-road web site that really does a good job of explaining the differences and advantages/disadvantages of both tire types... along with the different construction materials. If you read it I think you'll see the bias ply is clearly the better off-pavement and snow tire... but, depending on the amount of time your truck spends on dry pavement, bias ply may not necessarily be the right tire for you. When reading it, and forming your decision, don't make light of the fact I run a radial A/T type during fair weather... and that's when my pavement driving is probably still less than 30% of the total.

http://www.off-road.com/trucks-4x4/tech/technical-article-19432.html#comparison

 

[Deleted member 83629]

this is what i run on my trucks these tires will go were radials will not in my neck of the woods https://www.universaltire.com/truck-and-military/truck/750-16-sta-super-traxion.html

here is the fine selection of bias mud/steer tires from size 14-20 any truck can run these tires but caution some of the tires are tube type.
https://www.universaltire.com/truck-and-military/truck.html

 

[Steve NW WI]

this is what i run on my trucks these tires will go were radials will not in my neck of the woods https://www.universaltire.com/truck-and-military/truck/750-16-sta-super-traxion.html

here is the fine selection of bias mud/steer tires from size 14-20 any truck can run these tires but caution some of the tires are tube type.
https://www.universaltire.com/truck-and-military/truck.html

Holy crap - $253 for a 9.00x16, $271 if ya want tubeless, and still only load range D?

 

[Deleted member 83629]

my old Chevy calls for load range D tires and the ford calls for C but i just run d tires on it i get around 35,000 miles out of the tires.
they will rot off before wearing out.

 

[Jredsjeep]

Thanks for posting that, I might stick with the radials then. I do use my truck off road to get wood and around the property but my truck is on the road %95+ of the time. That and its all highway to work, about 20 miles. My truck does not ride bad with 1 ton leaf springs all around but I would prefer not to make it worse.

To bad I can't try a set for a few weeks to see how I like them. Another thing not mentioned in the article is that they are supposed to be more stable with a load reducing under steer with the heavier side walls. I know I had more than I would have liked towing a camper last year. Not uncontrollable but it could have been better, and yeas I had good tire pressure.

Maybe I need to invest in some better tires next time around.

 

[Whitespider]

I might stick with the radials then. ...my truck is on the road %95+ of the time. That and its all highway to work, about 20 miles.
...reducing under steer with the heavier side walls. I know I had more than I would have liked towing a camper last year.
Maybe I need to invest in some better tires next time around.

Yeah... with that much pavement and highway driving (95%) you'd be a very unhappy camper with bias ply tires.

Now about the problems when pulling the camper... different tires may help some, but quite often that "under steer" feel can be traced down to the wrong type hitch setup and/or trailer tongue-to-hitch relationship. What sort of hitch are you using?

 

[Jakers]

Holy crap - $253 for a 9.00x16, $271 if ya want tubeless, and still only load range D?

if you go to the STA website Bias Ply Tires for light trucks - STA Superlug Bias Ply it says they are 14PR for the tubless ones and 8 for the tube type

 

[Jakers]

P.S. This is better than any mix oil thread hands down

 

[Blazin]

5 pages and no pics? Put some ####ing wood in that golf cart would ya...and take a pic for the love of God

 

[Whitespider]

Put some ####ing wood in that golf cart would ya...and take a pic for the love of God

Well are you happy now!!??!!
That there is even one of the sticks from the MIL's house!!!

 

[brenndatomu]

^^^Ya might wanna touch up your chain. Looks like she's pullin hard right!^^^

 

[Whitespider]

Ummmm........
Somebody's saw might be pulling, but it weren't me doin' the cuttin'... I just did the haulin'.

 

[Deleted member 83629]

dang that truck is rusty but it is a good one makes the best air conditioning in the summer

 

[naturelover]

If they're spinnin', the one thing you surely ain't got is traction.

I see that all the time, guys try to compensate for lack of traction with momentum... lock-it-in and go balls-to-the-wall. That's fine if you make it through (or over), but if you don't make it you're just that much deeper in the soup when it all comes to a stop. It can be especially bad in thick muck or deep, hard-pack/drifted snow because the tires will ride up on top until momentum is lost, then they break through, dig and leave the axles laying on top... with the tires suspended above any sort of available traction.

I tend to go at it a bit differently... I walk it in slow, in 2-wheel drive, trying not to slip a tire. When, and if, forward progress halts and the rear wheels begin to slip, that's when I "lock-it-in" and back up! Now I have the opportunity to reevaluate what's ahead of me... I've stuck 'em to the rocker panels before, I hate walking, and I hate shoveling even more. If I do decide to continue forward, I still walk it in slow, and as soon as the wheels start to slip I stop and back up! Reevaluate again! When working through deep snow this allows the axle housings to keep pushing snow out of the way and tires remain on a solid traction surface... it don't make for fast travel, but it's a damn sight better than walking! Working through thick, deep, mucky mud this gives me several opportunities to gauge just how deep it is... 'cause if it's bottomless, there ain't any combination of 4x4 and tires that will pull you through it. You might get lucky and momentum will carry you over it, but on the return trip you might not be so lucky... I don't believe in luck much, I believe a man makes his own luck.

If your tires are spinnin', you ain't got traction... if you ain't got traction, you're gonna' get stuck... four spinnin' wheels just mean you're gonna be that much more stuck when it happens!


addendum: Oh... and by-the-way, don't try the "walk-it-in-slow" technique with your silly wide-footprint radial tires, they'll just walk up on top and when you try and back up they'll just sink... and then you walk :bang: Best off just keepin' those street tires on the street.

Well there's your problem, you're backing up!!!!! Lol

Really, I've got in more trouble backing up than anything, especially in snow. its dang near impossible if there is any side slope, especially in a pickup. You will not stay in your tracks, even in deep ones backing downhill. Slapping on chains is about the only thing that will help that, and that's not a given.

Technique, throttle control and being able to "read" the lines through mud will matter much more than radial or bias ply. That does include easing into the mud to get a feel for it. Do that all the time.

Once you commit to the mud though, gotta go for it. Easing through it is a sure way to get stuck, imo. The only way the tires will clean themselves is if they are turning fast enough. Balls to the wall can get you stuck too, but can't ease into it either. Momentum is the key, lose it and you've lost the battle.

I've gotten it wrong though, and have had the tow rope hooked to me a "couple" times. Comes with the territory I suppose, some days, ya gotta walk.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

[strangersfaces]

I see you had the high priced help riding shotgun...

Good looking boy...

 

[Blazin]

I hope that young'n has had a tetanus shot if he gets to playing around the truck, just sayin... :msp_w00t:

 

[Whitespider]

Really, I've got in more trouble backing up than anything, especially in snow. its dang near impossible if there is any side slope, especially in a pickup.

That’s because you’re running the wrong tire.

Slapping on chains is about the only thing that will help that, and that's not a given.

That’s because you’re running the wrong tire.

Once you commit to the mud though, gotta go for it. Easing through it is a sure way to get stuck, imo.

That’s because you’re running the wrong tire.

The only way the tires will clean themselves is if they are turning fast enough.

That’s because you’re running the wrong tire.

Momentum is the key, lose it and you've lost the battle.

That’s because you’re running the wrong tire.

I've gotten it wrong… had the tow rope hooked to me a "couple" times.

That’s because you’re running the wrong tire… and trying to do more with them than they are designed to do.

Radial All-Terrain (A/T) tires are not Off-Road tires; they are street tires with a little extra tread in case there’s some snow on the road or you need to drive across wet grass. Bias Ply Traction-Lug tires get all their traction from the side lugs, the center tread does virtually nothing (except on pavement). The lugs are self cleaning… as the tire comes in contact with ground any mud/snow in them is forced out the side so the lugs are always and constantly pulling against new earth/snow. (There are some Traction-Lug radials, but they don’t work the same because of the radial sidewall “bulge”).

Radial All-Terrain (A/T) tires ride up on top of “stuff” and the treads load up, that’s why you have trouble backing up, why you spin the wheels, and why you use momentum to compensate for lack of traction. “Momentum” is not your friend running Bias Ply Traction-Lug tires, they are narrow and have stiff sidewalls, they do not ride up on top of “stuff”… they cut in and pull. Spinning the wheels is the one thing you absolutely do not want to do running Bias Ply Traction-Lug tires… they’ll dig a hole to China faster than you can blink. A slow and easy slip will sometimes be the ticket… but if you put your foot-in-it, you’ll be buried to your door handles in two seconds.

I stopped running Radial All-Terrain (A/T) tires and switched to Bias Ply Traction-Lug for 8-9 months of the year because of all the things you are saying!. Since then, the only time I’ve had a “tow rope hooked to me” is when I’m pulling some else out!

 

[Whitespider]

I hope that young'n has had a tetanus shot if he gets to playing around the truck, just sayin... :msp_w00t:

That rust is pretty typical of vehicles that spend a lot of time on our crushed limestone roads here in Iowa. The limestone dust gets packed up into every nook-N-cranny, often mixed with calcium chloride (or other ice melting chemicals), and then draws moisture from the air... never drys completely out. Vehicles literally rot from the inside-out.

One of my fuel tanks rotted through a couple years ago... and now the other one started dripping when it's over half full. Looks like I'll be pulling the box off this spring and replacing both tanks... which will give me a chance to plate some of the "swiss-cheese" starting along the frame rails. Even the engine oil pan is lookin' a bit ugly. I figure another 4-5 years and the rust will have finally taken its toll... and off to the salvage yard she'll have to go... it's sort'a sad really, that truck only has 68,000 miles on it. I don't have a clue what to replace it with... nothing made in the last 25-years or so excites me much, just too much unnecessary stuff on them that's bound to "go wrong" the way I use 'em.

 

[Blazin]

That rust is pretty typical of vehicles that spend a lot of time on our crushed limestone roads here in Iowa. The limestone dust gets packed up into every nook-N-cranny, often mixed with calcium chloride (or other ice melting chemicals), and then draws moisture from the air... never drys completely out. Vehicles literally rot from the inside-out.

One of my fuel tanks rotted through a couple years ago... and now the other one started dripping when it's over half full. Looks like I'll be pulling the box off this spring and replacing both tanks... which will give me a chance to plate some of the "swiss-cheese" starting along the frame rails. Even the engine oil pan is lookin' a bit ugly. I figure another 4-5 years and the rust will have finally taken its toll... and off to the salvage yard she'll have to go... it's sort'a sad really, that truck only has 68,000 miles on it. I don't have a clue what to replace it with... nothing made in the last 25-years or so excites me much, just too much unnecessary stuff on them that's bound to "go wrong" the way I use 'em.

I hear that, the freakin road salt they use here destroys a vehicle way to quick! Just for the record, my back bumper makes yours look like new

 

[brenndatomu]

I'm gonna let you have your biased (pun fully intended) opinion on this one. All I'm gonna say is that any time I've been stuck, be it radial or bias ply tires, traction hasn't been the issue. Lack of ground clearance (be it 6" in a car or 2' or better on a tractor) was what stopped forward progress. Ain't but two things that will help that: A taller tire, and hope we hit solid ground before we bottom out even deeper in, or a wider one that will float over it. Therefore, I'll continue to think that my "inferior" radials have "enough" traction.

PS - Spidey, if you decide you need a custom user title, might I suggest "That 70s Show" for ya?

That rust is pretty typical of vehicles that spend a lot of time on our crushed limestone roads here in Iowa. The limestone dust gets packed up into every nook-N-cranny, often mixed with calcium chloride (or other ice melting chemicals), and then draws moisture from the air... never drys completely out. Vehicles literally rot from the inside-out.

One of my fuel tanks rotted through a couple years ago... and now the other one started dripping when it's over half full. Looks like I'll be pulling the box off this spring and replacing both tanks... which will give me a chance to plate some of the "swiss-cheese" starting along the frame rails. Even the engine oil pan is lookin' a bit ugly. I figure another 4-5 years and the rust will have finally taken its toll... and off to the salvage yard she'll have to go... it's sort'a sad really, that truck only has 68,000 miles on it. I don't have a clue what to replace it with... nothing made in the last 25-years or so excites me much, just too much unnecessary stuff on them that's bound to "go wrong" the way I use 'em.

Go down south, find ya a nice clean '78-'79 F150

That's what I've done the last couple vehicles. High mileage but rust free....:msp_thumbup: I can fix the mechanicals, but once the rust worms move in...:msp_thumbdn: