redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted July 19, 2005 07:16 PM
Damn! Now I HAVE TO ride to work tomorrow!
Was going to swap the 35x12.50 tires off my truck with a guy who just bought a new Dodge Ram 1500. The OEM tire on my truck was a 265/70-17, just like the tires on this guys new truck. It was a deal that was too good to be true since his tires had about 2K on them and mine had 45K. Ah, but he wanted those big tires on his new truck.
The deal was set last night and we were to meet at a tire dealer that was just a few blocks from my office. He said he was running late, so I just left my truck at the tire place and walked back to my office. When I got back to my office, I went on the Dodge website and made an ugly discovery. Though both trucks had the same sized tires, there was one "minor" difference. His OEM tires were Goodyear Wrangler GS-A P265/70-17. The OEM tires that came with my 2500 were Goodrich All Terrain LT265/70-17E. In other words, his tires were P-Metric car tires and mine were Light Truck tires. The combined load capacity of his tires would barely handle my truck's GVWR (which is almost 2,500 lbs. more than his).
Oh well, the deal was off and I told the tire place that I'd just come down and get my truck latter in the day. Since my company has done business with them for over 25 years, if I hadn't picked up my truck by the time they close, they will just park it out front and lock it, with the keys hidden inside. About 9 pm (3 hours after they closed), I walked down there to get my truck. I started to panic when I didn't see it parked either out front or on the side lot of their building. I figured that they must have parked in back, even though that would be rather tempting for vandals/thieves.
IT WASN"T THERE! OMG! MY TRUCK HAD BEEN STOLEN!
I rushed up to the bay doors and tried to look trough to see if my truck was parked inside. As I peered in from the last bay door, I couldn't see my truck. It was no comfort in the fact that they had never parked any of my trucks inside ever before. The only exception would be the very few times (less than 10 in 25 years) that the work they were doing on it took more than one day. The only problem there is that this time, they weren't doing any work on my truck AT ALL!
It wasn't until I had got down to the first bay (there is about 10 bays on each side) did I see my truck. Yep... there it was. All safe and securely LOCKED inside their shop. It seems that no one from the tire shop called my office to remind me to get the truck (also something they had never done in 25+ years) and some newbie, who couldn't find a ticket on the truck (possibly explaining the lack of a phone call), thought he'd be nice and pull somebody's company truck in to a bay and lock it up. Too bad that it's basically my only vehicle.
Just great. Now it is 10 pm, I'm still at work (not that uncommon) and guess what? I don't have a way to get home. All my fellow workers either live 30+ miles from work (and even further from my home) or are already in bed. Okay, I do have a way to get home... a $20 taxi cab ride. So, when I do get home, I will have only one other "street legal mode of transportation" left in my garage... my bike.
Oh well. It could be worse. At least this way, in my rush to get to work tomorrow morning, I won't have to worry about forgetting that it is "Ride to Work Day". I guess I'll just have to figure out how to get two vehicles home tomorrow.
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There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
   
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frEEk
Administrator
ummm... yeah
Posts: 9660
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posted July 19, 2005 10:43 PM
dude, u have a pickup, jsut load the bike into it! be happy u have such a nice problem 
btw, why u gettin rid of the big tires for some OEMs?
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Hells Dark Lord
Needs a life
living life, and loving it.
Posts: 7981
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posted July 20, 2005 01:23 AM
gas mileage, and tire life.......
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When in doubt, lean farther and go faster....
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redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted July 20, 2005 04:19 AM
frEEk, taking off the 8' camper shell would require either a forklift or four to six guys. Kinda of a hassle. Also, the tailgate is so high up, I have to "belly flop" on to it just to get into the bed. Needless to say, the "big mudders" look too cool. Make the truck "very distinctive" when parked next to just about any other vehicle.
The biggest problem is the effect it has on the axle drive ratio. When I ordered the truck from the factory, I selected a 3.73 limited slip axle. I figured the only thing I might be towing was my little 5x10 Wells Cargo. Hardly a challenge, even with the 35x12.50s. Switching from the OEM tires to the 35s makes the axle ratio more like a 3.40. Not only do I now get my best gas mileage (about 18 MPG) by doing 86 MPH (instead of 70), but it is a "serious bitch" to tow the team's 8,000 lbs, 24' race trailer. With the truck's five speed manual, I can pass just about anything in third gear, but I'll be bouncing off the rev limiter. When I shift to fourth, there is a 2K+ drop in the RPMs and the truck lugs on anything steeper than a speed bump. It doesn't help the "power" when the mounted 35 tires weighs about 120 lbs each! Talk about "unsprung weight"!
It probably woud not have been a problem if I had ordered a diesel instead of the Hemi, but that option was $5,500 at the time. Seeing as how this company truck was already going to cost almost twice as much as previous truck ($36K vs. $19K for the '92 Chevy Silverado), it would have been difficult to justify that large of an additional increase to the company's bean counters. The same would apply to changing out the axle gears (both front and rear).
The reason I've been looking for someone to swap with is because to current tires still have 25K to 30K worth of tread life left. That translates into another two years of struggling to tow the team's trailer. To just go out and buy five new LT265 tires (gotta replace the 35x12.50 spare too) would run over $1,000. Another "unnecessary expense" that would be hard too justify to those bean counters. Also an amount that neither the team, nor I can afford to shell out.
On the other hand, if I were to replace the tires with new ones, I'd probably go with a 285. The 265 is 31.8" tall, my 35s are actually 34.8" and the 285 is 32.8". The 285 would make the axle ratio 3.61 and would be something I could likely live (and tow) with. Still, with that option being almost two years away, finding someone with fairly new LT265s interested in swapping would be by far and away the most money saving route to go.
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There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
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redelk
Moderator
Please... speak to the hand.
Posts: 3212
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posted July 20, 2005 04:27 AM
Go figure... a 30% to 40% chance of rain today.
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There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.
-Ernest Hemingway
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