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New Tires!

8K views 29 replies 13 participants last post by  mb power wagon 
#1 · (Edited)
Finally got some 35s on the Wagon! Nitto Trail Grapplers 35x12.50R17. Hopefully I'll get a chance to try them out on the trails this weekend.



 
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#3 ·
Oh my... that is one good looking truck...nice color choice! I see you have a 1" level, how's that working for you? I am going to be due for tires here soon and am going to go 35s. Do you have any rubbing at full lock? Just curious. Also, how do you like the vent visors? I want a set for mine to help air out the cab.
Great looking truck, keep up the good work!
 
#4 ·
Thanks, the level works great, can definitely notice a difference in person. No rubbing at full lock, there's about an inch of room between the control arms and tire. I do have 1/2" wheel spacers though. haven't got a chance to flex it out yet to see if there's rubbing then. I got the visors mostly for looks, but they do work very well at getting the air out and they cut down on buffering.
 
#5 ·
Yea, I will probably go with new control arms. I know it isn't the cheapest route, but I think that's what I'll do. I do like those tires. I'd like to hear some longer term reviews. My PW isn't my DD any more, but I don't want to loose a ton of performance. Anyway, good looking truck.
 
#12 ·
Any opinion on switching from the stock 33's to a 35 in either a Goodyear Kevlar MTR, Toyo, Mickey Thompson (Baja ATZ or MTZ or claw ttz), Nittos ( trail or terra grapplers). I've run all varieties and sizes of BFG MT, AT, Trails on an Xterra, CJ, & a F250 & they're ok, just looking if there's a better option.

Or how would the stock Duratacs in 35" be as an upgrade?
 
#13 ·
I'm rather torn on recommendation. I am fighting balance issues with my 37" MTRKs right now (though my previous set of 35" MTRKs on my Jeep I had before the Wagon balanced better) BUT, they sure do work great offroad! I love them on rocks and I have had them in nasty greasy clay mud and they pull quite well!

If I can't get them to balance out right, I think I am going to go with Nitto Trail Grapplers. I fear they may not do as well in the mud but, if they balance well it will likely be worth it! Everyone that I have talked to that runs the Nitto Trail Grapplers says they love them!

I would heartily recommend going to 35" tires, our trucks look so much better with some bigger tires!!!! Every bit of ground clearance you can get will be nice with that big 11.5" rearend, my 10.5" is a plow even with 37s, LOL!
 
#14 ·
Is there much difference between the Terra vs Trail Grapplers? Any luck with Mickey Thompsons or Toyos? I even ran Cooper MT's on my 22" wheel King Ranch F250. They looked great, but were loud at 60MpH, & about $500 less than replacing with the BFG's that were previously on it!
 
#16 · (Edited)
Terra Grapplers are wider, more aggressive and way noisier than Trail Grapplers. Toyo muds seem to be the holy grail of tires for our trucks but, they tend to be wider than labeled and heavy. The Mickey Thompsons I have been around have been good offroad but loud and fast wearing- disclaimer: I have only been around their aggressive treads, not their more all terrain oriented treads.

Truck and SUV tires I have owned over the years (I think this is all of them):

BFG all terrains (on my ZR2 Blazer and on my Power Wagon):
quiet with nice road manners. Okay on rocks (but chunk), crap in mud

BFG mud terrains KM1 and Rubicon specific KM2s (Blazer ZR2, lifted V-8 ZJ, and JKU Rubicon):
Fine on the street, a little lacking in traction in inclement weather on road though. KM1s were great in rocks and mud!!! (sunk in sand though) KM2s never got wheeled.

Dick Cepek mud terrains (on my Silverado Classic Duramax):
Loud and fast/choppy wearing on the street, did great the one time I hit mud

Cooper STT muds (87 GMC Jimmy on 'tons):
Okay on the street (quieter than the swampers before them) nice on rocks/mud

Some kind of Swamper radials (87 GMC Jimmy prior to going 'tons):
surprisingly quiet on the street for what I expected, never wheeled with em

Goodyear MTRKs (JKU Rubicon and Power Wagon)
Balanced okay on the JKUR (35s) but didn't balance for crap on the Wagon (37s) A bit loud on the street but great in rocks and mud! Did chunk bad enough to ruin one tire on the Power Wagon though, tore a tre out and split to the belts!

Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs (Silverado Classic Duramax):
Wore well, quiet, didn't get stuck the one time I hit mud. (thank goodness, it was foot deep trash mud at the demolition materials section of the landfill, that would have been a DISGUSTING recovery effort, LOL!)

Michelin LTX M&S (Chevy Silverado Classic Duramax):
Rode like heaven on the road, wore like iron, super ultra quiet. But, I never once would ever even try to wheel them! They did well on the road in snow but, I doubt they'd do well in the mud portion of M&S, LOL!

Nitto Trail Grapplers (current (as of about two weeks ago) tires on my Power Wagon) I LOVE them so far! They balanced pretty well, they ride nicely and aren't too loud. They fit better than the MTRKs (less rubbing) and thus I can turn a little sharper! They are heavy though(about 15lbs more a tire, IIRC), I can't light them up like I could the MTRKs, also I dropped 1mpg in comparison. I haven't had them in mud (I avoid it!) but, they did pretty well in the rocks this past weekend (nothing hardcore, just did the mid range trails since I don't have sliders anymore right now!), I've done about 1400 road miles so far and they have done well!

I can prove I have Nittos now too, LOL! brianh416, your pics were part of pushing me over to them!
With caps:

Without caps:

Without Nittos, LOL! (whilst Plastidipping the wheels):

And how they are now (except they're dirty now, this is the only clean pic i have, DOH!!!):


Anyways, sorry for the hijack, couldn't resist sharing some pics!!! bryanh416, that sure is a sharp looking truck you've got there sir!!!! (I could be partial to gray though, LOL!!!)
 
#17 ·
WOW---thanks SOOO much for the thorough reviews.

So, I am thinking of keeping with the Duratracs in 35" or the Nitto Trail Grapplers. But, I will also do a bit more looking at the Toyo's too, they keep getting mentioned on the various forums. The MTRK's seem to get a lot of mixed reviews, I think I'll steer clear of those.
 
#18 ·
No worries Trail Whale, just glad someone could offer some good comparison wright-ups for adeluca73 and others. Plus, it's always fun checking out other PWs :smileup:
That's a sharp lookin truck you have too, and yes, I love the gray! I've been thinking about plasti-dipping my wheels too, just gotta find some place around here that sells it.....and the time to do it. How long did it take you?
 
#19 ·
adeluca73- Actually, I have to eat my words a little, I was mistaken- the Goodyears that I had on my Duramax were Wrangler Silent Armors with Kevlar. The Duratracs had not yet come out at that time. From what I have read, the Duratracs seem to tend to get great reviews from people with JKs and other light rigs but tend to not do quite so well on heavy rigs like ours. (causing me to question them now being standard on our trucks from the factory a little) Maybe they have improved?

bryanh416- Thanks for the kind words!!! This was actually the second time I have Plastidipped my rims. It is easy to get, Lowe's Home Improvement carries the spray cans! Also, if you mess up or don't like it, it peals right off the rims! (along that lines- wait three weeks after application before you pressure wash your rims, the plastidip will then tolerate pressure washing fine! Even after three weeks, you can peel it off! But, it seems to stay attached very well if you aren't trying to peel it so, it's good!!!) Here are my rims plastidipped with my MTRKs (hauling a bed full of rocks for trail erosion control work):


I peeled them so that I could have pics of my Nittos with the stock wheel finish. Some people spray their wheels on their vehicles but, I recommend taking them off:


Some people don't mask their tires. Those people are insane, IMHO!- Plastidip is a royal pain in the butt to remove from tires!!!!!! (I made that mistake with my MTRKs, wasn't about to do it again with my Nittos!):



Also, do put something below the tires or you get a mess, LOL!:

Some permanent garage floor decoration, LOL!:


Here's a close up of the finish:


I personally do not like the idea off having a coating in the seating area of my lugnuts so, I would tape them off. I didn't so, I had to cut/peel, it was VERY tedious!:


So, my Plasidip tips:
1. DO take the wheels off the truck
2. DO mask off your tires, Plastidip is a PITA to get off tires!!!
3. DO put something under your wheels to keep overspray off your garage floor!
4. DO NOT apply Plastidip in direct sunlight on a 90 degree day like I did, you'll get bubbles and rough patches from it drying too quickly.
5. DO NOT go down below about 1/4 of the can remaining, it gets VERY splotchy in application when you dip below about 1/4 of the can!

It'll likely take you about 6 cans to do 4 Power Wagon wheels, you want to do about 8 thin coats, the more coats you do, the more durable it will be and the cooler it will be to peel should you decide to! I want to say that the painting process itself took about 4 hours. But, I was exhausted from being outside in 90 degree weather so, might have taken longer. Also, I didn't have good ventilation and Plastidip is VERY strong smelling so, that may have added to application time too, LOL! Hopefully this will help you out some!

Your truck would likely look great with Plastidipped wheels! I know I have gotten many compliments on mine on my gray truck! You can even do a Plastidip glossifier over the wheels after painting them if you want, I just kept mine flat though.
 
#20 ·
Great tips on the plasti-dipping. I really appreciate the ABC's of doing it. How would that work on the lower two-tone black gloss rocker panels on our trucks?

I'll see how the stock 33 Duratracs do (grip, wet, snow, dirt) till they are bald before deciding which 35" to go with when it's time.
 
#22 ·
I've honestly never done Plastidip on anything but my wheels. But, there are a LOT of people who have Plastidipped their whole cars- there's even a website devoted to it!- called dipyourcar I'd imagine a thick enough coat would work pretty decently and if it got too screwed up you could always peel and reapply. Most of the Power Wagon people that do something in the way of a rocker panel coating seem to usually use a bedliner material of some sort. (granted, that would be permanent though!)
 
#21 ·
Awesome! Thanks for the info and tips. Hadn't heard about the glossifier before. I'll probably do that too since my grille guard and N-Fab steps are gloss black.
 
#23 ·
Trail Whale what happened to your bed? It's awesome that you actually wheel it and use it for what it is built for but I've gotta hear the story on that! Got a thread about it anywhere?
 
#24 ·
I'm a huge fan of the Mickey Thompson MTZ's , I've run them for quite a few years , primarily for winter , They pull my truck through snow when its up to the bumper (1200lbs of sleds and a 300 lb deck in the box) they arent that great on ice, so I've started siping a set for winter use with awesome results, unfortunately they tear apart in dirt, mud or rocks when siped.
For summer use , I'm 50/50 on either TSL Super Swampers and M/T Baja Claws, mind you my truck spends 90% of its life off road with a healthy dose of throttle, so I can't say much about characteristics on the highway , or tread wear , other than they don't seem to handle any worse than any other off-road style tire .
As far as the M/T ATZ's , unless you just want a tire that sort of looks like an off-road tire , save your money ,They plug up very quickly in mud, and even under full throttle, they don't clean out well
 
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