[Chasewatmatters]

Hi all, i am new to the ram forums here. I recently got a 6" suspension lift put on my 2009 Dodge Ram 1500, and, well of course i needed some big mud tires to match. So i went with the cheap route to test the waters. I got Federal Couragia m/t 35x12.50x20. I've had the tires for a little over 2 months now and the front tires are literally almost bald in the center, about 1/16" left of tread. I do drive alot, as most of my work is an hour drive each way, mostly highway. Im not sure exactly but i think ive put about 5k miles on them so far, had them rotated at 3k. It makes me sick that these things only lasted me 5k. Any advice or insight is welcome. Any tips or thoughts on why they're wearing so quickly? when i replace them, i want to get 35" tires but something that will last me a whole lot longer but hopefully still look cool. Maybe some kind of all-terrain tire? thank you!!!

 

[brandonjansen]

First thing to check is your tire pressure. If they're wearing down the middle they could be over inflated. Next thing would be your front end alignment. I'm assuming it was completed after the lift install? (Because it needed to be). If so, bring it back to that shop and have them take a look at it and verify that everything is in spec. From there it could be the tires themselves however there's a number of guys running those tires and they don't wear NEAR that fast. And they shouldn't... But maybe it happens to be a bad batch.

 

[BrandonB]

Like Brandon said, air pressure or alignment. Air pressure sounds like the most likely culprit since you say they are wearing in the center. Do you know what pressure you are running them at?

For replacements, I hear good things about the wear on Pro Comp MT's. I've got about 10k on my Cooper STT Pro's and they're wearing pretty good. They're starting to wear down but no more than I was expecting from a 35" MT.

 

[monteholic]

front end alignment?

and being worn mainly in the center is a sign of too narrow of a rim for the tire and/or to high of air pressure

 

[DallasLoneStar]

Agree with monteholic. Did the 2009 Lone Stars also have 20x8 rim? That's really narrow for a 35x12.5R20 and techincally way out of spec.

I hear about a lot og guys saying they run 35s on the factory 20x8s but I just don't feel comfortable with that due to tire manus specs on recommended rim widths. They are usually min 9"

 

[BrandonB]

Agree with monteholic. Did the 2009 Lone Stars also have 20x8 rim? That's really narrow for a 35x12.5R20 and techincally way out of spec.

I hear about a lot og guys saying they run 35s on the factory 20x8s but I just don't feel comfortable with that due to tire manus specs on recommended rim widths. They are usually min 9"

Good point on the rims! I had the 20x9 Express rims and forgot that the Big Horn/Lone Star wheels are only 8" side.

 

[DallasLoneStar]

Hey I am all about the good points!

 

[Chasewatmatters]

Like Brandon said, air pressure or alignment. Air pressure sounds like the most likely culprit since you say they are wearing in the center. Do you know what pressure you are running them at?

For replacements, I hear good things about the wear on Pro Comp MT's. I've got about 10k on my Cooper STT Pro's and they're wearing pretty good. They're starting to wear down but no more than I was expecting from a 35" MT.

All good points! I believe they're running about 50 psi. I called my tire guy and he said that Toyo tires are the longest lasting mud tire.. any thoughts on that?

 

[Chasewatmatters]

Agree with monteholic. Did the 2009 Lone Stars also have 20x8 rim? That's really narrow for a 35x12.5R20 and techincally way out of spec.

I hear about a lot og guys saying they run 35s on the factory 20x8s but I just don't feel comfortable with that due to tire manus specs on recommended rim widths. They are usually min 9"

Yeah i bought all new wheels when i got the tires.. went with 20x10. Those shouldn't cause a problem with wearing in the center should they?

 

[Chasewatmatters]

front end alignment?

and being worn mainly in the center is a sign of too narrow of a rim for the tire and/or to high of air pressure

running about 50 psi.. do you think it should be lower than that?

 

[Witch]

You will obviosly be looking for new ones after you get the other issues addressed

May want to take look at the Toyo R/T's

They are a nice intermediate solution that bridges AT's and MT's

 

[DallasLoneStar]

IMO, 20x10 sounds fine, and 50psi may be just a little high but not nearly enough to cause problem like that.

 

[BrandonB]

Agreed, that with a 10" rim you are fine for a 12.50, but 50 may be a little high. I only run 39-41 in my Coopers but each tire is different. As witch pointed out, the RT's are a good tweener tire that handle pretty well. Your tire guy is probably right on the Toyo's but I personally don't like their MT's. Everyone runs them, they are extremely over priced (in my area at least), I've seen plenty that wear well and plenty that wear poorly, and lastly I have heard several complaints about their actual off-road performance. I'm not saying nobody else should use them as I'm sure they are a great tire. I just don't want them.

 

[brandonjansen]

Running a wider tire on a narrow rim still won't provide that kind of wear if the tire pressure is set correctly. I run 37x13.5's on stock 17x7's during the winter and they wear fine. I just lower the tire pressure a bit so the wear is even across the tread.

OP, the tire pressure definitely isn't your issue. At 50 psi you shouldn't be seeing anywhere close to that kind of wear. I do agree that you can be lowering that to about 40 psi front / 35 psi rear unloaded but that's not going to make the difference. Next thing to check will the the alignment as that could be a likely culprit.

It's true that the Federals aren't going to last as long as Toyo's however that still doesn't explain the wear issue you're having. Federals should still be lasting a lot longer than what you've experienced.

I run two different sets of Toyo MT's. I have 24,000 miles on the set of 37x13.5's on 17x7's and 14,000 miles on the set of 37x13.5's on 22x12's and both sets still have well over 50% tread left. I haven't actually measured them to do the math but I'd say they're closer to 75% and 85% respectively. You should be seeing 40,00-50,000 miles out of those Federals if rotated properly no question.

 

[DallasLoneStar]

Just sayin', the Toyo A/Ts have a 50k warranty for the LT sizes

 

[BrandonB]

Just sayin', the Toyo A/Ts have a 50k warranty for the LT sizes

So do the ProComp Xtreme A/Ts! :gy:

and their Xtreme MT2s have a 40k warranty! I think those are a great looking tire too, but they were pretty spendy! I've only got 10k on my Coopers though so I've got a while before I need tires again!

 

[DallasLoneStar]

Interesting, I didn't think any MTs had a treadwear warranty. Food for thought!

 

[BrandonB]

Interesting, I didn't think any MTs had a treadwear warranty. Food for thought!

I think they are possibly the only ones. When I was shopping for wheels and tires a neighbor had them in 305/70R18 on his black Express (not the package, just a black one) with some black Pro Comp wheels and it looked really good (to me, but my wife thought it looked bad with 18's so I got 20's). Another neighbor also put the Xtreme MT2's on his Rubicon and they look really good. We'll see what happens in a couple years when I need new tires. By then there may be more MTs with warranties as compounds improve and technology changes?