LT.
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Los Alamos, New Mexico
I have been thinking about what I wanted to do next for another project. I was thinking I wanted to build a street truck but, that really is not my style. Besides, finding what I wanted and what I was willing to pay were two different things.
On Saturday after noon I went up Forrest Road 100 scouting for elk. About 5 miles in on a gravel road the dash light on my little Ram 1500 Hemi went off. Signalling I had a tire that was loosing pressure. I pulled over and found I had an impact break on the drivers rear on the tread surface of the original equipment tires. I was not too upset as they had been on the truck for 4 1/2 years already and had over 36,000 miles on them. I started to come back down the road so I was not changing the tire on an uphill gravel road. While on my way to the black top the light came on again and chimed again. Thought it was just telling me the tire was going flat fast. Once on the black top I checked the pressure and decided to push through to the next town. After a long while I was able to come home, change the tire with the spare and checked all the pressures on all the tires. I found the spare was a little low so I went to the gas station to fill it. While there I checked the other tires and found the passengers rear tire was also low. When I started to fill it I found I had another impact break on it as well.
This is what forced my hand when it came to my next project. I go hunting in Wyoming for antelope, Nebraska and Iowa for deer, and maybe even Idaho for elk. I was needing a truck that was still daily drivable, highway friendly, and would not have problems when I go up a gravel road. Welcome to project run a round.
I have to attend schools for shooting and tactics and they are almost always a drive and off road somewhere. I wanted to keep all the trucks stock abilities like comfort, fuel mileage, and highway abilities in tact. But, I also wanted something that looked better, worked better off road, and would still take me to work every day.
This project started when I was just trying to buy tires. I wanted a tire that was a little taller but, I really wanted some extra width. After looking at what was available and thinking about it over night I went back to the shop to order the new tires. The supplier could not get them. Figures, after I had set up all night making sure that is what I wanted. Next trip to the shop I looked at what was available to me for the truck. Nothing really blew up my skirt so back home I came to do more research. What I ended up deciding on, after two more days of thinking, was some Toyo Open Country MT's. The stock size for the truck was a 275-60-20 and the Toyo's I ordered are 275-65-20. Only 1.2" taller and the same width with more aggressive tread. I hope that by keeping the width the same my fuel mileage won't suffer quite as bad. Also, changing the width of the tires meant I would either need new wheels, or a spacer to clear the upper A arm on the front suspension.
I call it project run a round for a couple of reasons. First, the truck still needs to run me around everywhere and second, it took me four full days to find the right tires for the truck. If this project is anything like every other project I do then I suspect that nothing is going to be easy for this one either. I have a few plans for the truck in an effort to improve fuel mileage and it's off road capabilities as well. Time will tell.
LT.
On Saturday after noon I went up Forrest Road 100 scouting for elk. About 5 miles in on a gravel road the dash light on my little Ram 1500 Hemi went off. Signalling I had a tire that was loosing pressure. I pulled over and found I had an impact break on the drivers rear on the tread surface of the original equipment tires. I was not too upset as they had been on the truck for 4 1/2 years already and had over 36,000 miles on them. I started to come back down the road so I was not changing the tire on an uphill gravel road. While on my way to the black top the light came on again and chimed again. Thought it was just telling me the tire was going flat fast. Once on the black top I checked the pressure and decided to push through to the next town. After a long while I was able to come home, change the tire with the spare and checked all the pressures on all the tires. I found the spare was a little low so I went to the gas station to fill it. While there I checked the other tires and found the passengers rear tire was also low. When I started to fill it I found I had another impact break on it as well.
This is what forced my hand when it came to my next project. I go hunting in Wyoming for antelope, Nebraska and Iowa for deer, and maybe even Idaho for elk. I was needing a truck that was still daily drivable, highway friendly, and would not have problems when I go up a gravel road. Welcome to project run a round.
I have to attend schools for shooting and tactics and they are almost always a drive and off road somewhere. I wanted to keep all the trucks stock abilities like comfort, fuel mileage, and highway abilities in tact. But, I also wanted something that looked better, worked better off road, and would still take me to work every day.
This project started when I was just trying to buy tires. I wanted a tire that was a little taller but, I really wanted some extra width. After looking at what was available and thinking about it over night I went back to the shop to order the new tires. The supplier could not get them. Figures, after I had set up all night making sure that is what I wanted. Next trip to the shop I looked at what was available to me for the truck. Nothing really blew up my skirt so back home I came to do more research. What I ended up deciding on, after two more days of thinking, was some Toyo Open Country MT's. The stock size for the truck was a 275-60-20 and the Toyo's I ordered are 275-65-20. Only 1.2" taller and the same width with more aggressive tread. I hope that by keeping the width the same my fuel mileage won't suffer quite as bad. Also, changing the width of the tires meant I would either need new wheels, or a spacer to clear the upper A arm on the front suspension.
I call it project run a round for a couple of reasons. First, the truck still needs to run me around everywhere and second, it took me four full days to find the right tires for the truck. If this project is anything like every other project I do then I suspect that nothing is going to be easy for this one either. I have a few plans for the truck in an effort to improve fuel mileage and it's off road capabilities as well. Time will tell.
LT.
