87 K5 Build...Hmmm, whats that Ryoken up to? stay tuned...

[79BRUISER]

My 38's are bias and they are horrible on the street. I swap them out and put on some 33" radials if I plan on driving it very much on the street.

Its a PITA but I don't want to spend a thousand for new tires either.

Bruiser

 

[NEK5]

Wow Paul, looks like you took a big step in your build. Sweet!

 

[blazinzuk]

Wow thats cool, I have run the 38" radials and I loved them. One of the best tires I owned. I used equal to balance them and they worked great. Grooving them does help quite a bit too.

 

[ryoken]

My 38's are bias and they are horrible on the street. I swap them out and put on some 33" radials if I plan on driving it very much on the street.

Its a PITA but I don't want to spend a thousand for new tires either.

Bruiser

yeah, I wouldn't run bias.. truck'll be used as a DD some or most days.. 75%..

not that I drive real far, about 40 miles roundtrip. But I also wanna take it fishing/camping 8 hrs away now and then..

I feel it's too good a deal to pass up, 600 for tires and rims that look like they have a couple thousand miles on em...

 

[ryoken]

Wow Paul, looks like you took a big step in your build. Sweet!

yeah, I'm going off...

Should be pretty nasty come summer time..

 

[ryoken]

Wow thats cool, I have run the 38" radials and I loved them. One of the best tires I owned. I used equal to balance them and they worked great. Grooving them does help quite a bit too.

I'm stoked on em.. Figure it's better to go a tad bigger than I planned then the regretful "I shoulda went bigger!" with 35's or 36's...

I'm not sure what I'll do about balancing yet.. I've got a pretty good local tire guy.. I'll see what he can do when I remount them after blasting, etc..

What groover do you have? I've read a few articles on it helping out the TSL's quite a bit on the street... I'd be into doing that... Think I'd need a bottle of Turkey or case of beer for that one tho...

 

[udy2554]

I ran the 38" radials with great success. THey have good road manners IMO. I ran them on 16.5x10 rock crawlers instead of 12"s. They didn't stick out too much, maybe 1.5 to 2" . I got great tread wear for a swamper, but I rotated 5 of them at every oil change. They are not as aggressive as the bias or SX, but they do well in the mud as compared to a mud tire and still handle the road at speed. I liked them.

 

[blazinzuk]

What groover do you have? I've read a few articles on it helping out the TSL's quite a bit on the street... I'd be into doing that... Think I'd need a bottle of Turkey or case of beer for that one tho...

Pretty much the cheapest one I could get It takes a while to groove them I think its worth it. Had a buddy who had some 36x14.50s radials that were siped they lasted forever it seemed.

 

[ryoken]

I ran the 38" radials with great success. THey have good road manners IMO. I ran them on 16.5x10 rock crawlers instead of 12"s. They didn't stick out too much, maybe 1.5 to 2" . I got great tread wear for a swamper, but I rotated 5 of them at every oil change. They are not as aggressive as the bias or SX, but they do well in the mud as compared to a mud tire and still handle the road at speed. I liked them.

Thats exactly what I wanted to hear.. thanks..

Now to build some suspension to hang it all from!

 

[ryoken]

Pretty much the cheapest one I could get It takes a while to groove them I think its worth it. Had a buddy who had some 36x14.50s radials that were siped they lasted forever it seemed.

hmmm, $50, 60, not bad... I can see that job taking awhile...

I'm mostly concerned with how they do in the rain... I can see some siping in my future..

Looks like I walked into some good tires here... Thanks to Rootbreaker for the hookup!

Hmmm, wonder if he's got a winch kicking around....

 

[Avery4jc]

I hate to go against the grain here but imo go w/ some 35-36" tall tires (even if that means getting the 38's for a smokin' deal then selling them)...
I have 4.10's and my 700r4 doesn't like my 38.5's (which only measure out to 37" tall mounted up w/ the weight of the truck on them) so either plan on re-gearing or go w/ some 36's... then down the road you can hack the fenders and re-gear for 38's... just my opinion based on my setup, I have to run in drive even down the freeway b/c as soon as it kicks into OD it falls flat on it's face...

 

[sandawgk5]

I hate to go against the grain here but imo go w/ some 35-36" tall tires (even if that means getting the 38's for a smokin' deal then selling them)...
I have 4.10's and my 700r4 doesn't like my 38.5's (which only measure out to 37" tall mounted up w/ the weight of the truck on them) so either plan on re-gearing or go w/ some 36's... then down the road you can hack the fenders and re-gear for 38's... just my opinion based on my setup, I have to run in drive even down the freeway b/c as soon as it kicks into OD it falls flat on it's face...

He doesn't even have his new axles yet. I am sure Paul will do things the right way no matter what size tire he runs.

Other than that it is good advice Avery.

Dik

 

[Avery4jc]

Yeah I know he doesn't have them but he said they have 4.10's and I didn't read a single post from anyone about re-gearing for 38's (especially w/ a 700r)... I've ran 38's for a while w/ my 700r and 4.10's and I'll put it this way... 35" BFG AT's and 52's/56's are on the way.

 

[sandawgk5]

Yeah I know he doesn't have them but he said they have 4.10's and I didn't read a single post from anyone about re-gearing for 38's (especially w/ a 700r)... I've ran 38's for a while w/ my 700r and 4.10's and I'll put it this way... 35" BFG AT's and 52's/56's are on the way.

I hear ya, I run 37s with 4.10s and I normally stay out of OD. I think it hasn't been mentioned because most (myself included) ASSume Paul has already thought of it.

Dik

 

[Avery4jc]

I think it hasn't been mentioned because most (myself included) ASSume Paul has already thought of it.

True... carry on.

 

[original balzer]

I ran 38's for almost a year with center treads siped. I would estimate 50k miles, but I still sold them with aprox 1/4 tread left. I loved those tires, but I do have one sugestion on the sipes. dont cut the edges of the tread blocks just in the center. Pic below to explain. I had mine siped at a tire shop and they cut all the way across the tread blocks and a buddy of mine (although his where 35's rather than 38's) did his own sipes. in comparison my tires chunked off little bits at the sipes. while his tires didnt and stayed good. We wheeled the same areas all the time. Not that it was a big deal, more of a cosmetic thing.

As far as gearing my axles are 4.56 and I ran a sm465 AND a few worn out 305 engines. (went through 3 freebie engine) That being said I didnt have any problems running 70mph even up hill.

Edit: I also rotated 5 tires about every 2500-3000 miles. So please dont tell me 50k is impossible from TSL's

 

[ryoken]

Yeah I know he doesn't have them but he said they have 4.10's and I didn't read a single post from anyone about re-gearing for 38's (especially w/ a 700r)... I've ran 38's for a while w/ my 700r and 4.10's and I'll put it this way... 35" BFG AT's and 52's/56's are on the way.

good catch on the numbers... trust me, the original plan was for a set of 4:56's.. But I got screwed out of em by a Ck5er...

I'll run the 4:10's for a little while, and eventually regear... I may even step up to 4:88's or 5:13's if I feel it's necessary. I planned on 4:56's minimum, even if I ran a 36 or 37..

 

[ryoken]

I ran 38's for almost a year with center treads siped. I would estimate 50k miles, but I still sold them with aprox 1/4 tread left. I loved those tires, but I do have one sugestion on the sipes. dont cut the edges of the tread blocks just in the center. Pic below to explain. I had mine siped at a tire shop and they cut all the way across the tread blocks and a buddy of mine (although his where 35's rather than 38's) did his own sipes. in comparison my tires chunked off little bits at the sipes. while his tires didnt and stayed good. We wheeled the same areas all the time. Not that it was a big deal, more of a cosmetic thing.

As far as gearing my axles are 4.56 and I ran a sm465 AND a few worn out 305 engines. (went through 3 freebie engine) That being said I didnt have any problems running 70mph even up hill.

Edit: I also rotated 5 tires about every 2500-3000 miles. So please dont tell me 50k is impossible from TSL's

thanks... I seem to remember reading that somewhere, good to hear some realworld experience on it..

 

[udy2554]

I ran 4.10 gears with my 38s with a very healthy 454. I may be off a little, but with the 465/205 and 60/14ff , 65mph I was turning about 2400rpm and averaged about 10 mpg driving it like an idiot (burnouts and such). It's been a few years so i may be imagining it, but I think i'm pretty close.

 

[udy2554]

Here are a couple pics that show how much tire sticks out with the 38' radials on 10"x16.5 rims. Probably not all that usefull not knowing what the backspacing is though,sorry.