I need advice on buying truck tires for my dually

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GouletPens

GouletPens

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Since I know you guys and how generous you are with all kinds of helpful info, I figured I'd see what input you have for me. Here's the deal: I have a 1995 Ford F-350 4x2 (dually) that currently has LT235/85R16 tires on it that I need to replace in the next few months. I have never bought truck tires for a dually before so I need to know what are the best ones to get...I don't do a lot of heavy hauling or off-road with it, but I might down the road??? I put about 3,000 miles a year on the truck, and it's mostly just driving to Home Depot and the dump.

Now, I have a friend who has 4 LT245/75R16's in good shape for $200 (including the rims, which I could sell on CL), but I'm not sure if I should get them or not, especially b/c I'd have to get the new ones un-mounted off the rims and then remounted on my dually. How much does all this mounting and unmounting cost, and would I just be better off going to Goodyear or whatever and buying 6 new ones and getting them mounted? Any advice is appreciated here!
 
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mounting and unmounting costs very little compared to new tires - maybe six bucks a tire?

For 200 bucks, you'll be way ahead of buying new ones, provided they're in tip-top shape. I've never bought used tires before, but my new tires (same size as yours) cost 200 bucks each, so they're not cheap...

For 3000 miles a year, and mild winters, you don't need the top-of-the-line, however...
 
What matters about dual tires is that the outer diameter on each tire is the same. This has nothing to do with numbers, it has to do with the tread. If you have new tires and one gets ruined, so you stick a used tire on that is the same size, well the used tire has less tread, so the newer tire is doing all the work, it wears down or overheats the newer tire. So as long as they have the same tread and air pressure, you're good to go. I'd go for the used tires. If you want new tires, buy re-treads. Re-tread tires are cheaper and last just as long as new tires, sometimes longer. The "gators" you see on the road from us big trucks are actually mostly new tires, not re-treads. All school buses and air planes use re-treads. re-treads are generally more reliable because they are pre-seated..not sure what that means exactly, but you can go see the re-tread tire council and they'll show you all the facts. There are some bad re-treaders out there, but most are good..you can say the same thing about new tires too.
 
First, look in the driver's door jamb area and you should find a decal that lists the tire specifications for that truck. If the decal is gone or you simply cannot read it, look in the owner's manual (or online). Do your best to stay within the listed sizes. Going to a smaller size tire raises a couple issues to begin with:

1. Higher engine rpm's which means a higher fuel consumption. Since there is less roll out with a smaller diameter tire, the engine will have to run at a higher rpm to maintain the same speed (mph) as a larger diameter tire.

2. Increased heat build up, especially under heavier loads. Heat build up shortens tire life and can lead to a blow out or other premature failure.

Improper tire sizes can lead to mechanical failure of drive line parts also such as transmission and differential.

Also, some insurance companies have been known to not cover an accident if it can be proven that a tire that was not recommended (size and type, not brand) by the MFG. was proven to have caused the mishap.



Granted, one can use a tire size outside of the recommended listing, and it is done every day by scores of people, and with no issues. But save yourself of any possible issues and simply go with what the MFG. recommends. As the old commercial says, "You can pay ($) me now or you can pay ($$$$) me later!!! And going from a 245 down to a 235 is a difference. And definitely do not mis-match tire sizes on an axle.
 
I'm not too worried about the conditions I'll be driving in....rain is the worst we get around here, snow is a rarity in central VA. I looked inside the door and the factory specs are for an LT215/85R16...so the ones on there are a little bigger than the original recommended ones anyway. I looked at the price of new tires and HOLY CRAP they're expensive...I'm not sure I'm ready to drop $1200 on new tires. I'm thinking I'll pick up these 4 used ones (they're in really good shape) and put them all on the rear axle, then I'll have to buy two front ones later on.

What do you do with the old tires though? I know they can recycle them, but will I get anything for them or will the mounting guys just jack them from me when I get the new ones put on?
 
good place to do research on tires is Tirerack.com even if you don't buy from them. It will tell you what the OEM tires are, and everything else that will fit in the sizes that came stock. You can go up in size without hurting things too much (the biggest is the speedo will not read accurately if you change the size a large amount).
 
Hi Brian,

I saw your post and since it had to do with cars I emailed it to my dad. he runs a research center for carquest technical institute. heres what he said. alex

"The original equipment tire for that vehicle is a 215/85/16 which has an overall diameter of 30.390". The tires on the vehicle now have a diameter of 31.728" and are considered oversized. That 1.4" may not seem like much but the real important measurement is tire circumference. The vehicle is calibrated for a tire circumference of 95.473". The current tires are 99.676". This can adversely effect the vehicle computer (both PCM and ABS if equipped) as well as the speedometer. The tires he's looking at are a closer match for the OE tires with a 30.469" diameter. Even though the used tires are 30mm wider they have a lower aspect ratio (75 vs 85) which maintains a proper circumference of 95.721". The important question is, was the tire size adjusted in the vehicle computer (using a scan tool) when the oversized tires were installed? If so, the size needs to be reset to the OE size when the used tires are installed. If it wasn't previously adjusted, then he's OK with just installing the used tires.

Mounting and balancing of truck tire is typically more than "a few bucks". Balancing alone could be $20-$25 per wheel. There's a lot of mass spinning around back there with four of those big tires. Then there's valve stems, which on a dually are extended so add another $5-$10 per wheel.

Technically he can keep his old tires if he asks for them. If the shop is keeping them, even for resale, there is a mandatory tire recycling fee which is typically $3-$5 per tire.

When looking at used tires there is a lot more than just tread depth. Uneven wear from the center to the outer edges is a sign of improper inflation. Cupping, which is when some of the treads are worn low and some seem fine, is due to imbalance. A scalloped or tapered wear is from an alignment problem. All of these abnormal wear patterns will cause road noise and effect ride comfort."
 
I have recently put tires on one of my trucks and it wasn't that expensive. I went to BJ's Wholesale club and bought the B.F.Goodrich Commercial A/T tires. The total cost for the 6 tires was just over $600 (including mounting ,balancing,and new stems). I would not start changing the size of the tires just to save some money, it will cause problems down the road, especially with a dually. The tires I bought are load range E 10 ply and the last set lasted me about 40,000 hard plowing miles with drivers that don't care if they sit and spin my tires or rub up against curbs and other objects. I use these tires on all my work trucks and have always been happy with them.
 
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Supposedly a smaller tire actually saves fuel milage. The reduction is wind resistance and weight is a bigger fuel savings than the extra 50 rpm that it might require to make up the difference in speed. You do need to re calibrate the speedometer, or expect that when it says 65, you'll actually only be doing 62, which can be considered another bonus, if you have a heavy foot. Now I'm not scientist, I just hear on all the trucking shows about smaller tires saving money on fuel due to those two factors. The real big thing now, is getting rid of the dually all together. People are buying singles that are extra wide. The single tire has the same load rating as the dual, but it is several hundred pounds lighter and 40% more wind resistant. You have to remember that the width and height of your tire facing forward is dead into the wind like a brick wall. Something you never really think about, but tires create quite the wind block. Some of the trucks are starting to run curtains on the sides of the trailers and I've even seen wedges in front of the wheels to deflect wind. The worst aerodynamics of a vehicle are underneath.
 
I'm going to purchase the used tires, but mostly because I think they are undervalued and I could sell them for more than I pay for them. I still haven't decided if I'm going to put them on my truck yet.

Ditching the dually isn't an option. I bought the truck last summer when diesel was $5 a gallon and I WAY underpaid for it. Besides, I'm only putting 3k miles a year on the thing and when I'm going to the dump at 35-40 miles an hour, wind resistance of my tires is about the furthest thing on my mind. I don't know if the computer is calibrated to the factory tires (215/85R16) or the ones currently on it (235/85R16), but I do know that whoever owned the truck before me did quite a bit of tinkering including upgrading the computer chip, upgrading the turbo, and putting on a straight pipe exhaust. As heavy as the truck is, the thing comes off the line like a friggin' corvette and still gets me 17mpg on the highway. The only real factor here is the overall price I'm paying for these tires and whether or not they will be safe and function well for the relatively unexciting driving that I do 99.9% of the time.
 
So i guess now that I'm actually looking to get these used tires, would it be any problem to put them on the back 4 (245/75R16s) but leave the front 2 on, which are in good shape (235/85R16s)? With this plan, all the tires on each axle would be identical, but the back ones would be slightly smaller than the front.

Is it a huge problem to have slightly different sized tires on the front and the back, or do I need to go out and buy 2 new tires for the front to match the used ones for the back? I'm really being baptized by fire with this whole tire thing!!!
 
Nothing ever mattered for you Brian. You barely drive it. The bottom line is that each set must match. So if you have 2 tires with 1/2 thick tread and two tires with 5/16 tread, match the two 1/2 on one side and the 5/16 on the other. That's all that matters. So what if the diameter on the back is smaller than the front. Your only concern is even tire wear. Any time if you do buy new tires, put them on the front, because the front of the truck is where the most weight is, and therefore needs the most traction. I noticed my truck is starting to rust, dangit. I don't have a diesel pick up but my silverado still has 250000 miles and I'm not replacing it any time soon. I think I'm with most of the rest of the country on that idea. Just keep fixing it until the cost to fix it is more than a new used truck. I remember back when I thought I needed to look good in my vehicle. Now my motto is keep the money in my wallet and the credit card sanded down into pen inlay stock.
 
Yeah, looking closer at my truck it looks like the two left rear tires have considerably more tread on them than the rest of the tires....i don't know why, maybe they were replaced but not the others at some point. I'm thinking what I might do is take the two left rear tires (that are in good shape), put them on the front, and put the 4 (new) used ones on the back tires. I know it's best to put new tires on the front, but I also can't put tires of different sizes on the rear axle, so I'm doing the lesser of two evils here. The tires I bought are mounted on Chevy wheels so I figure I can pull those off (well, not me, but someone with a tire mounting machine!) and sell them on CL for some cash, mount them on the back, shift around the two good ones to the front and voila, I'll have not new but much better tires on my truck for around $200 or so out of pocket. And Obama's wondering why companies are in trouble....it's guys like me keeping my money where it belongs.....with me (or in the workshop, as the case may be, heh heh)!:rotfl:
 
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