WHYDTYTT: What Have You Done To Your Truck Today?

[Gary Lewis]

Excellent!

You'll have to give a ride report when you get a few miles on them.

The weird thing is, I wrote up a ride report as part of that first post but for some reason it kept cutting off everything after the second photo. I'm sure it's just some HTML fail on my part, but I couldn't find it.

Anyway...the ride is good. Yes, the tires are a little heavier than the Mastercrafts and I can feel it going over breaks in the pavement - they 'clomp' a little harder than before. But not badly by any stretch, and the roads here are good in any case.

Noise is fine as well. At highway speeds I cannot tell any difference. At slow speeds, such as coming to a stoplight, there's a little hum that wasn't there before. But again, well within my personal tolerance.

Appearance-wise, they're A+...just the look I was going for. It will take a while to get used to them after ten years of riding on featureless doughnuts, but I think I can handle it. They may well bulge in the front as much as the Mastercrafts did, but they don't look as weak.

Finally, an oddity. Despite being nominally smaller tires (215/75 vs 235/75 before), the ride height is completely unchanged to within the precision of my yardstick - 30.75" to the top of the front left wheel opening. I had expected to lose a quarter-inch or so, but I'm glad I didn't.

P.S. I think my spare looks sharp as well.

Your spare does look sharp.

On the ride height, some manufacturers play games with the tire sizes. We put a set of "high MPG" tires on Janey's Subie years ago, and they sure helped the MPG. Or so we thought. One day I used the GPS on my phone and discovered that we were going quite a bit slower than the speedo said. Turns out the tires were well undersized for the size shown on the sidewall, and the enhanced economy was due to the odometer saying we'd gone more miles than before.

So maybe your tires are a bit bigger than the old ones with respect to their "rating"?

[Gary Lewis]

A few old guys finally showed up for Thursday night car night (all social distancing, of course).

How about this groovy Econoline dually next to me.

Interesting Econoline! Lot of work done on that one.

And, is that a real Cobra?

[Dorsai]

I like those tires! They're a great size for mileage, but also have a respectable tread pattern that separates them from passenger car tires.

Thanks! A 'respectable tread pattern' is what I was going for - something that looked better than the passenger car tires I had on it, without looking ridiculous on an un-lifted 2WD truck.

I sent my brother the photos of the truck with the new tires, and we got to reminiscing about how much we liked the look when our grandfather had it - we're both convinced he ran tractor tires on it. http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/head-rotfl-57x22_orig.gif

(That photo is from 2002 - grandpa had been gone for two years by then, and it would be another eight before the truck was mine.)

So maybe your tires are a bit bigger than the old ones with respect to their "rating"?

That's all I could come up with myself. This doesn't particularly bother me (although what you describe with Janey's tires would), although I had hoped for slightly smaller tires to give me some slight driveability improvements. I didn't feel any improvement on my test run w.r.t. acceleration and maintaining highway speed on hills, and this would explain why.

[Gary Lewis]

I like those tires! They're a great size for mileage, but also have a respectable tread pattern that separates them from passenger car tires.

Thanks! A 'respectable tread pattern' is what I was going for - something that looked better than the passenger car tires I had on it, without looking ridiculous on an un-lifted 2WD truck.

I sent my brother the photos of the truck with the new tires, and we got to reminiscing about how much we liked the look when our grandfather had it - we're both convinced he ran tractor tires on it.

(That photo is from 2002 - grandpa had been gone for two years by then, and it would be another eight before the truck was mine.)

So maybe your tires are a bit bigger than the old ones with respect to their "rating"?

That's all I could come up with myself. This doesn't particularly bother me (although what you describe with Janey's tires would), although I had hoped for slightly smaller tires to give me some slight driveability improvements. I didn't feel any improvement on my test run w.r.t. acceleration and maintaining highway speed on hills, and this would explain why.

Those look like Mud & Snow tires on the truck in the 2002 pic. A lot of pickups ran those on the rear back then.

As for tire diameter, Tire Rack has the specs for rev's per mile and overall diameter for each tire, and it is amazing how much difference there can be. I'm guessing you got a large 215.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Your spare does look sharp.

X2! 💪

[ArdWrknTrk]

I like those tires! They're a great size for mileage, but also have a respectable tread pattern that separates them from passenger car tires.

Thanks! A 'respectable tread pattern' is what I was going for - something that looked better than the passenger car tires I had on it, without looking ridiculous on an un-lifted 2WD truck.

I sent my brother the photos of the truck with the new tires, and we got to reminiscing about how much we liked the look when our grandfather had it - we're both convinced he ran tractor tires on it. http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/head-rotfl-57x22_orig.gif

(That photo is from 2002 - grandpa had been gone for two years by then, and it would be another eight before the truck was mine.)

So maybe your tires are a bit bigger than the old ones with respect to their "rating"?

That's all I could come up with myself. This doesn't particularly bother me (although what you describe with Janey's tires would), although I had hoped for slightly smaller tires to give me some slight driveability improvements. I didn't feel any improvement on my test run w.r.t. acceleration and maintaining highway speed on hills, and this would explain why.

Was your Gramps "frugal"??? http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/head-rotfl-57x22_orig.gif

At first glance I would have thought surplus Korean war jeep tires, but it looks more of a worn out Z-bar type than staggered lugs with a center rib, or a true V-cleat tractor tire.

 

[Rembrant]

Interesting Econoline! Lot of work done on that one.

And, is that a real Cobra?

It's a kit car I guess Gary, I'm not sure. The car is a bit rough (on purpose) and has what looks like an EFI 5.0L H.O. under the hood. It has the stock style EFI intake. It has an antique plate though, so it's at least 25 years old, if not 30. I'm not sure how you even get kit cars on the road here...it always used to be a bit of a foggy grey area. A lot of them, including things like the VW Manx buggies, were registered as their donor vehicles...which could be very tricky if you ever go into an accident with one.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Interesting Econoline! Lot of work done on that one.

And, is that a real Cobra?

It's a kit car I guess Gary, I'm not sure. The car is a bit rough (on purpose) and has what looks like an EFI 5.0L H.O. under the hood. It has the stock style EFI intake. It has an antique plate though, so it's at least 25 years old, if not 30. I'm not sure how you even get kit cars on the road here...it always used to be a bit of a foggy grey area. A lot of them, including things like the VW Manx buggies, were registered as their donor vehicles...which could be very tricky if you ever go into an accident with one.

In CT replicars, or kit cars that do not use existing chassis, are registered as age appropriate, and need only conform to restrictions in place at that time.

https://www.semasan.com/resources/everything-you-need-register-and-title-your-hobby-car-all-50-states

I know this because I had to trailer my buddy Bill's Cobra kit to Weathersfield for inspection.

He doesn't need bumpers, seatbelts, self cancelling turn signals, none of that.

Iirc the title they gave him and the VIN they affixed says his car is 1964.

 

[Gary Lewis]

In CT replicars, or kit cars that do not use existing chassis, are registered as age appropriate, and need only conform to restrictions in place at that time.

https://www.semasan.com/resources/everything-you-need-register-and-title-your-hobby-car-all-50-states

I know this because I had to trailer my buddy Bill's Cobra kit to Weathersfield for inspection.

He doesn't need bumpers, seatbelts, self cancelling turn signals, none of that.

Iirc the title they gave him and the VIN they affixed says his car is 1964.

I like Cobras, and had at one point thought of building one of the kits. But got into Bullnose trucks instead?

Good link, Jim. I looked at the OK laws and may want to register Dad's truck as a Vintage vehicle. We shall see.

[1986F150Six]

P.S. I think my spare looks sharp as well.

http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n62946/IMG_1796.jpg

That looks cool, Matthew! I do approve of the hubcap and have others...