My New Tires

[whitehumh2]

So After 7 years of abusing my 37x13.50R17 Toyo Open Country M/Ts and having never rotated them which resulted in me wearing out my front tires prematurely I finally decided to begin my search for some new rubber.
 
Now I really did like my Toyos and I would get another set if I couldn't find something that I liked better.
 
So I began my search!
 
My Criteria;
 
1. No smaller than 37, no larger than 39.
 
2. Must be good both offroad and on road.
 
3. Must have an aggressive tread pattern
 
4. Must be Excellent in Mud
 
5. Must be quiet on the road and ride smooth.
 
6. Must last a long time.
 
7. Budget of $550 a tire or less.
 
So here were my Choices in no particular order;
 
1. Toyo Open Country M/T
 
2. Goodyear Wrangler M/T
 
3. Hankook Dynapro MT
 
4. BFG Radial Mud Terrain KO
 
5. Mickey Thompson Baja Claw
 
6. Mickey Thompson Baja MTZ
 
7. Super Swamper Irok Radial
 
8. Cooper Discoverer STT
 
9. Yokohama Geolandr MT
 
10. Pit Bull Rockers
 
11. *******Wildcard ********
 
SO after emailling a bunch of guys in the club and reading and rereading tons of tire reviews. Then shopping for the best prices i finally bought my Wildcard...
 
MICHELIN XML 325/85R16
 
I have now had them installed and have accumulated close to 2500km on the new tires both on and off road and even on ice and snow covered roads.
 
All I can say is WOW! Man I love these tires! They have totally changed the look of my H2 and the ride and handling are amazing! They are quieter than my already smooth and quiet Toyos.
 
Offroad so far I can crawl through or over most things that had me stuck good before with my Toyos!
 
One thing the tires were lacking was some siping, so wet traction was something to be desired! So I Undertook the project of adding siping to the tires myself! What a job! But well Worth it! My grip on wet roads is excellent and even my grip on snow and ice far exceeds my greatest expectattions.
 
Now I also had to change my rims. Since I did have factory 17inch wheels but needed 16inch wheels I had to find some new rims.
 
For those I got a set of MB Wheels from Discount Tire. They are a 16x8.5 8on6.5 with 4.25 inch backspacing and -6offset. They are rated at 3640lbs a Wheel and look and ride great!
 
So finally here are the pictures!
 

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These tires are 38.5inches tall and they do rub a tiny bit at full lock especially since I have no lift but I have close to 16inches of ground clearance under the front diff and just shy of 13 under the rear diff, which is a huge improvement over stock! I will need to recalibrate my speedometer since I am running 5km/h faster than the speedometer indicates.
 
Here is what I used to do the siping in the tires. Yes I could have bought a tire groover but I would not have been able to create the pattern that I wanted. I did use a torch along with the soldering iron to be able to heat it faster between insertions. I feel the end result is great!
 

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So what do you think of my new tires??
 
Btw, a big thanks to Scott Duff who got me on the Michelin XML Military tire Band wagon and answered my continual emails!

[Gadgets]

Wow, they look beast!! I can't believe you did all that siping, that's quite a project, Well done!

[whitehumh2]

[quote="Gadgets"]
Wow, they look beast!! I can't believe you did all that siping, that's quite a project, Well done!
[/quote]
 
Tell me about it!! It took me a full 1.5 hours per tire to do all my custom sipes. That does not include making the tips that I used to make the pattern!
 
Best part is that I can add more when ever I wish in order to increase grip further!

[johnnyspikesH3]

Nice Kevin love the new shoes. Are you running factory play card pressure?

[whitehumh2]

[quote="JSRAPTOR"]
Nice Kevin love the new shoes. Are you running factory play card pressure?
[/quote]
 
Thanks Johnny!
 
Since the tires are rated at a stout 5070 @ 70psi, I am still adjusting the pressures. Presently I am running 40psi in the frt and 30psi in the rear and I appear to have an even contact patch and a very good ride. Off road I ran 20psi for the first time out and they worked great!

[Autumn Walker]

[quote="Polar Bear"]
Btw, a big thanks to Scott Duff who got me on the Michelin XML Military tire Band wagon and answered my continual emails!
[/quote]
 
You're more than welcome. I love how far you have taken these things in such a short time. The siping is critical; I can't wait for my siping tool to come in so I can get mine done; they are quite unruly in the wet without siping!

[whitehumh2]

Here is a helpful site that I used to help me choose a great Wheel!
 
<a href="http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp">ht ... ecs.jsp</a>
 
 
It allows you to play with tons of different set-ups without spending your money on a set of wheels that won't fit!