Mechanos

I squeezed about as much life as I could out of the tires on my '01. A little background... I bought the truck in '04 with 42k on the clock. The dealer had put a brand new set of 265/75 D's on the truck prior to selling it. Since they were brand new, I just left them on there. My truck now has 106k on and the tread was getting a little thin. That's 64k on the tires with NO abnormal tread wear! The tread was still perfectly flat, no cupping, feathering, etc. blah, blah blah.... they were just getting a little thin. I do remember rotating the tires once at about 48k, but that's it.

Now the guy at the tire shop starts spewing all these statics about front end alignment, etc. and how mine truck has a 95% chance of being out of alignment due to it's age. Then he asked when I had it aligned last.... I said, "never... I've never had any reason to question the alignment. It tracks straight down the road, doesn't pull and just look at those tires... there is no abnormal wear." The tire guy now ups his number to 99% chance of needing an alignment since I've never had it aligned.

Anyhow, I get my new set of BFG AT/KO 285/75R16 E's mounted up and they put the truck on the aligment rack to check the aligment (free service included with the purchase of the tires). Front end inspection finds NO loose or worn parts - not even the track bar which is still the original track bar. The tech mounts the targets on the wheels and gets some readouts. Everything is within spec... and I mean < 0.5° from recomended spec! Then the tech notices that the steering wheel is just a tad bit crooked so he straightens the wheel and rechecks the alignemnt. With the steering wheel now straight, the toe is just a little off.

Long story short, I had them readjust the toe to spec with steering wheel straight, but I find it amazing that in 6 years, the alignment is still dead on (although the steering wheel was a little crooked, it was probably aligned that way), I'm still running on the original track bar, and I got 64k miles on a set of tires without rotating them like I should have.

rbattle

I am pretty sure most everyone is going to ignore your post because we are envious. I know I am. I personally have had a hell of a time. I had all kinds of problems and now I just gave up and money whipped it by buying all sorts of fancy upgrades. Now some of the parts aren't playing well together so I am trying to work them together. I hate Dodge for not making a decent steering and suspension setup.
R

Mechanos

Believe me.... I was pretty shocked as well. After reading all the accounts people have been having with these trucks' steering components, I keep wondering if they're talking about the same truck as I'm driving.

I have an appointment with the dealer friday morning to reflash my computer to update it with the new rev/mile number of the new tires. I can tell that the speedo is a little off with 285's vs. the 265's. I called several dealers in my area and was quoted everywhere from $42.50 to $89.95 to reflash the computer.

Dr. Evil

Find someone was a Smarty - it will reprogram for tire size and its free.

Think about buying a Smarty...

Mechanos

Don't know anyone around me that has a Smarty.... and I have thought about buying one, but that's all I've done... think about it. Always seems to be something else that needs the $$$ thrown at it.

Fishbait

Have you had any balance issues yet with your 285 BFG E's?

Mechanos

No, but I only have about 100 miles on them.

Mechanos

Just got the truck reflashed over lunch for the correct revs/mile. They told me $42.50 on the phone, but they only charged me $25.50.