Oregon and Washington BS thread

Awesome write up. I just went to DT and one of the techs had the 255/85s on his truck and he showed me how they began to warp and cup over time...for almost $1400 for a set of 4 I think I’ll do a little more research.

 

I used to have the older Cooper STT, with Kevlar sidewall. Those tires wore great and performed great on and off road. They held balance and didn't wear funky like I keep hearing about with the new version. I now run a set of the Cooper MTP and ha e been happy with them so far, but have tried to keep them from wearing. Keeping the alignment in check and doing a challenge test to find optimal psi should keep them from cupping or feathering. I've got a out 18k on them currently, with one tire at 13/32nds and the other 3 at 14/32nds. Both my old stt's and my mtp's are 285/70/17 lr-e.

 

I mean, I’ve gotten 50k and counting on my BFGs with 0 issues, I rotate every 5k when I do my oil changes to keep consistency between the two. Ol guy at DT said he hardly rotated his shit so maybe that’s why his looked like microwave bacon. No idea.

 

Yeah rotation helps, but mostly alignment and incorrect tire pressure, along with an out of balance wheel will create the issues seen with his tires. The tape weights some shops use fall off with off road use as soon as you get the inside packed with mud or loose gravel. Sure there are some tires from every manufacturer that slip through the QA process and go to shit, but owner/operator error creates a lot of issues that they blame on the manufacturer.

Especially with people airing down just to air down for every weekend excursion. That eventually wears on the integrity of the tire over 40k when frequently changing tire PSI and allowing the tire to distort the side wall and main tread surface.

 

All true. Maybe I’ll reconsider- I understand YMMV but for $1400 I don’t want a set of lemons if I can avoid it.

 

Went out today. Snows gone, but the gates locked at the last push to the top

 

For what it's worth, I rotate/balance all four tires with each oil change. I get my alignments done traditionally at a specialty shop, have SPC uppers with -2/+2 adjustability, and I also get my alignment checked every couple of months between alignments to ensure spec at Firestone (Lifetime alignment). If it's out, I just cough up the dough for the specialty shop to do it rather than one of the corporate guys just trying to bang out flat rate work at lightning speed.

My sample size is small, and my experiences anecdotal. But I run a club/company full of guys that have all been offroading for years. One of whom runs another well-known offroad company. I aint saying my word is the gospel, but I will say that I know what I'm doing, and that in my experience, all but one set of Cooper tires I've gotten to see firsthand with regular, extended use has had issues. That one set of non-problem tires was a set of 255/80-17s I had on my Taco for all of a month before I sold it. I wanted to chalk the ATP issues on my Taco up to a fluke, and pulled the trigger on the STTs since the ST Maxxes my guys had just bought in '17 were working well at the time. We all got burned.

/2 cents

*EDIT: Also, I replaced both front coilovers last March after losing the driver's 'Toytec' (private-labeled Eibach trash I came to find out) coilover in Moab on a BLM trail. Not blown or faded. Same for the rears which I replaced shortly thereafter. I replaced my tie rod outers in August (inners are good, rack and bushings are tight). LCAs are good; tight and no leaking in ball joints. Wheel bearings last...September I believe. SPC uppers rebuilt last December, IIRC. I've personally gone through my front end repeatedly since owning the truck and constantly rebuild/replace things at the first little hint of a bit of wear. My other guys do the same on regular wrenching days.

So it stands to reason that the wear and balance issues are coming from...somewhere else on these various Coopers in various sizes on various trucks. Food for thought.

 

Jesus lol, I too have SPC Lr UCAs, and the lifetime alignment from FS- but it seems like there are so many variables with either the tires being fine or just rolling piles of shit. Maybe I’ll just say fuck it and go with a set of 285 KBro2s and drink beers and eat food with @JimSnell and we can do a CMC and I’ll live with more smiles per gallon than miles.

 

Drinking beer and eating is the solution to all of life's curiosities. Good call.

 

Did a good amount of fucking around in both states the last two weeks, although the beginning of April was slow. Gonna be backpacking this afternoon through Sunday, but I'm out usually out each weekend if anyone wants to do any wheeling/shooting/camping.

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Fond of whiskey mules eh? Good choice

 

Let me know when your out and around Oregon, I’ve got an easy schedule. Stock still so some trails are probably out of my limits.

 

Yeaaaaah, buddy.

Where abouts? I'm down to clown next weekend wherever. FS had all the lake gates near Hood locked up back in early March, but I'll call the field office and check on trail status if ya wanna hit that area. Should be open by now.

 

I’m actually headed to Texas this weekend but I live in Oregon city, Oregon. You?

 

I’m in Molalla and am always down to clown around on the east side.

 

PDX, eastside off 205. It'd be easy to meet over in Sandy if we wanted to hit up Hood soon.

Dope.

 

Im up in Welches and wouldn't mind heading out with you guys.

 

Well, looks like I'm gonna be down south this weekend. Gotta do a site visit in Medford Friday morning, so Imma just camp in Rogue River Siskiyou NF Fri and go hike Crater Lake/camp in Umpqua on Sat.

I'd be down to plan something closer for next weekend, though.

 

I think I can do a a fri- sat next weekend. Stock Toyota so trail has to be manageable

 

Good deal, I have a couple things going this weekend as well... I’m in for next weekend.