New England B.S. Thread

I've had excellent tread wear. Around 40k with plenty left. I'm only changing them out because I put them on when I bought my truck in '14 and they are aging out. Mine were 245/75-16, but I bought a set of 17s from buy/sell and am going to 265/65-17. I have never had a set of Michelins (of all types on multiple very different vehicles) I didn't love.

 

I have the stock tacoma tires on mine, I got about 45k out of them. They're low enough I should replace them, just waiting for it to be warm enough and someone to clone my TPMS codes to the new ones. There's enough tread to be safe on the road, they'd be rough off road though

I like ARB but I don't want the full hoop bumpers on mine either. I have someone wanting to make their own, so he's going to make me an SSO clone with the wings. Basically a viper cut plate bumper.

 

Supposedly the LTXs have excellent tread life.

I had Primacy XCs on my first F-150 (OEM tire) and they didn't last long. But, they look like they were made specifically for Ford and Ram and the warranty was much shorter than the LTX.

I don't get much life out of AT tires - my Cooper AT3s only went about 30k and the Hankook AT2s the came on this truck are pretty worn with around 25k on them. I'm hoping I can at least get 40-45 out of a highway tire.

I don't buy LT tires - I think they're too heavy and stiff for a half ton truck.

 

I like the SSO on the newer trucks, but I walked away from a pretty gnarley accident with my ARB so it gets a gold star in my book. It took the truck out, but it could have been so so much worse.

I have nearly 25,000 on my AT3 4S on the Jeep and I don't think I'm at 50% treadwear yet. I'll have to check the tread dept this weekend. I think I was at 8/32 last time I measured maybe 1,000 miles ago.

 

I think a combination of the roads and my driving may chew them up faster. They're really windy and I don't really take the corners slow.

My Nokian Hakkas aren't going fast, though. At the rate they're wearing, I think I'll get four winters out of them - somewhere around 35-40k, which I think is excellent for soft snow tires. Cold pavement probably helps the lifespan - I do wait until the last second to put them on and they come off as soon as it starts regularly staying above freezing.

 

Fair enough.

I've had similar luck with snow tires. My Hankooks aged out rather than wore out, and for P-rated tires that's pretty good. I'll have to see how my Nokians fare this season. I used 1-1.5/32 on my set last year that I ended up replacing because I'm an overkill type when one got damaged. I'm just happy they have mid-late 2021 date codes this time around. My first set bought in mid-2020 had late 2018 date codes which I wasn't thrilled about.

 

Appreciate it but I'm going to wait until warmer weather comes around. Thank you though!

 

It always starts like that, then it becomes this giant rabbit hole of mods.

I don't mind the look of that, but I don't like the rivnut thing either. Also, if you want that to pass inspection, you're going to need to throw a red lens or something on it, no? Unless it is strictly an offroad rig. Running lights to the roof rack isnt super bad, just gotta tidy up the wires real nice.

Well, they said no warranty, so not sure what to do with it.

 

No worries, I have leftovers from time to time. Hit me up when you plan on doing it, I'm sure I can get you set up.

Anyone that wants to mess with some foam let me know. It's got about 2 weeks shelf life left and in the dumpster it goes.(you can make things float)

 

Yeah, I like them too. Just not my cuppa tea for what I want to do with my truck.

Depends on the state. NH you probably just need to have it covered. These are not DOT approved so it depends on the shop, it fits the bill just doesn't have the stamp. So, if the shop dug in, no dice. Basically treat it as a ditch light, if the state says it needs to be covered, then so would this. Just a black lens over the pod light would be fine, the other lights on it are brake and bed lights. No big deal.

Not crazy about the riv nut thing either. I DID find a picture of people putting the pod lights on the under side of their roof racks.



This would be fine - keep it out of the way of the top side of the rack, so I can chuck kayaks up there no problem.

I like this too, a flush mount in the bumper. I am tempted to do this one/add this one too
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/show-us-your-chase-lights.654278/#post-22789895

It is low, but probably still effective. At least for how often I would use it. Maybe do them in the bumper covers like these.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/flush-mount-lights-in-rear-bumper.523393/#post-16797846

I have a few ideas. We'll see what happens.

 

OOOH, the center light is not the brake. That threw me off. Ok, so if the center light is the chase light, yeah, depends on where you are I guess. Also depends on what city in MA, lol. Around where I am, nobody cared that my lights were all uncovered. Down where @NoFear9491 is, they hounded him for some reason.

 

Yeah, if I didn't have the roof rack I'd be in the third light business no doubt. I think it's silly to dig into the third brake light when I have the roof rack to put the lights on, same lights anyway. I need to get a switch panel set up though. Ditch, chase, radios, probably grab an 8 gang and run with it. I might also do some puddle/side lights off the roof rack or something too, for setting up camp and loading groceries etc. But those would be a cheap filler just to have it. I don't have plans for light bars etc etc etc, I don't wheel enough at night to justify a nice light setup. I just want to get my ditch light button janky shenanigans done up right

Might also grab a kayak trailer.



Do something like this for day to day if the roof is a pain in the arse to get it up and down. Back it into the driveway and unhook it on the reg, wouldn't be too bad. Then longer trips it would go on the roof rack.

Or something like this, for day to day use, easier than chucking it up the roof, maybe.


TBD. I have some thoughts and ideas some minor projects on the truck this year, nothing major though.

 

ARB sticks out like a mile from the truck, for that reason I don't want it. I'd get new stock bumper and insert before an ARB

 

It doesn't look as bad in person as in pictures.

I just hate tube bumpers on modern trucks. It exposes too much of the inner structure for my liking and looks unfinished. Dedicated truggy / trail rig, sure, but for a predominately driven street truck they don't mesh.

 

If the ebay plate bumper was still only 500 bucks I'd probably buy it. But it's 1k now lol

My 2 favorites right now are hybrid
Bamford
And brute force fab

 

I've been having great luck with the Michelin AT2 tires. I had them on my 150 and on all 3 F250's. I did not run LT tires on the 150 but the load rating on the P or SL rated F150 tires were plenty adequate for what the truck was rated to tow/haul. If you do tow, I'd at least look at C rated tires but wouldn't beyond that unless you're loaded all day, every day. I usually dump my Michelin tire/wheel sets around 20-25k miles and they still look great (that's why I dump them, I can still get good money for them and I get the best of the tread). I know the LT compound may be a little different and obviously I'm talking about the AT2, but I'd imagine the LTX would wear even better.

 

I tow the utility trailer for one reason or another every three weeks or so in the spring/summer/fall, but that's under 3000 lbs loaded with the ATV, garden tractor, or whatever else I need it for. I occasionally go up as high as 8000 or so, but that's probably less than 50 miles per year.

I was debating the AT2, but it looked like it was a bit more expensive for slightly less tread life.

 

Warfab ?

 

Hmm their tomcat ain't half bad

 

It's my favorite right now. Wait times everywhere suck.