New Rubber for the Double cab - GY MT/R

Hey Fellas.

A set of goodyear wrangler MT/R's (the older model) just kinda fell in my lap. The question I have.. I had these on a truck previously and found they began to wear uneven/scalloped. Two are like new, two of them have tons of tread, but have the beginnings of starting to wear uneven.

A. Is it safe to say once they start to wear uneven there is no going back?
B. What kind of gas milage would I expect to lose with mostly highway driving going from GY Wrangler RT/S to GY Wrangler MT/R's ?

They're load Range E so they would handle Higher PSI. I've heard that they need really high PSI for highway driving to wear evenly.

C. What PSI would be recommend for mostly highly driving on these tires?

The help is appreciated, there bad ass looking tires.

http://www.offroaders.com/tech/AT-MT-Tires/Goodyear-Wrangler-MTR.htm

 

If tires start to wear unevenly side to side, you can get them back with proper alignment and proper tire pressure. I've found that cupping is a little more difficult to fix.

Do the chalk test to determine the correct pressure. Draw a line of chalk across the tire, drive a short distance and the chalk should be even worn across the tread. If under inflated, the edges will be worn, not the center. If over inflated, the center will be worn, not the edges.
Here's another variation:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/wheels-tires/140845-tire-pressure-good-chalk-test-right.html

 

I am not sure if this is side to side or cupping..

Perhaps I can explain a bit better. When I rub my hand over the tread it feels like one piece of tread is raised, the next piece of a bit lower, raised, lower, raised lower..

Theres not a huge difference, maybe 1mm or so, but its there and is starting.

 

That sounds like cupping. I've fought that with my Tacoma for a while and haven't had much luck. H/T tires seem to wear fine but any tires I've had with open tread patterns seem to cup. Doing some reading, it seems to be caused by a slight off balance of the tire/wheel/hub assembly. I was going to experiment with rotating the wheel on the studs (turn the wheel 1/3 turn in the same position) every 1,000 - 1,500 miles to see if it helps. I haven't gotten ambitious enough to give it a shot yet though... If you google tire cupping, you get a lot of different theories and ideas as to what possible causes are.

 

Thanks Pugga.. So simply put, unless I want to fiddle around with my tires and rims on a regular bases, rotating, 1/3 turning etc I am likely going to run into further problems.

Think ill see If I can trade them for BFG AT.. likely be better for me anyways since I do a lot of highway.

 

I'd talk to a local tire shop about cupping. I've asked a few people and I get different responses depending who I ask. It seems to be one of those finicky things. There might be a trade secret to prevent tire cupping, I just haven't found it yet