By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Saturday, September 08, 2001 - 04:05 pm: Edit

Work was slow Friday. Then I got a call from the shop, that my tires were in! So, that was a good way to start the weekend, to take off early....

I went with the Dunlop Radial Rover R/T, in 245/75R16. These are sweet!!

On road, the Michelins suck compared to 'em... they are smoother, and a lot quieter. The 245s really fill in the wheelwells, too, makes it look much better. They look like tires that a Rover should have, not street tires.

I'm still playing with the air pressure... it feels different when taking corners, so I'm playing it easy until I'm used to it. Right now I'm running 50 in the front and 60 in the back.

What pressure is anyone else running in these?

-L

By Steve (Steve2) on Saturday, September 08, 2001 - 05:26 pm: Edit

cool! i'll be taking the tire leap next week - what suspension set up are you running?

steve

By Scott Tschantz (Scott) on Saturday, September 08, 2001 - 05:31 pm: Edit

Leslie I have the RT in 245/75-16 and I Air them up to 42 F 50 R It seems to work well .

By KJ on Saturday, September 08, 2001 - 06:06 pm: Edit

Hey Steve, have you given up the lease idea on a 2001 SD? If so, when are you going to stripe the Disco you have? With all those stripes, your old J**p was lookin' good to me.....eeeeeeeeeeek!

I'm really having no fun. Tonight we were in the drive up at McD's and the buggers had NO damned milkshakes, which was the only reason we were there. I had a perfect shot at hopping the curb and exiting the drive thru, but hubby made me wait until I could get out legally. He was afraid I'd do damage to the Disco. I think I wouldn't have damaged a thing, and that he was just being a meanie. Uh-oh, not technical chat, I'll shut up now. I really DO want to know what you're doing about that new Disco idea......

Karen

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Saturday, September 08, 2001 - 07:09 pm: Edit

Scott,
I started with 45 up front and 50 in the rear, but it felt 'soft', so I bumped it up to 50 and 60. Still a bit 'soft' compared to the Michelins... it feels like there's a bit more sway to it up top. I'm contributing both the improved ride and the 'swaying' feeling to a softer sidewall.... that would make sense, at least. Still, a good improvement overall.


Steve,
It's stock, as-of-yet. I had originially planned to go with 235/85s after getting RT springs and shocks first. But, the delay on the springs, in conjunction with the fact that I needed tires NOW (I managed to eek 65k out of the original Michelins, they were almost bald), coupled with realizing that my wife would through a hissy-fit if I 'rednecked it up' as she put it, I decided to go with the 245/75s now instead.

They're fine on the road. I'm gonna take it to the shop and use the forklift to play with it to make sure that I'm not going to slice up the rears when they stuff into the wheelwell. Also need to check the bumpstops while I'm at it... I'm conscious of it, so I'm not turning near lock, so I shouldn't have any problems between now and whenever I can get it done this week.


Speaking of....

Does anyone know much about OME spring packers? Are these essentially 5mm shims that go on top of the springs, to add just a touch of lift? If so, I think that these may be a good investment to limit the amount of trimming I might need to do.


Oh, Karen....
What you need, a RHD Series Rover.... then you can go through the drive-thru backwards!

-L

By Robert Mann (Oldscout) on Saturday, September 08, 2001 - 07:36 pm: Edit

I'm looking at my 235/85 s sitting next to my desk and hoping my Goodyear maypops make it 3 more weeks. I sure hope RTE lights a fire under there spring bender.

By Eric N (Grnrvr) on Sunday, September 09, 2001 - 03:44 am: Edit

I'm running the Dunlop R/T but in 225/75 and I'm using 52 front 60 rear.

By Steve (Steve2) on Sunday, September 09, 2001 - 11:43 am: Edit

leslie -

the spacer come 5mm or 10mm and go on the top of the spring. they are about $7-$10ea, are made of yellow coloured polyurethane

steve

By Justin on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 04:11 am: Edit

Steve, Where dou you get those spring spacers?

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 04:13 am: Edit

Steve has 'em for sale.... I'm contemplating them right now, AAMOF....

-L

By ali on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 04:14 am: Edit

Those of you with R/Ts, and running in the 50-60psi range, how is the contact patch across the tread surface? When I pump them up past 32/42, I seem to miss about 1/2" of tread on the inner and outer surface.

Thanks for the info.

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 04:41 am: Edit

Hmmm.... I'll have to check.... I'll let you know what I find...

-L

By pjkbrit on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 06:18 am: Edit

50-60psi????????????????????????? Am I missing something.....this sounds WAAAAAAAYYYYYYY to high a pressure to run these tires....the psi rating on the outside of the sidewall will show max inflation pressures for the tires with no load on them...my tires are at 32 psi all round....?????

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 06:20 am: Edit

The R/T in 245/75 has a max psi of 80. The sticker on them said that they run it to 40psi just to set the bead on 'em.

They ain't the Michelins.....

-L

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 07:26 am: Edit

40-45F / 50-55R on my 245/75/16 Big O's

20-25F&R off-road

no, these ain't your daddy's Michelins

By Tom P on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 08:24 am: Edit

Leslie wrote:

> I'm contributing both the improved ride and
> the 'swaying' feeling to a softer sidewall....

This doesn't make sense either?! If you actually compare the RT side wall to the Michelin sidewall *with your hands*, before they are mounted, you'll see that the RT's are much stiffer.

When I first installed 245/75 RT's, I left the shop with 30psi front, 40psi rear. After a little trial and error I settled on 33psi Front and 44psi Rear.

Tom Proctor
96 Disco

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 09:14 am: Edit

No, I didn't play with them with my hands... But IMO the Michelins have a stiffer ride than the R/T tires.

If everything was equal, just the fact that the R/T is a 75-series tire versus the Michelin being a 70-series would account for it. The taller sidewall providing more spring.

However, everything isn't equal. Hmmmm......

How do you compare your R/Ts to the Michelin? (I realize that describing how a tire rides is subjective!) What do you think of the ride down at that psi?

-L

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Monday, September 10, 2001 - 02:51 pm: Edit

ali,
We had a good rain today, which had ended by the time I left work, thus leaving lots of puddles surrounded by dry pavement... good testing spots...

The full-width of the contact patch is hitting the ground all the way across; both just by looking at the tire and also checking the tracks left after rolling out of the puddle.


Tom,
"With your hands".... Reminded me of a story.

LONG ago, on a family vacation, dad pulled into a garage to have the air in the tires checked. The attendant bent over, felt the tire with his hand, and declared "You've got plenty of air in there!"

Dad said thank you, pulled away, and into another garage down the street... it was 10psi low....


-L

By Ali on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 - 06:34 pm: Edit

Leslie,
Thanks for the feedback. I'm not clear as to why you're getting 100% contact with higher pressure. It seems that the higher press should cause overinflation and you should lose contact on the outer edges. Hmm, very interesting. I assume you're not getting any cupping either? Maybe that's why I'm getting so much cupping is because of my low press?

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 03:12 am: Edit

The tire is rated for 80 psi, so 50 and 60 psi should be fine.

I don't have much mileage on them yet, either... no signs of cupping, but I'm paying attention. I don't want to end up screwing up my new 'shoes'.

Cupping is usually because a wheel is not balanced properly, or from worn-out shocks or bushings.

Here's a FAQ on tire care:
http://www.advancedauto.com/tirecare.htm


-L

By Tom P. on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 04:23 am: Edit

>How do you compare your R/Ts to the Michelin?
>What do you think of the ride down at that psi?
Leslie,

Since we have the same tires, I'm sure it's safe to assume the ride is identical, although pressure dependent. I've had the RT's for two years now, so bear with me...

IIRC, the ride home from the shop was much more *cushy*, as you mentioned, compared to the Michelins. However this was only a few pounds above the factory Michelin pressures (~30-front/40-rear). I immediately left NJ for the Fall Heritage event in VT, then Boston for a week, then straight to VA for the Mid Atlantic. So I had ample opportunity to play around with pressure.

The long and short of it all, was that a 10psi pressure differential between F/R was necessary for proper ride characteristics (10psi higher in rear). With OME hd's in back, I can see where it would be nice to drop the pressure for a softer ride, but that's not the right solution and can contribute to adverse handling. As to what pressure is actually best, well I'll leave that to you, but, I based mine on:

- tire contact patch
(also consider the mfg's rolling radius)
- payload
- pressure expansion (cold to hot pressure change)
- ride feel

Pretty much in that order. Also realize that I'm only talking 'on-road' pressures here. Now that I've found *my* optimum pressures I just check them regularly, adjust for road trip loads, and keep the spare aired to the higher rear pressure.

Hope this helps.

Tom Proctor
96 Disco

By WVA (Vince) on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 05:23 am: Edit

I have 235/70 Michelin and Long Trail by BF. The max pressures say 42. Are the 245/75 capable of going 60 on the tires? I've always assumed that one must never go beyond the tire max pressure. Am I wrong to assume? thanks

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 06:35 am: Edit

Tom,

I haven't dropped 'em down into that range yet... kinda been distracted. I agree, the 10psi front/rear difference is good. Good info...

Vince,
It depends on the tire itself, not just the size. The R/T takes a higher pressure across the board than the Michelins. W/in each brand, yes, it will vary by tire size.

The max psi on the 245/75 Dunlop R/T is 80... way up there.

Just might drop it down to half, see how different it feels, and then start adding air back until I get it to where it feels right... I think anywhere in that range should be okay, but mostly adjusting for preference.

BTW, Tom... I've got my spare's psi on up there, too, so that it'll a) still have air in it as some will inevitably bleed out anyway, and b) that it'll be able to match the rear psi, and I can let some out to match the front psi as needed...

-L

By Tom P. on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 08:27 am: Edit

Leslie,

One more thing. I've got 20k miles on them and they show next to no wear! Since the RT seems to wear like iron, I'd say my pressure choices have NOT been at all detrimental.

Tom Proctor
96 Discoo

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 08:58 am: Edit

Very good to note....

I may try dropping it down to 35/45, and see how that feels compared to my current 50/60. If it's better, I'll start tuning around with it there, but if not I'll take it back up first.

Many thanks!


-L

By Bill Bettridge (Billb) on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 09:23 am: Edit

I also run the R/T in 245/75/16 and now have about 15K on them. I run 40/40 for best handling and like Tom's, mine show very little wear after that mileage.

By Ali on Thursday, September 13, 2001 - 04:39 am: Edit

I have a feeling that my cupping is the result of setting my Ranchos to "soft" mode all the time. I like the cushy ride but it might be detrimental to the tire wear. Since the R/T springs install, I've since cranked them up to 3 and 4 settings. This should help with the cupping. We'll see what happens in the long run.