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M1081 - Advice on finding good new/used tires?

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Pos3idon

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Hello all, I am currently looking for a new set of tires for my M1081 and would love some advice on:

Where to find decent deals on good new/used tires.
Advice on how old is too old when it comes to used or new old stock.
Anything else I should be asking?

Thanks all!
 
serpico760

serpico760

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Pos3idon said:
Hello all, I am currently looking for a new set of tires for my M1081 and would love some advice on:

Where to find decent deals on good new/used tires.
Advice on how old is too old when it comes to used or new old stock.
Anything else I should be asking?

Thanks all!
Click to expand...
If you are in the Midwest to the northwest or near Texas I suggest feltz tire. They're in Wisconsin and Texas they also have an eBay store. Had a very good experience from them. Others here like colony tire I think they're on the east coast
 
Third From Texas

Third From Texas

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Avoid the Michelin "may pops". Absolutely don't run them on the steer axel on pavement.

Try and find GoodYears or another 395 (Continental, Pirelli, etc).

Be sure to check the speed rating (a lot of these industrial tires are not rated over 50mph).

What makes tires difficult to gauge is that it's not simply a matter of age. How and where they were stored (crated in climate controlled indoor environment vs standing upright leaning against a tree in salvage yard). And this is nearly impossible to know.

But I like to keep the date codes under 10 years with surplus (the military will only store them for 7 years before they either get mounted or sold as surplus) but again, a 5 y/o tire can be rotted junk if stored in the wrong conditions.
 
Third From Texas

Third From Texas

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Last edited:
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GeneralDisorder

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Third From Texas said:
ACK!

And a front to boot. I bet that was fun.

Yeah, I'm running that same tire, age, and mileage.

<whistles>

I better start looking myself....
Click to expand...
Fortunately I started hearing this psshhht, psshhht, psshhht noise in time with the rotation of the wheel (didn't put together the timing in my head right away as this was occurring in literal real time) as I was slowing down on an off-ramp from the freeway. At first I thought it was either a blown exhaust manifold gasket, or maybe some type of PAC brake malfunction since I was decelerating and the exhaust brake was in-play so I switched the PAC brake to OFF.... I came to a stop at the signal and.... no noise! I thought WTH?!? While the light was red I rolled forward just a bit and the psshhht noise came back and then promptly the right front of the truck hit the deck. 🤦‍♀️

I knew immediately what had transpired at that point. I was about 1/8th mile or so from a large parking lot and at that point I was massively blocking traffic in a place I could not possibly change a tire so it was time to see what the old girl had and FULL SEND that shit. I rolled through the intersection (must have been a sight) and down the street to the parking lot in question - all the while (this was a busy holiday Saturday with a LOT of shoppers) being given thumbs up and wild stares from bystanders. The ride was VIOLENT to say the least. Fortunately there was a large clear area of parking lot at the back where there's a gym and some hiking trails so I took up about 5 parking spots and shut her down.

I got to work on swapping that hot shredded mess and of course about 15 minutes into this process the police showed up. Fortunately they were quite nice and asked if I needed help and marveled at my truck asking if it was a Unimog (common question) before bidding me good day and departing.

About 1.5 hours to change that beast. And mind you I have an air impact for my emergency glad hand, etc.

It could have been WAY worse if that happened at speed. Thankfully for me and anyone potentially in the path of 21k pounds of out-of-control absolute destruction this was avoided.

I have a stack of new tires ready to install - I was waiting for some additional parts (CTIS hub seals, CTIS wheel valves) to do a bunch of stuff at the same time. Unfortunately the tire age caught up with me. They showed no outward signs of problem and exhibited no behavioral problems right up till I had a failure. My warning was about 150 yards or less.
 
Last edited:
coachgeo

coachgeo

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@Pos3idon Did a quick Net search. There is at least one Surplus Military tire seller in FL. IMHO use tire recommendations info put in this and other threads and see what that place has? Shipping is the killer...... So trying to buy and drive to get in FL first or maybe GA if your willing to drive it; second.
 
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