darksheep85
New member
- 22
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- Location
- Newberry, SC
Hello all, I bought my deuce last year and it already had Michelin XL G-20's on it with custom wheels from Atlas. I love the setup, except for one thing. The wheels were made in such a way that because of the valve stem placement, you cant flip the wheels around and actually rotate your tires in the conventional manner. The valve stems will hit the drums if you try to flip the wheel around. The front wheels have to stay on the front, and the rears have to stay on the rears. Hubs are not flipped, front wheels dished out, rear wheels dished in, and they all track in line.
But, soon it became apparent how deteriorated the tires were. The sidewalls were riddled with dry rot cracks, as was the tread. I've since had to replace 1 tire on the rear with a near new XL. I struggled trying to change it myself for about 2 hours and then called the Love's truck stop about 4 miles away and had them come do a "road call" and I helped the guy for another hour changing the tire. We had to cut the sidewall from the bead out with a cutting disc to get the old tire off the rim. The new tire went on a lot easier, but would not seat on the bead at all. We tried ratchet straps, the big boom box air tank, and finally had to pack the bead with snotty tire soap. We were chasing bubbles around the inside and outside bead until it caught and started to inflate.
It was the best $130 I think I've ever spent.
So now, a year later, I have another tire with a huge dry rot crack in the sidewall, one totally bald tire, and my 2 steer tires are cupped and shake like crazy.
I'm ready for the hurt of buying, shipping, and mounting 6 tires, but I want some opinions and experience with the different types of 395's out there. I run 20 lbs of air in the my rears and 45 lbs in the front. The tires were wearing in the middle when I bought the truck (they had 50 lbs all around) and I've not been able to get them to wear evenly. The pictures I've seen of brand new tires, I've noticed a few things that might be in relation to the problem of wear.
Michelin XL have a rounded tread cross section. Like a NDT. They ride on the middle of the tread. Even with no air in them.
Michelin XML have a slightly flatter cross section but it still appears to have some curve to it.
Michelin XZL seem to have a very flat tread. Something I would expect would wear very evenly without having to run such low air pressure, you'd be scared to take a corner at speed and a bead comes unseated.
Goodyear MVT also a very flat tread, similar to the XZL. But honestly, I don't think I would want Goodyears. Call it personal preference, bad history, worse stories.
I've also seen something to the effect that the XZL were made in 2 different tread depths. A deep, and a not so deep. Any truth to that?
Anybody have suggestions as to what air pressures to run with 395s? It's a M35A2 W/W and I dont haul anything.
What experience does anybody have with the types of 395s out there? Wear? Ride? Noise? Air pressure? Cracking? Tips and tricks?
But, soon it became apparent how deteriorated the tires were. The sidewalls were riddled with dry rot cracks, as was the tread. I've since had to replace 1 tire on the rear with a near new XL. I struggled trying to change it myself for about 2 hours and then called the Love's truck stop about 4 miles away and had them come do a "road call" and I helped the guy for another hour changing the tire. We had to cut the sidewall from the bead out with a cutting disc to get the old tire off the rim. The new tire went on a lot easier, but would not seat on the bead at all. We tried ratchet straps, the big boom box air tank, and finally had to pack the bead with snotty tire soap. We were chasing bubbles around the inside and outside bead until it caught and started to inflate.
It was the best $130 I think I've ever spent.
So now, a year later, I have another tire with a huge dry rot crack in the sidewall, one totally bald tire, and my 2 steer tires are cupped and shake like crazy.
I'm ready for the hurt of buying, shipping, and mounting 6 tires, but I want some opinions and experience with the different types of 395's out there. I run 20 lbs of air in the my rears and 45 lbs in the front. The tires were wearing in the middle when I bought the truck (they had 50 lbs all around) and I've not been able to get them to wear evenly. The pictures I've seen of brand new tires, I've noticed a few things that might be in relation to the problem of wear.
Michelin XL have a rounded tread cross section. Like a NDT. They ride on the middle of the tread. Even with no air in them.
Michelin XML have a slightly flatter cross section but it still appears to have some curve to it.
Michelin XZL seem to have a very flat tread. Something I would expect would wear very evenly without having to run such low air pressure, you'd be scared to take a corner at speed and a bead comes unseated.
Goodyear MVT also a very flat tread, similar to the XZL. But honestly, I don't think I would want Goodyears. Call it personal preference, bad history, worse stories.
I've also seen something to the effect that the XZL were made in 2 different tread depths. A deep, and a not so deep. Any truth to that?
Anybody have suggestions as to what air pressures to run with 395s? It's a M35A2 W/W and I dont haul anything.
What experience does anybody have with the types of 395s out there? Wear? Ride? Noise? Air pressure? Cracking? Tips and tricks?
