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Taking Brand New Tires Off My Truck.

Old 10-16-2014, 10:14 PM
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Default Taking Brand New Tires Off My Truck.

Background: I have a '04 Avalanche 1500 Z71 bone stock unless you count the torsion bars having a couple of turns on them. My boat is around 4500lbs dry. I've owned the truck for a few years and have put over 60K miles on it. When I bought it used, it had BFG's LT265/70R17 AT's on it which were either 6ply or 8ply not sure. When those wore out I went with Nitto Terra Grappler P265/70R17 4ply due to price. Never really had a problem with the Nitto's towing or otherwise even though they were only 4ply. Only difference from the BFG's I could tell was there was a little more body roll when cornering which makes perfect sense due to sidewall stiffness. Growing up and learning to drive on the backroads of Tennessee my driving style is very aggressive (full disclosure). I usually have to run my air pressure at or 5psi lower than the max tire pressure from the tire manufacturer rating to have "even" wear due to driving style.

So last Fri. it was time to replace the Nitto's. Decided on Toyo Open Country ATII LT265/70R17 10ply 80psi max pressure and ponied up the extra $$ for them. Had them set the pressure @ 75psi so I could adjust down from there depending on ride quality. I know enough to get the feel of how they respond before settling in and driving my normal way but knew from the first curve I went around that something was very wrong. Truck started into corner ok but then wanted to float, for lack of a better word, felt like it was going from understeer to oversteer without changing actual steering input.

Parked the truck for the weekend and didn't drive it again till Mon. when I took it back to the tire shop and talked things over with them. We decided to drop the pressure down to 55psi to see what it would do. I drove it back and forth from work all week, about 15 miles both ways, and it felt much better but still unpredictable. Cornered much better but still doesn't have good feel to it with slow response to steering input and still wants to wonder a little in a turns.

Took it back in to shop today and the only thing we can come up with that would cause this is the truck is too light for the 10ply tires. So they're coming off tomorrow and I'm going back to the P type 4ply. Don't know what else to do??
Anyone have any thoughts?
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Old 10-17-2014, 04:10 AM
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Ok first of all before I start I know they are totally two different trucks. But I have a 2001 extended cab short bed F350 7.3 I work like a rented mule. I have had Coopers on my truck for what seems to be years. Last year I decided to change the look of the truck and go with a cool looking rim and a larger diameter. Costly mistake with buying Nitto tires. I went with a lower profile to increase the diameter. While towing the 30 footer up and down the highway the swaying and steering was a bad issue. So I sold the rims and tires and put new Cooper ATTs on the factory rims and it is a lot better. I have a 08 F350 ext. with a long bed but it tows alot better and in my opinion because of the longer wheel base and it has the same Coopers. You mentioned that your truck is a 04. When is the last time you have done any kind of front end work on it? On the 08 I just replaced all of the steering control links and on the 01 All of the front end parts and I mean all of them at least once, Most twice and they are due again. But it does have over 300,000 miles on it. Look over the front end of your truck really good. I assume you have struts and not shocks so when have you replaced them. Using a truck to tow can really add up the wear-out times. Not to mention all of your rubber bushings.
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Old 10-17-2014, 07:35 AM
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The one thing you have to remember about the Avalanche, certain years had coil springs in the rear. Maybe the panhard/ track bar bushings are shot.

Edit: it seems like your 04 has coils in the rear. I'd check the rear bushings as I stated. It's most likely not a tire issue as a suspension issue.

Last edited by Jonesyfxr; 10-17-2014 at 07:38 AM.
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Old 10-17-2014, 09:21 AM
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Different tires handle differently. I just installed Toyo Open Country M/Ts on my Silverado 2500. Same size and Load range as the Dick Cepeks that were on it previously. I noticed a similar situation that you describe where the truck feels much looser in curves and on the highway is seems to float a bit more. IMO, it's just the difference in compounds and tread design of the tires. When I switched from Nitto Terra Grapplers to the Cepek Fun Country, I noticed less bounce and different handling characteristics. I think it's just a matter of different tires handling differently. I have 35x12.5x20s, LRE on my truck. My 1st set of Cepeks ran for 60K miles but the Nittos sucked and only ran about 30K. Incidently, I'm selling a full set of 35x12.50x20 Cepek Fun Countrys with Cepek DC-2 rims if anyone is interested. Tires have 70% tread.
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Old 10-17-2014, 11:48 AM
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Yes my first thought would be that something in the suspension is worn out if it gave any indication before changing the tires, which it didn't. I do usually give a quick once over when I'm underneath the truck changing the oil and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. The front lower control arms are the most I've replaced on it. My wife's Acura MDX did a similar thing with Michelins but it's AWD which is basically front wheel drive normally but I've never had this trouble with any of my many Chevy's.

Originally Posted by MonkeySea2
Different tires handle differently. I just installed Toyo Open Country M/Ts on my Silverado 2500. Same size and Load range as the Dick Cepeks that were on it previously. I noticed a similar situation that you describe where the truck feels much looser in curves and on the highway is seems to float a bit more. IMO, it's just the difference in compounds and tread design of the tires. When I switched from Nitto Terra Grapplers to the Cepek Fun Country, I noticed less bounce and different handling characteristics. I think it's just a matter of different tires handling differently. I have 35x12.5x20s, LRE on my truck. My 1st set of Cepeks ran for 60K miles but the Nittos sucked and only ran about 30K. Incidently, I'm selling a full set of 35x12.50x20 Cepek Fun Countrys with Cepek DC-2 rims if anyone is interested. Tires have 70% tread.
You may be right about the compound. I would assume Toyo and Nitto both changed it since they're now rated to go 50 - 65k miles as apposed to 40k like my last set of Nittos. I guess we'll find out later today when I pick it up. Luckily Toyo has a 45 day, 500 mile satisfaction warranty so it shouldn't cost me to switch them out.
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Old 10-17-2014, 06:28 PM
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i love my toyos, 37s on my 2015 denali hd ,. quit as hell , n balance perfect every time with little weight .
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Old 10-17-2014, 06:35 PM
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I had to do this once before. I put Goodyear Workhorse E-rated tires on my Tahoe many years ago. They were HORRIBLE on that truck; extremely dangerous.
I pulled them off and went to BFG All-Terrain KO and live was good.
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Old 10-17-2014, 07:35 PM
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A Chevy 1500 with over 45lbs of air pressure rides and handles like a pile of schit.

My opinion.
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Old 10-17-2014, 08:16 PM
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Well drove home from tire shop earlier today and it was a 1000 times better. Drove it some more around town tonight and felt and drove great so problem solved. I guess I'm lucky that I was able to swap them out without it costing me anything but since the tires I ended up with actually would have cost $40 a tire less I'm technically out an extra $160. Since the trade out was covered by the manufacturer's warranty and not the tire dealer, should I be asking for at least half if not all that $160 back? Or is that asking to much and I should be just thankful I'm not out $950?
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Old 10-17-2014, 09:47 PM
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most places would not have done the free swap.i would just call it a day and not ask for the difference in price.
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