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Comments
40k mileage warranty can easily be doubled(personal experience) *[non-permissible content removed]*uming* proper inflation and rotation (10-12k). HTH
-mike
Maybe the 1995 Trooper you mentioned had bad bumpers, but my own experience with my '00 was a good one. I backed into a Honda CRV as he was backing out, so the corners of our bumpers met. His popped in the size of a grapefruit - mine - I couldn't see even a scratch. Thankfully I didn't hit my spare tire, and it was at a very slow speed. I hope I never have to test this again, but that's my experience.
Drew
PS: We popped his bumper back out using a couple of pieces of wood from Lowes, no body work necessary.
-mike
I think I am set on 265/70 for a size. I want to keep the original drive ratio as close to stock as possible, and not raise the truck up too much. My truck is in the shop still, waiting on a part. It is over a week now, argh. When I get it back I am going to pull the trigger. The more I read, the more I like th BFG's. I still think the Duelers A/T's are my choice. However if the BFG's go on sale again, there may just be a coin flip. I think both have advantages. The Duelers on road, and BFG's off.
From what I have read, the Duelers, Scorpions and Geolandars all are only fair in the snow, relatively speaking. The BFG's are supposedly great. We don't get much snow...a few 6-10" snowfall's that are plowed away same day, I am sure any of the 3 are much better than the 684's, and the Trooper has never had any problem in the snow, it is one performance consideration for me. I want it all! Road performance, snow performance, and off-road performance. I think I will be happy with what I choose, they all seem very good, I just wish I had my truck back to do it!
Thanks to all for the tire input. Please share your opinions, because the day I get my truck back I am going to buy. The local shop here will order and match any price, so I am going to wait until I can drop it off.
ECB bars are running in the $1000 range delivered to an airport near you.
-mike
This came up because I have some gift certificates to spend at DOR, and Joe has an ARB bumper on hand.
I am also considering rock sliderz, though by some miracle I haven't dinged up the rocker panels yet in two Moab events...
I want an ECB bumper but it's soooooo much $
-mike
It has been useful for mounting things, I have lights and fishing rack I use in the summer time. It is also great for brush/trail protection. I originally started looking at regular brush guards, The bull bar may be overkill for brush protection, but it wasn't much more expensive than the lighter alternative. Only one rust spot where I got a chip in the paint. Black Rustoleum matches perfectly. Shipping was no problem, had it sent to my office, I think it was about $120. They are airbag compatible too.
Mounting it took a few days. A couple just to figure out what/how to do it, and then most of a Saturday to actually do it. It required a few new bolts from Sears, one of the frame attachments was different than the model it was designed on. Overall, quite easy to do, just a lot of figuring out.
-mike
If you are interested, 4x4connection.com was the best price I found for it, and the sales guys are extremely helpful. Also go to the arbusa site and email them, they too are very helpful.
Regarding ride quality, do you have stock torsion bars?
I have stock torsion bars. I may upgrade them next year (tires this year) to the sway-a-away ones. The weight of the bumper isn't too great, and all the "experts" I talked to said it wasn't necessary. That is to get ready for a winch install...which will probably have to be the year after that. I only get so much upgrade expenses a year from the financing department.
They matched the tirerack price...well not 100%, they added the install fee which they would charge me if I got them there and shipping ($8 per tire estimate). We agreed to $105 per tire plus balance and valve stem. It works out to be roughly $20 more expensive than a tirerack solution ($91 + $7 install + $8 shipping), but I get some value in having a local shop do the work. The $20 comes in on the tax I am paying roughly. They are also going to give me $70 credit on my brand new spare.
So after, I guess I am going to take my 4 used (25K miles) 684's and garage them until I need them? I don't want to just throw them away.
I had a twist in my plan. The Isuzu dealer working on my truck called to say it was all fixed. So I started the whole tire plan. Got there at 6:45 tonight after the service department was closed...the problem with the steering is still there. They said they replaced the steering shaft and the problem is gone, even the paperwork said it. What a pain in the butt, it is 45 minutes away. 1.5 hours per drop off, 3rd trip on this. So a total of 4.5 hours since January on it. It might be easier to just pay to have it fixed. At least everything was done under warranty.
Anyway, with this problem outstanding I am not sure if I should go through the tire upgrade or not?
I can see it now, if you get the new tires, "steering problem caused by customer's oversized tires."
Isn't there a federal law that the customer is entitled to the used parts, unless they are too heavy for the customer to take home? Do you need to request specifically that the parts be returned to you? I've had a few replaced parts left in my vehicle by the dealer, but many times I never see the outgoing part.
I am up early to go see the service manager first thing. Hopefully they will address it and agree to do what is necessary to resolve, and give the sign off for tires!
As for used parts, if it's a non-warranty repair they can give em to you and charge you the "core" price which is the case with a lot of parts where they are re-cycled. On warranty work I think you don't get em unless your dealer is real nice.
-mike
Got there, met with him, and he said no problem, they will replace every part in the steering assembly if they have to. No problem with tires, they wouldn't say that those caused the problem...whew...stress release...
Backing out of my spot...white garage wall, white car...ugh, backed into it and hit the car. Put a crease in the drivers door. Stress re-applied. Fortunately the guy thinks it is only going to be around $200-300 to pop it out and fix the paint.
So I guess I am going ahead with the tires sunday. It has been a long day so far.
Having a dealer that is willing to make things right (even if they don't get it right the first time) is worth a lot. Unfortunately, I haven't found one yet. For ANY brand vehicle we own/have owned.
Glad to hear the dealer is willing to work with yah. I found a decent local dealer that hopefully I won't need to have do any work.
-mike
Still contemplating the polyurethane bushing kit. Can't find the right parts and several emails to vendors (Energy Suspension, Prothane etc.)have turned up negative. Seems no-one carrys a kit for the late model Trooper. You have to get underneath and measure your sway bars and order universal parts. Couldn't find the bushings on the JC Whitney site that were listed in the upgrade instructions on Paisans site.
Anyone having problems with squeaky bushings? Did you use the greasable type bushings - with a grease zerk?
I also picked up a Yakima Rocket box at REI during their sale. Now I need to find a place to store the darn thing until it's time to use it. Time to clean out the garage again. Maybe I should rent it out when I'm not using it : )
I had the white letters turned in, so unless you are next to a trooper with stock tires it is hard to tell they are really any bigger. Acceleration is very slightly off between 0-20 MPH, at 35 and up you can't really notice it. The spare cover no longer fits, not even close, so it is time to start shopping for a vinyl zip-up cover.
These tires seem great on-road, if I get a moderate increase in off-road performance from them I will be satisfied. The on-road increases alone were worth the upgrade. It also makes the truck look cool, but that's not important.
Let us know how you go with gas consumption after going to the larger diameter tires. I'm still not decided on stock size or larger for my upcoming change.
-mike
I was checking my old tires (they only have 27K miles on them) too. 2 of them have chunks out of the center bead. I am happy about this. The steel isn't wrecked, but 2" of rubber along the bead is off. Since I am not a tire expert, I am not going to get too excited until I take them back. If they can't be used, I will insist on some kind of financial recoup. If they say "no problem, they will work fine" should I just believe them? The guy has been on the up and up so far? Oh well, I will find out tomorrow. Maybe I can get the road hazard warranty for free or something?
Do you really think you would have liked 265/75R16 better?
I am happy with the 265/70's. Too early to tell if I would have like the 75/LT series better. I didn't want to raise the truck up too much, reduce drive ratio, I wanted to get P rated for on-road feel...so I think I made the right choice. I made a criterea list, put each tire down, and that is what won. Time will tell...
Does this mean...Bad tires? Bad balancer (machine and/or human)? Rim not ideal size for larger tire? or nothing?
Well one more thing to bring up with the tire guy.
-mike
FWIW I got my larger tire cover from Trailquest 800-770-2617 (about $32 delivered). It is made by Bestop, the people who make Jeep soft tops. It is a much thicker grade material than anything I could find at any local auto parts store. It does not zip on though it uses internal elastic bands. It still works fine after about a year as I took it on and off last month when when I did my tire rotation.
There truck pulls left significantly at highway speeds...I also just had the front end raised a 1/4" (sag in torsion bars? but it needed it) I guess I am going to need an alignment on top of it. Shouldn't be a big deal since it is going into the dealer to finish the other repair next week.
-mike
So I went back and asked them to reseat (apparently this can often rectify slight imperfections) the tire and then balance it again. They guy only re-balanced it. 4.5 oz. (2.5 out and 2 inside) again. This time however there is no shimmy. I guess I am satisfied. They are big tires, so maybe the standard balance rule isn't as strict in this case? It is balanced and there isn't any vibration...I should stop studying tires and enjoy them!
I was looking at spare covers, US Flag, plain jane, ARB? I am trying to get the guy from ARB to email me a picture of their cover, if it is cool, I may get that one.
The no-cover look has grown on me, and I think our 98 looks as sharp without the hard-shell cover as it does with the cover.
-mike
I suppose though that the more spinning weight you have, the more difficult its going to be.
I am very satisfied with my tire purchase in general. This is just an issue with one tire, which may be a non-issue.
-mike