Rickson wheel/tire advice
I was hoping to get some advice here on a set of Rickson wheels that have come up on craigslist. A set of 4 for $700. I'm interested in getting them, but not sure what size tire to get. I have ...
Forum Discussion
A couple observations from my test drive to Tahoe yesterday. I have the 6 speed manual transmission.
1. The motor turns at 1750rpm's at 60mph. That's down from 1900 rpms from the factory stock tires.
2. There seems to be slightly more rolling resistance. I have a 'test hill' that I can coast down that is 5 miles long. A perfect grade with a few hills that I can coast over at specific speeds if I start the coast at a specific speed. In this case, if I start the coast at 55mph, I will top out at 70mph and slow down to 45mph on the humps along the coast. Now, knowing that my speedometer will be off by almost 10%, I use my GPS to measure my actual speed. I was off a couple mph with the new tires. This may not be due to rolling resistance though. It might be due to air drag as I now sit higher and there's got to be more air turbulence under the truck because of it.
3. The shimmy I can still feel through the shifter is at it's worst right at 60mph. I also noticed that it more pronounced while on curves and just about non-existent on straight sections.
4. Te shimmy is not affected by coasting or under power. Same shimmy. So definitely tire/wheel related.
5. The steering tends to pull to the right. However, I've got to spend more time on testing this. I actually think that the steering is affected more by the crown of the road, which usually falls from the center to the shoulder. It's hard to find truly flat road that is also straight and long enough to let go of the wheel and see if there is a pull or not. Especially if there is any cross wind. Anyway, it's more than it was with the Nittos on there. With those, I could let go of the wheel for an extended length of time and the truck would stay going straight.
6. My wife notices the extra height as she gets out of the truck. You wouldn't think an inch or so would matter, but she darn near fell out yesterday and said it's a higher step out now.
7. Driving up grades doesn't feel like I need to push on the pedal any more or less than I used to with the smaller diameter tires. Sometimes, gearing up with a tire size change can cause a loss of power because of the rpm range in use. I sure couldn't tell. I've never been able to 'max out' my truck on grades, meaning, I've never had a grade where, in top gear, I was loosing ground speed with the pedal floored and would need to downshift. If I hit a grade at 55+ I am able to accelerate by using more pedal, or maintain speed without having to floor it. (Hope that makes sense) Some grades are over 7%. I like this because if the road is capable of 55mph or faster, I can leave the truck in 6th gear and not have to down shift. Below 55 I MIGHT have to downshift, depending on how steep the hill is.
1. The motor turns at 1750rpm's at 60mph. That's down from 1900 rpms from the factory stock tires.
2. There seems to be slightly more rolling resistance. I have a 'test hill' that I can coast down that is 5 miles long. A perfect grade with a few hills that I can coast over at specific speeds if I start the coast at a specific speed. In this case, if I start the coast at 55mph, I will top out at 70mph and slow down to 45mph on the humps along the coast. Now, knowing that my speedometer will be off by almost 10%, I use my GPS to measure my actual speed. I was off a couple mph with the new tires. This may not be due to rolling resistance though. It might be due to air drag as I now sit higher and there's got to be more air turbulence under the truck because of it.
3. The shimmy I can still feel through the shifter is at it's worst right at 60mph. I also noticed that it more pronounced while on curves and just about non-existent on straight sections.
4. Te shimmy is not affected by coasting or under power. Same shimmy. So definitely tire/wheel related.
5. The steering tends to pull to the right. However, I've got to spend more time on testing this. I actually think that the steering is affected more by the crown of the road, which usually falls from the center to the shoulder. It's hard to find truly flat road that is also straight and long enough to let go of the wheel and see if there is a pull or not. Especially if there is any cross wind. Anyway, it's more than it was with the Nittos on there. With those, I could let go of the wheel for an extended length of time and the truck would stay going straight.
6. My wife notices the extra height as she gets out of the truck. You wouldn't think an inch or so would matter, but she darn near fell out yesterday and said it's a higher step out now.
7. Driving up grades doesn't feel like I need to push on the pedal any more or less than I used to with the smaller diameter tires. Sometimes, gearing up with a tire size change can cause a loss of power because of the rpm range in use. I sure couldn't tell. I've never been able to 'max out' my truck on grades, meaning, I've never had a grade where, in top gear, I was loosing ground speed with the pedal floored and would need to downshift. If I hit a grade at 55+ I am able to accelerate by using more pedal, or maintain speed without having to floor it. (Hope that makes sense) Some grades are over 7%. I like this because if the road is capable of 55mph or faster, I can leave the truck in 6th gear and not have to down shift. Below 55 I MIGHT have to downshift, depending on how steep the hill is.
