| Hurstmeister |
12-09-2009 08:38 AM |
I had Sumitomo (Spelling?) on my truck when I first got it. Has 20x8.5 factory wheels, 275/55 R20 tires. The Sumitomo's were the worst tire I have ever driven on. Any kind of acceleration in the rain other then 1/8th throttle resulted in wheel spin from a standing stop. Hydroplaned like mad even with only moderate standing water puddles. Very dangerous tires. I refused to let my wife drive the truck if it was raining. I finally had one blow out with my wife's Cobra on the trailer and it did it at the very top of the Skyline bridge,.. and I wasnt stopping on that bridge,.. so rimmed it down to the bottom to the closest safe spot to get off on the shoulder. That was the final straw. I spent almost $900 for new Toyo tires because they came highly recommended like what you guys are saying now and I wanted the best tire on my truck. I'm here to say Toyo truck tires SUCK.
They were no better in the rain than the Sumi's. I was trailering a 53 Chevy for my father inlaw from Md back down here to Fla. Made it to Md fine,.. on the way back loaded with the 53 on back the first tire blew just south of Richmond. Putting the spare on at 1am on the side of the expressway is quite a rush. Then the second tire blew in NC just outside of Charlotte. I had to call AAA to get towed to a tire center. Sleep in the truck till they opened up. They were a Toyo rep and I got 2 new tires for free. Fortunately I had the paperwork still in the truck. The other tires were only 2 months old. Then with 2 brand new tires on the back I made it almost through to Ga just before the Fla line and boom,.. tire exploded. I put my spare on and made it 2 blocks from my father inlaws place and boom,.. other tire exploded. I turned the tires back in and through a heated debate got my money back.
Now you guys can laugh all you want. But I read review after review trying to find a good all season tire that was weight rated for my truck and ended up with General Grabber HTS tires. At $125 a tire they didnt break the bank like the $219 a tire Toyo's did. The General Grabber HTS are excellent in the rain. Ass end doesnt get squirrelly in the rain. They'll take 70 - 75mph pulling a loaded car trailer for hours on end. Truck has a 5.3 and its only rated 295hp and 330 torq so its not exactly a race truck,.. but it did put down 261/319 bone stock on Rev Extreme's dyno a year ago during a dyno day picnic event. I'm a staunch supporter for General tires now. Well at least for the Grabber HTS tires. I have almost 19k miles on them and they still have over 80% tread. For a car, Toyo might show better results. Hell they might do ok in a 97 4.6 F150 with 155 rwhp. But for a truck with factory 20" wheels pulling a car trailer,.. Toyo is the suxor in my opinion.
Another tire I had good experience with on my trucks is Bridgestone Deuler all terrain tires. Those tires lasted me 60k miles on my old F250. And anyone who's had an F250 knows they like to chew up the front tires.
Hurst
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