Tires..again

[ScottinMA]

Hi,

It's that time again. My scorpion zeros are about toast (285-50-18s) and I'm looking for something that will be good with New England winters yet sporty enough to get me through the summer. The zeros were Great in the summer and Sucked in snow....wide tread, etc. So listas that drive in all four seasons...what is the suggested tire??

[Ldub]

SURVEY SAY'S...

In no particular order...

Nitto Terra Grapplers

Yoko Geolanders

Bridgestone A/T REVO

Also ran (maybe a little more noisy/agressive than you want) Goodyear MTR

[VXDRUMMER2]

I currently have the Nitto Terra Grapplers on my VX and they are awesome! They arent very loud and i drove with them in the snow this past winter and they were great.

[LittleBeast]

Nitto Terra Grapplers....... yeah that is all I am going to say...... the end

[chosen one]

What kind of miles do you guys get out of these tires?

[ScottinMA]

What size Nitto Terra Grapplers are you running?

[LittleBeast]

285/60 R18 - no lift just great tires. I think there might be a little small bit of trimming on the front under side plastic, but you cannot see it at all. Last set of these I had lasted around 45k miles and probably still had another 5k on them at least, I still have all four of those old ones out in the garage. Never had a problem or complaint and I drive the heck outta tires, before these I was averaging a full set of tires a year. Of course I drive quit a bit, and do not slow down for much of anything.

[WormGod]

The street VX will no longer be a member of my auto collection. The Nitto Grapplers arrived by UPS today and it shall soon be transformed into a more rugged shoe wearing vehicle. Loved the Yokohama AVS Sports, but they were not snow friendly and the wear was pretty heavy on the soft rubber. I shall miss them.

[WormGod]

Tomorrow starts a big weekend for the VX. I was granted some space at a shop that a buddy owns and I am tearing her down for some heavy work. No work this weekend so I am gonna try to squeeze in a LOT of vehicle work. Mount and balance of new tires, alignment, repack bearings, MAYBE S/C install (finally!), hood and fender repaint, headlight replacement, wetsand and buff, undercoating, and steam cleaning interior. It's a lot of work and I seriously hope I can get it all done over the weekend. I have some other skilled pals helping out so we should be able to tackle a few at once. Right now though, the tires and the big thing since I have one tire with a few plugs in it and they are all running very low of tread. Keeping my fingers crossed on avoiding any snags.

[ScottinMA]

Go for it Gary...and put in the SC...imagine new tread and more power to push em. I'm waiting on my Terra Grapplers. Should have them next week.

BTW, my SC took a total of 8 hours to install.

[WormGod]

I should have asked everyone to cross their fingers and sacrifice a goat for me. Didnt happen. I had to go to my mothers house to pick up the S/C (which I have been storing in her basement for the passed 3 years.... like the good son I am, a LOT of my stuff still rests in mom's house, haha). Well, she wasnt home and I didnt have that set of keys on me. SO, I just headed to the shop with what I had. Ended up getting the tires mounted, balanced, and got the alignment done. Here is a bummer.... the 2 lifts in the shop would NOT fit the VX! The wheelbase is short enough that their lifts wouldnt extend far enough to land proper frame footholds, hahaha. Never seen such a thing in my life! But, we got around that and just lifted it by front then back. In the end, those Nittos are SICK! strangely, I had to do MORE cutting on the front cladding since rubbing took place. 285/60s still, like the old Yokos, but I guess the tread was just enough to give me some rub. No biggy. The tires and alignment took 100% care of the pull I had on the road. The VX drives itself once again. The ride is wonderful. The new tires are quiet on the highway and really grab well. Recommended.

Thats about all I got done. Big plans didnt go so big. Other than the tires and other minor things, I just conditioned the leather and steam cleaned the interior. Looks almost brand spanking new. It was still a worthwhile day.

I have her home all torn down in the garage now. Took the cladding off and pulled the grill and headlights. Changing the bulbs throughout for some brighter, clearer light. Also, you would be surprised at how much CRAP gets stored behind that cladding. I have some zesty dead leaves and other crud inside there. Gonna wax up the metal beneath the cladding before cleaning it up and replacing it.

In all, the itch pushed me to order the brushguard from Tone. Been in love with that thing since the day we were shown the modified ML guard on a VX. Tone is surely the man for offering us such toys.

The tranformation of my street VX to an urban offroader continues, hahaha....

[Cyrk]

Gary, lets see some pics with the new tires on! Does it handle much different then the street tires? Feel allot slower of the line?

[WormGod]

Ya, definately more weight and rotation in these tires and you can feel it off the line. Getting on the highway, I cant just zip into traffic at the set speed. The S/C should remedy most of that. Then again, I am also used to my Rex and EVERYTHING I drive besides that feels sluggish, heh.

It feels good though. The rubber isnt as soft and forgiving as the Yoko Sports, so the ride a somewhat more rough, as you feel more of the road condition now. No big deal to me though. I am just glad that the tread doesnt roar down the highway at 65mph. I kinda dreaded that would be the case, but it is not, and for that I am grateful.

I will get some pics as soon as I get the cladding all back on. Without cladding, it looks like Mad Max meets Baja, heh. Kinda cool looking and the tires make it even more sinister with that look. Might just grab a pic of THAT for the heck of it. Might even look for some good replacemeents for the small round driving lights in the flnt cladding. The stocks are as worthless as you can get so I should get something that actually has more purpose.

[ScottinMA]

Finally my Nitto's arrived (took three weeks). Had them mounted yesterday and I'm much appreciative for the recommendation. The tire looks great and my VX runs smoother (and could be faster) with the new shoes. I went with the 255/55/18s rather than the 285s. I found that running the 285 zeros in New England winters damn near dangerous since they are so wide it's like runnning skis through the snow. I wanted something with a bite and the treads on these are just want I hoped for. Now bring on the mud and snow!

[WormGod]

Yep, I am totally digging the Nittos. Drove the VX to work on Monday to get some highway time in on them and see how they worked out. Excellent. No road rumble at all!!!! Although, even though they are the same size as my Yokos, I have some serious rubbing on the front cladding. I swear, I am the only person here who has rubbing issues with tires, heh. Looks like I have to shave back about 1/2" this time according to the abrasions on the cladding. Its much worse in reverse of course, but I do get some minor rubbing turning going forward. No big deal though.

I got her all wetsanded and buffed though. Took me a few nights in the garage to get her done, but she is showroom quality. Been raining the passed couple of days now though so I am leaving her in the garage for now, heh. Dont wanna spot up that insane shine, hahaha.

The ML clone brushguard that Tone offers should be on its way sometime soon, so I look forward to mounting that on there. Should add to the Urban-Guy-Moves-to-Rural-Land-and-Tries-to-Fit-in-With-the-Other-Rednecks syndrome, hahaha. Man, she was turning some SERIOUS heads on Monday when I had her out. I am giddy all over again for the VX!!!

Oh, apparently, the shop that I had her in a couple months ago for the battery pop repairs forgot to put the rubber hood bumpers back in, so the hood was hopping from side to side on the highway at speeds at 55+. They were pretty dry rotted anyways, so I am hoping St Charles can snag me some.