Preparing for 3rd gen brakes come nice weather. Looking for 17” 3rd gen wheels on craigslist now, debating steel vs aluminum. Either way, I’ll get them powder coated black. I like the look of the aluminum ones but steelies are cheap. Any downside to running the steels for now? No super heavy towing, mostly loading my 8’ bed with firewood and an occasional light trailer.

285/70/17 Toyo Open County AT2 

2 hours ago, GSP7 said:

 

I must be old,,,, I dont go for the blacked rims.  I like the vintage rims like alcoas  

 

Funny. The older I get the less I like chrome and polished wheels and the more I like black... thou I did start painting my wheels black before it was popular, or an OEM option. 

48 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

285/70/17 Toyo Open County AT2 

 

Toyos are going to be my next tires for both of my trucks

 

I had black rims on my first truck in High Skool , 15x8 Stock center rims painted black on my 65 chevy short bed. Then I got white spoke rims

 

 

Edited January 1, 20187 yr by GSP7

How are the AT2’s wearing? AT1’s wore like butter on hot corn. 

Not horrible but not great ether, ones on my truck are made in USA and have some what looks like dryrot, tiny small cracks everywhere in between tread and I have one crack about 1" or longer between tread too, looks like it just split all by itself. My dad has same tires on his suburban an no problem with them at all but his are made in Japan. Maybe I just got a bad batch  I do like them for being aggressive and quite on hwy. 

Sucks! 

 

Toyo used to be a great brand and they sure charge for their name, but they haven’t been what they use to be for at least 10 years. 

 

I’m not nearly as impresssed with my Toyo 19.5’s as I should be. I hoped that jumping into the medium duty line would get me different results but it hasn’t. 

 

On 12/30/2017 at 9:46 PM, CTcummins24V said:

Oooo do you have more pictures?

 

Here’s another one from that same day.

 

Are the 4th gen, 3d gen factory aluminum rims 8" wide ?

19 minutes ago, GSP7 said:

Are the 4th gen, 3d gen factory aluminum rims 8" wide ?

Yes

A set of the first gen Toyo A/T's was the first set of tires I ever wore out before replacing them early for a new setup.  I think I got about 45k out of them on an F-250.  I've had 2 sets of the A/T 2's and only put 10k on each set before I sold the truck with the first set and then went to different wheels/tires on this truck.  They are "supposed" to go 30% longer than the first gen tires.  After 10k miles though, they still looked pretty good. 

Coopers or Toyos?

 

 

 

.

The Toyo's, I have about 7k miles on my Coopers and they still look new. 

I dropped Toyo in the LT line many years ago. I then tried a set of BFG KM2’s and they did good. My current set of winter tires are Cooper S/T Maxx’s and I LOVE them! They are quiet, have awesome traction, and are wearing better than any LT tire I’ve ran.

 

Cooper has earned my repeat business, something that hasn’t happened on my truck yet. 

I ran Michelin's at first and then they got pricier than I liked. Ran a couple brands without great service life. I am on my 3rd set of Cooper ATP's. I get 60k to 65k out of them. This last set has seen a lot of highway miles I'm thinking I will 70+ out of these. Not there yet however. 

On 12/30/2017 at 11:12 AM, AH64ID said:

 

I don’t know why you would. All HD trucks have full floating axles. 

 

The only firment issue I know is for those with manual hubs up front. Only the steel 18’s fit without machining. 

 

They way the hub bore is made on the newer wheels will not slip over the older axles. There has been issues with the offset as well.

49 minutes ago, jlbayes said:

 

They way the hub bore is made on the newer wheels will not slip over the older axles. There has been issues with the offset as well.

 

I didn't realize the axle flange stuck out further on the Dana axles. 

I'm on my first set of coopers, the STT Pro's and I'm amazed at how quiet they are considering how aggressive the tread is.

The only thing STT where much heavier tires I ended up pulling them and selling used because of MPG loss was too great. Also not that good in the snow and ice.

Edited January 3, 20187 yr by Mopar1973Man

23 hours ago, AH64ID said:

 

I didn't realize the axle flange stuck out further on the Dana axles. 

 

Neither did a few others until they tried the newer 18s and 20s. Ram closed the outside of the hub bore so they do not slip all the way over the hub. Very odd.

Edited January 3, 20187 yr by jlbayes

Who knows the specs on 3rd gen wheels? Are they forged alloy? I assume so for strength, not low pressure cast like most aftermarket.

 

I picked up a set from an ‘04, they are the machined version with some silver paint, not polished. I think the best way to clean them is to have them media blasted and powder coated. I’ve been reading up on powder coating with mixed messaging. Any input?