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Before I left for TX I had a slight vibration like the truck had thrown a wheel weight (it's done it before), so I had the truck checked out and they found all 6, yes 6, tires were out of balance. So an hour and a half later I was ready for the TX trip vibration free.
Well, the 860 mile trip down went well, little to no vibrations, and I discovered while running with my heavy empty trailer I could average (hand calculated) 17.2+ miles per gallon running 60 MPH! I only get 14.5'ish at 65-68 mph. Now that's almost 20% increase in fuel mileage and a loss of 12% in time/distance.
On the way back I noticed a vibration growing and growing. It was so bad on the trip back I could not drive 65, and the last part I would only do 55! I stopped a few times looking for a bad u-joint, carrier bearing or tire, but could not visually see any problems. On the plus side while driving 60 MPH loaded I averaged 14.2+MPG! Again running 65-68 I only get 11.5'ish. That's over 20% increase.
Now I had read that the Cummins get their best fuel economy running at peak torque, now for my truck that's 1600 RPM. At 60 MPH I'm doing ~1,670 RPM. Now I don't know if it's this or the less wind resistance, or a combination but at these savings, 60 MPH is only bad when EVERYTHING on the road passes you.
Once home I double checked the drive shaft and found no issues. So I went back to the tire shop to the tire shop to see if it had indeed thrown some weights.
Well, I had suspected that the almost worn out inside duals (59K mile) might be a problem. Didn't expect the outside dials (38K miles) or the fronts (44K miles) to be an issue, and if so I'd likely just put two new tires on even though I wasn't planning on continuing to run the BFG AT's.
Well, to my surprise it was my front tires that had both slipped belts! Well, I wasn't going to replace them, and soon be replacing the inside duals, so I bit the bullet and went for 6 new tires. Yes, $$$$$ Ouch!
Last month I had seen the Yokahama Geolander AT/S tires on our oldest daughters Jeep Grand Cherokee and liked the slightly aggressive look and tread pattern. Thinking to my self, well if I ever get new tires I check and see if they made them in Load Range E and my size.
Well, the tire shop actually recommended them (the newer version) right off the bat when I asked about tire recommendations. Yes, they were in my size and load range and thankfully cheaper than the BFG's I'd been running. Well with a few personal recommendations and the tire shop's I said do it.
So now the MegaCab has 6 new Yokohama Geolandar AT G015's in 245/75r17 Load Range E.
I love the improved look (even with the black wall out, not a fan of OWL) even better than the BFG's. So here's hoping for a 60K+ mile run on these. They should roll easier and throw fewer rocks, so I might even get better mileage, I hope so with fuel prices going the way they are.
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