Hey Guys,

Though there is no right or wrong answer here, when you go to purchase a new set of rubber for your rig how important is the mileage/ life expectancy of the tire? And are you willing to sacrifice a certain amount of performance to achieve that mileage minimum.

Let's limit this to your wheeling rigs only, unless your 4x doubles as your daily driver.  

i have 3 trucks my:
1973 Ford F250 (strictly mud)- i want the most aggresive tire possible and mileage dont matter

1992 Toyota (huntin truck)- most aggresive i can get as long as i get a few thousand miles we good

1991 Sonoma (project truck future daily driver) i want iroks but radial so i can get good miles out of it  

For me it was a simple answer on my rig builup. I started with an 1988 toyota p/u went to solid axle in the front and for power plant I had to meet HP and efficiency in the middle.  I wanted to use a 4.8 liter chevrolet V8 with a set of 38 in tires, I fugured that an 80's small block would produce 185 HP and 225 FTLBS in stock form. I did my research and endedup using a 3.5 liter 5 cylinder vortec from a hummer H3. It produces 220 HP and 225 FLBS out of the box it is a 22 to 24 MPG engine and should have planty of grunt for the 38 in tires and yeild for gas mileage at the same time not to mention the oil pan was in the correct side allowing room to clear the diff.    

Right now i would have milage at the top of the list.to save money and stick it figurativley sticking it to tha gas man!
besides a well set up rig will let the tires do more work and be more efficient.i would like to see a 50 thousand mile mud tire,hmm,well if ya stick a heavy-r load range tire than whats called for on your rig it will last longer anyway.higher durometer,stiffer sidewalls =less squirm and better handling,longer lasting.  

I think tires are evolving much like our rigs, but there does seem to be an emergence of big (38+) non-aggressive tires that give people decent longevity (compared to a traditional staggered lug design). I'm sort of partial to the early to late 90's when there wasn't as many large all terrain tires and anybody who wanted to run a big tire was forced into running something that just looked cool, aggressive, and frighten small children and old people from to highway roar.  

Times are a changing.  

i wonder if big tires might go the way of the dinosaurs,big innefficient and wastefull of resources,not my words mind ya! if the current eco-mania takes a real root,would we as four wheelers be an endangered species? all the car makers seem to be gearing toward the "crossover" vehicles,by implication that would be saying there is going to be less of a market for real wheel-able vehicles. for a far in left field example,remember the muscle car,the big three put out steadily wild incarnations of the genra? you know what i mean, until the "gas crisis" put an end to that.well here we are,er have the power wagon,the jeep family putting out crazy iterations of its line.the big three in a diesle race,what a coincidence that diesle fuel price spiked with the demand for diesle vehicles? i think that were going to see the end soon in cool wheelers soon,public opinion,fuel prices. bio fuel isnt coming cause we havent paid the oil companies enough to justify the cost of a switch over,think they and wall street investors with the engineered fuel shortage "bubble" are gonna let go easy of the cash cow they made? well got way off the tire question,but trying to get a grasp of the bigger picture.  

I am half way there myself. #1 I am contributing to the smog legal side of things #2 gas mileage should be better from my 3.5 working easier on the freeway instead of my old 22re struglin to keep up and in the end about the same MPG (HOPIN FOR 25 MPG???)  

Cool deal on the upgrade.my theory is always have more than enough engine for a power reserve.we git kinda wind blown down here and a few extra lbs of torque never hurt when pushin 6k down the freeway.i was gared in my ram to run at 1850 rpm down the highway in 5th gear.60 was right round 2000 so it was climbing into the low side of the torque band on my hemi(He Movin It!) the peak was higher up, but i still got near 19/21 mpg on the road.science out the swap and people aughta beat a path to your door! happy whelin!