WOW! What a set of new tires can do!

[gunslinger]

I've been using hand me down tires since i've owned my Tahoe and got my first new set put on today. What a difference it made in the vibration while driving. The old tires had knots all in them and one of my rims was bent. It was all I could do to keep it between the ditches. I had a very good shop repair the bent rim, put on new tires, and correctly balance all the tires.

Past cheapo shops that i've been to just rushed the job and stuck on more weights all over the tire. The last time I had my wheels balanced I slung a wheel weight leaving the parking lot, and more on the interstate.

The shop I went to today did a great job, they took all the weights off and scrubbed the rim and speed balanced them the right way. I was doing 80 coming home with no vibration.

Just want to say that I've spent a lot of money on shocks and all moog tie rods, idler, pitman etc, and until today I wasn't a big believer in tires, but man o man don't overlook them if your truck is running rough.

275/60/r20 with 13 inch disk. It was a good weekend for the Tahoe. Also want to note that I stepped it up to the 60 sidewall instead of the 55 and have no scrubbing issues. This is stock with no lift kit. I like how the 60 fills up the fender well just a bit more. Highly recommend this size tire over the 275/55/r20.

 

[3girls1boyYukonXL]

I know right! People don't realize how important tires are. Should help out with gas mileage too.
Good luck with them..

 

[edd112]

how do those wheels run on your tahoe? i used to have a set of the 20in wheels that come on the 2014+ trucks and it ran rough as hell, they felt heavier than the set of 22's i used to have on my hoe, mine is a 2004

 

[gunslinger]

They don't run too bad right now. Not near as comfy as the 15 inch rims I had with roughly the same size tire (33 inch). Now I've done a few things to mitigate the fact that the truck was designed for a tire that has a higher sidewall. I've found the sweet spot with my torsion bars ( I had them too high before and it ran rough). I've got good bumpstops front and rear, and I've got monroe reflex shocks which are a little softer than say a rancho. I think those things make the ride a little better, but I don't think torsion bars will ever be as good as the springs in the newer trucks. I bet the new ones would ride like a cloud on a 15 inch rim.

 

[gunslinger]

Also got an alignment done today. I wanted to say that I've found running a slightly negative camber will make the truck handle much better. The tires always seemed to plow ahead when turning sharp through parking lots. Also the outside of the tires always wore first, so for me a slightly negative camber is best with this size tire/rim.

 

[edd112]

the factory wheels always run amazing. im thinking of getting 22's again. truck ran as if it was wearing the factory 17's

 

[edd112]

how much does an alignment usually cost, well where you live. im gonna have to get one done soon, truck veers slightly to the right when im driving

 

[gunslinger]

Your truck may veer slightly to the right because of the crown on the road. I usually set up a slightly negative cross caster to compensate for the crown in the road usually being to the right, in other words my truck slightly pulls to the left. I get an alignment done for about 60 bucks where I'm at. I think the Meinicke shops usually run a special for around $50 but always go to a specialty shop. Then I usually tip the mechanic an extra 10. I always request to speak to the mechanic before hand. Then I tell him what the actual numbers I want the truck to be set up rather than him just setting the car inside a range of factory specs. When we put my truck up on the rack it was already in factory specs so had I not talked to the mechanic he probably would've just rolled it right off and gave it back to me; then charged me 60 bucks. But I knew the truck needed an alignment from just looking at the tires one had a positive camber and one had a negative .