What tires are best for this setup?
 

Myfather recently got into trucking.
He's just bought a 2003 international 9400i eagle and a reinke 48' spread axle flatbed trailer.
Problem is the trailer has recaps as well as the drive tires. He is thinking of replacing them soon.
Steers are goodyear G395LHS, drives are recaps except for two new yokohama TYS77. Size are 295/75/22.5.
He drives in the mid south only 500 mile radius from Nashville. No construction sites so far. He is concerned with gas mileage.

I have read on here about double coin tires and have read about michelin (I did their calculator, not sure I believe the hype).

How do you guys decide what tires to get? There are so many brands and the model numbers are confusing.

Any recomendations?

Originally Posted by :
(I did their calculator, not sure I believe the hype).

So you would rather believe a bunch of uneducated truck drivers?

Tires do make a difference in fuel mileage, believe it or not. I personally only buy Michelin.

Get rid of the caps or carry some spares plus some lights, mud flaps, fenders, he will need them.(ask Doghouse)

I pull flats and have been experimenting with different brands for the last several years. One of my trucks is a 9400 Eagle. I have Double Coin on the drives and Yokohoma on the steers. Some of the tires that I have tried are Kelly, Goodyear, Dunlop, Firestone, Yokohoma, Bridgestone and Double Coin, among other brands. I like the Double Coin tires as well or better than most of the others. I have had the Double Coins on my Eagle for about 2 years now and still have plenty of rubber left. I deal with a distributor near Chattanooga. If you decide to go with the Double Coin's let me know and I can get their number for you. I believe that they will ship for free if you buy 10 tires.

How about changing the tires size (he'd do the steers and drives)? Is that possible and does it affect gas mileage? I know the gear ratio and speedometer will change slightly.

He's got a 3.36:1 gear ratio, C15 cat with 450 hp and an eaton automatic transmission rto-16910c-as2.

The money you save in fuel and not having to do repairs because a cap took off all your stuff will allow you to buy a better tire. I thought I could get a few (50,000) more miles out of the tires that came with my truck.
All I did was make it lighter by tearing off my fenders/side steps/mud flaps, denting the crap out of my sleeper, and blasting some chicken lights off the truck. Good times,...good times :wink:

Changing to 24.5's is like moving to a faster ratio. If he's already at 3.36 it might be too much. If you're geared too fast with that autoshift, it'll constantly be shifting between 9th and 10th at every little hill. Maybe he drives fast enough that it's not an issue though :lol:

I was thinking more along the lines of a 295/80/22.5 or 41.08" tall.

Or, maybe a narrower 275/80/22.5 which is 39.82" tall.

Or, something else?

The tires on it are 295/75/22.5 or 39.92" tall.

(I think I calculated the size correctly.)

charged, is your father leased to a company or using his own authority?

He got his cdl a few weeks ago, bought a truck and trailer and is running under his own authority.

Originally Posted by Doghouse:
The money you save in fuel and not having to do repairs because a cap took off all your stuff will allow you to buy a better tire. I thought I could get a few (50,000) more miles out of the tires that came with my truck.
All I did was make it lighter by tearing off my fenders/side steps/mud flaps, denting the crap out of my sleeper, and blasting some chicken lights off the truck. Good times,...good times :wink:

Didnt you also get a ticket of some short???