Ironman Drive Tires

I had a set on my last Truck. They were good.They're Chinese. Good value. Ironman was a common brand name. I see T/A s had them now for a while.Probably be my next set of Drives.Id like to buy Continentals, rather keep the $2000 difference, Anymore they dry rot before treads gone anyway.

 

Blow outs happen. I’ve had to replace 16 tires just last year. Several wore down fast with the spread axle, like 4 flats, one crack, tons of blowouts. It happens. The year before that I had to patch one tire and that was it all year.

From my experience the Chinese last just as long and wear even equal to Bridgestone. I get Bridgestone for $300 a pop but if I’m on the road and need a tire I get Chinese and have no complaints.

Beware about their $1800 pricing. In small letters it probably says not counting the FET fee, or mounting, and of turning in eligible casings.

 

16 tires on one truck/trailer? I don’t think that’s normal. Are you checking your tire PSI regularly? Do all your tires have valve caps? Are you retightening your valve caps every 2-3 months? Valve cores are a common cause of slow leaks and can sometimes leak a bit through valve caps. Every time you change a tire, get a new valve stem. The valve stem base can also leak with time. Another good habit is to closely look for metal objects stuck to tires. Most of the time these metal objects do not penetrate tires, but if the object is not removed, it will probably fully penetrate.

 

I noticed that in the fine print of some I looked at the other day, price includes 100 per tire casing credit blah blah I can see them finding a way out of that in a hurry

 

It was the worst year I’ve ever had by 700%. A lot of tires were just worn down to 4/32. Ran over a ratchet strap from a car hauler that cut a tire. Replaced steers then hit a huge pot hole and broke my tie rod and bowed both steers out. In 4 miles to get to the shop they were toast. I also do a lot of scrap yard and recycling loads.

 

I've used iron man tires. To me they aren't any better than any other brand that's out there. Regardless of brand you'll have get new rubber every 1.5 to 2 years anyway. It's all in how you drive and maintenance that causes wear

 

I see what you are saying, but some have reported a reduction in MPGs when switching to cheap tires.

There is a study that you can find online titled “Cummins MPG Guide.” The handbook is 35 pages. Here are some of the points they make:

• Ribbed tires on the drive axles provide 2-4% better fuel economy than lugged tires. (pg. 4).
• Tires that run hotter consume more fuel. A majority of this heat is generated by sidewall flex. New and improved casing designs minimize sidewall flex and reduce running temperatures. It pays dividends to run tires with good casing design (pg. 17).

The other way I look at it is that cheap tires may not just be costing you more fuel, but also more wear and tear on your engine as it will be working harder to haul the same loads. Ribbed tires, especially those made with fuel efficiency in mind, should make your equipment last longer and possibly reduce the frequency of engine issues that will come as the engine ages.

 

I'm putting all new ironman drives and steers on my 18 western star 4900ex today. I haul heavy every day (115,000 to 120,000). I'm in and out of the landfill daily, these tires are open shoulder and aggressive. I'm replacing Cooper open shoulder tires, 80k to 85k on the cooper's. I have not had any blow outs with the cooper's. The price difference between the 10 tires currently on the truck is the 10 ironman I'm replacing them with is $3,300. So I'm already ahead by going with the ironmans. I run 11R 24.5