Changing To Taller Tires

You can go to a 11r 24.5 and drop about 75-100 rpm.
Switching to a lug type tire would decrease mpg making it a wash.

 

You wont off set the weight difference. Better go to smaller tires, less weight and if the rpm needs lowered it needs rear diff regeared. I dont know what kind of work you do. If its on highway in america you can run 22.5lp on anything. Closed shoulder drives do the best for mpg.

 

Low pro tires get the best fuel mileage due to less sidewall flex. Speeding up 5mph will cost you .5mpg. Although rpm is a factor in fuel mileage, it's way down on the list below aerodynamics, speed, tire rolling resistance and several other things

 

I run 11R24.5's because they look great and give me optimal ground clearance. Fuel mileage isn't among my top priorities, because I'm not looking to compete for the $1/mile freight. And open lug is the only way to go for a drive tire. First time you need to call a wrecker to pull you out of a mud hole, that fuel mileage savings disappears 10-fold. Run what makes you happy, and bill accordingly.

 

Well i differ. I do highway, and short haul, farm work. Van, covered wagon and hopper. If I get stuck and need a wrecker, the open or closed shoulder is least of my issuses. If you have 100k on it dont really matter, if your empty it dont really matter. Plus I was a large wrecker driver before having my own truck. It does suck to get stuck in a wrecker too. But happens all the time. Lp 22.5 weighs less, is cheaper and has good casing price. I DONT run caps. I will agree 11r24.5 will get the longest life. But them heavy tires are not needed for most guys. Now there is alot of operations that do. But I chuckle at the farmers with big rubber and hauling 850 bushels.

 

Btw I dont go for looking good or cheap freight. I like functional and what I can do to keep the most amount of money. Its not how much you can make in this world. Its how much you can keep that matters.

 

If you get stuck in a wrecker, you don't know what you're doing. Kinda like having an empty frameless behind you in that you have the ability to walk it out yourself, but more so with the wrecker...and if all else fails, find something to chain to and winch yourself out. I'd have to fire you if I owned a wrecker company and you called me up to say you got the tow truck stuck and need a pull.

As for me, I also do short hauls. Flats, vans, end dumps, and hoppers. I've worked jobs with company trucks where at the end of the day I was the only one NOT requiring repairs due to clearance issues. The 2" of extra ride height makes a world of difference at some sites. Not only that, but the larger diameter of the tire makes pot holes and other obstacles in your path seem just a little smaller. As for the open/closed shoulder, I used to run Michelin XDE M/S* until they got too stupid on price. Switched to BFG DR444 and got stuck on brand new rubber in places my worn out XDE M/S* would walk through with ease. Be a cold day in Hell before I put another closed shoulder tire on my truck. If you never leave the pavement, closed shoulder tires might work just fine. If you do ANY site work, I wouldn't recommend them unless you've got some extra time on your hands to mess around with getting unnecessarily stuck. Sure, you can still get stuck with open shoulder tires...but it happens far less frequently.

And caps are 100% dependent upon the quality controls involved in the process. Start with good casings and use a quality facility and the tire you get back will be more reliable than a virgin. Start with a crap casing and use a facility that takes every cost-cutting short-cut possible, and you'll have issues. I've run my own casings that have been capped up to twice, and never had any issues. Company trailers were "fleet" casings capped on the cheap, and I always dreaded having "new" tires put on the trailer. Generally, if they lasted through 2 weeks, they were good to go...but it was about 50/50 on them making it through those first 2 weeks.