running LTB'S on the street

I am thinking about purchasing a set of swamper ltb in the size of 34/10.5/15 for my 73 cj5. the Jeep will be more of a show vehicle the first year or two before I wheel it hard. I know that they are bias tires and they wont be as good as a radial on the street... but will the ride be so bad as to rattle my fillings out of my teeth. I plan on installing a set of centermatic wheel balancers to help balance them.

Who is running these tires and what do you think about them?

 

I had a set that size on my toyota 4x4 and they road fine on the blacktop. The front ones lasted only 2 years but the back ones looked almost new but I didn't have the front end allined and didn't rotate them. I'm fixing to put a set of 33x13.50x15 on my 75 cj5 but its never gona see blacktop just gravel and the woods.
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I run 31x11.50-15s on my YJ. I had them balanced when they were initially mounted and other than the lug slap and some howl (both to be expected) they're not so bad. They definitely don't rattle my fillings. If I leave the vehicle sitting for a few days the tires flat-spot and thump a bit for the first 1-3 miles until the tires heat up and get round again.

They do wear kinda fast. My speedo doesn't work, so I can only guesstimate my mileage on 'em at around 10K-12K. There's between 2/3-1/2 tread left. I've only rotated 'em once and when I did I cycled the spare wheel/tire in there, so my mileage is probalby a bit better than what you'd get running only 4 of them.

I really like them for what I expect of this Jeep. Killer off-road performance with acceptable on-road trade-offs. I just went mudding up a mountain with 'em yesterday and later this week I'll drive the 250-miles round-trip up to my office in LA. I run a soft top with soft upper doors in the winter and a bikini top with no doors in the summer. There's no radio in the Jeep and I'm not really concerned about excess noise. I don't think I'd mount a set of these on a Grand Cherokee or a more refined vehicle I'd be daily-driving long distances, but for a "Jeep" Jeep you really wheel off-road, I think they're great.

 

i have heard that they are hard to balance? is there any truth to that?

 

I ran 42-inch Swamper TSLs on one of my rigs and a couple of 'em took over 1lb each to balance. Memory says 18-oz but I can't remember - I say how much on the 3rd 4WOR Ultimate Adventure DVD if anybody cares. The bigger the tire diameter, the harder it is to balance. This is especially true with Interco tires. Their manufacturing doesn't seem as even and consistent as other brands I've used.

Regardless, it shouldn't be that bad getting a little 33x10.50 balanced. Just don't be looking for perfection. There's no free lunch. They're agressive off-road tires and there are trade-offs associated with using 'em on the street.

More of my opinions on 'em here:
http://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticles/wheels/154_0908_swamper_ltbs_and_summit_wheels/index.html

 

thanks dummy i will take a look at it

 

I am running 33x13.50 ltbs on my 72 cj5 and so far I love them. The jeep doesn't see alot of street driving but had to use it for a DD once I put them on and I got about 1200 miles on them as of now with 3 wheelin trips under their belt and I can still read the word "swamper" which is stamped on the tops of the big lugs. They ride really good unless it gets cold outside or it sits for a while. Being bias, they get a flat spot and sort of bounce around untill the tire warms up enough and rounds back out. As for balancing...ya mine took a ton of weight. Prob going to the 35,12.50 LTBs once there are done.

 

i dont really drive mine on the street much, but when I do they work acceptably. I dont do highway at all, but around town they work just fine. Loud, and they do flat spot after a while of sitting, but once they are warmed up they are ok.

Mine ride hard, but it could also be the heavy duty leaves on my cj. As for the tires, even at 8psi i dont get much sidewall bulge. However, they absolutely kick arse off road. An they are tough as nails when it comes to puncture resistance.

 

how much louder are they than a BFG KM2?

 

I've never had the KM2's but they are significantly louder than the old school BFG mud terrains I ran on my blazer 10 years ago.

 

The KM2 is louder than the BFG MT. The LTB is a lot louder than a KM2.

 

I have a set of these on my CJ, but I have not had them on the road yet however, they are very out of round.. When I rolled them on a balancer you can see them out of round and they have a whole crap load of weight on them.

BUBBA

 

x2 on that. I ran the old style bfg mud terrains right before I put my LTBs on and they are a noticably louder. But I personally like the groan of a tire slapping the pavement. Also, my mufflerless exhaust helps drowned it out a bit so I really dont hear them at higher speeds and rpms.

 

run em till warm then balance em...they will be a lot rounder.

 

i was wondering about driving on them before balancing. it would make sense that a warm bias tire would be more round.

 

tons more round...

 

i've been running a set of the 34x10.5x15s for 4 or 5 years now on my 5. still have another year left on them. they are acceptable on road. i've never had them balanced, but that's just me. i don't do interstate driving, but i do see plenty of pavement. they bump a bit, and perhaps an occasional hop.

off road, for the wheeling i do in new england, i'm very happy with them. i typically run them at 2 or 3 psi offroad, and 10 to 12 onroad. the sidewalls are rugged, and can be repaired if needed within 1" of the rim (legally in NH).

 

now if i can just find a set to buy somewhere

 

wally are you running beadlocks with that low of pressure?

 

nope. the wheels are some cheap chrome ones i got at tire warehouse about 15 years ago, nothing special.

i don't get on the throttle much off-road, especially in the rocks. that might help as far as keeping the bead seated on the rim.

i've had the sidewalls flex up (from the bottom) over the edge of the rim and be pinched between the rim and a rock without incident.

i've been pretty happy with the ltb, but i might go for the narrower 34x9.5 bias swampers when these are done. i prefer narrow to wide.