36x12.50 radial TSL

[H8PVMNT]

I had sent this message as a PM to Nobody but he said it would be a good question for the forum so I am posting it up here for all to see...

So I have been pretty happy overall with the 35x12.50-15 goodyear MTR w/kevlar on my 4runner. Pretty good ride quality, not awesome to balance but within the acceptable range for a light mud terrain. It looks like I will be able to run them to about 30K miles by late fall and buy a fresh set or something else. Not quite the milage I've gotten from BFG muds but not bad. I am considering trying out the 36x12.50 radial swampers you run on your Bronco. I know I probably do more highway than your snow rig but would you think I could get maybe 25K miles out of a set if I run them year round? In my experience with the few sets of swampers I've run over the years the radials last OK and balance out about as well as my MTRs anyway. I'm not squimish about noise, I like the low drone of swamper lugs slapping the road... but I don't want something totally egg shaped that thumps etc.

So in summary...

Are the 36 radials you run relatively round?

About how many viable miles would you expect out of a set if ran on the road too much?

[EBSTEVE]

I can not say much about how they will last but I can say mine are not balanced and my Bronco does fine on the road. I have run Thornbirds, Boggers, TSL-SXs and a set of cheapo mud terrain on my Bronco and the radiation swamped is by far the best on the road and in the snow. All the other Interco tires were not round and it was not fun to drive on the highway. IMO the SX is great for durability and general wheeling but only marginal in the snow if you get them down to 1psi.
Hope that helps.

[Nobody]

I've been really happy with the radial swampers. I think they run pretty smooth and pretty quiet considering. They aren't nearly as aggressive as the bias tires. After sitting for an extended time, they do flat spot, but goes away after few miles.

As for miles, I have no idea. I used to go through a set of tires every two years when I was daily driving with a welded rear end. Then when I built my dana 60 I put in an ARB and haven't bought tires since! I know I've put 5,000 miles on them since I swapped axles to my EB. Before that they saw plenty of daily driving in my Bronco II. If I had to guess, I'd say I have 15k on them, but I really don't know. They are pretty soft, so a bfg, goodyear, etc. would certainly yield more overall mileage. I think 25k is possible, but it really just depends on a lot of factors.

I think the radials are a great all purpose tire. They aren't a trendy tire, but they have always worked great for me. Keep in mind they do run very narrow. The 12.50 is really about a 10.50. Height seems true. I "might" try the 14.50 next time if they are still made. Mine are getting pretty old, not sure how much longer I'll get before they start breaking down. running around at 2psi is a hard life!

[n16ht5]

if you want your money to go and you are going to burn them up on the slab then you might consider Treadwright.. although they only go up to a 35" R16 (unless you have 16.5").

https://treadwright.com/c-40-315-75r16.aspx

I have bought 3 sets from them

[H8PVMNT]

Yeah I run 31" treadwrights most of the time on my '80 Toyota pickup, they are really outstanding in the snow and all around but I have a garage full of 15" wheels and the price of a decent set of 16s or 16.5 beadlocks kind of makes it a wash to run them on the big 4runner...

[H8PVMNT]

So other than the new coolness and probable longer availability do you guys see any real world advantage in the IROKS vs. these old school radial TSLs in the snow? I really like the nice skinny profile for my setup.

Also would you put these on beadlocks or do they stay on respectably well on regular wheels? My old 34" bias TSLs fell off beads at like 17 psi and you had to absolutely run them on beadlocks... That is one advantage to the Goodyears I have seen is that they are SUPER tight on the rim for some reason.

[Nobody]

I think the main advantage of the irok is there are larger sizes available. In todays world 36-38 are baby tires. Since the Radial TSL only goes up to 38, they were never even considered by a lot of people. Then again a lot of people would never consider a radial. If total mileage is a concern, I suspect the iroks will get even fewer miles than the radial tsl.

I have great luck with the radial tsl. I run them pretty hard at 2psi and haven't lost a bead. EBSTEVE has lost a bead several times, but always on the same wheel. He's just to lazy to figure out what's up. The main reason I can get away with it is because they are a 2 ply radial. The sidewall just isn't stiff enough to work the bead off the wheel. Bias ply design works the bead a lot more. Now, I do change my driving style when I'm running extremely low pressure, which also contributes to my success. I run my 36x12.50 on 15x8's which has worked great for me over the years.

One big downfall to the to the tsl radial and other similar radials is they do fold over on the sidehills.

[nickb]

Iroks will not last on the street. They are an awesome snow tire... I have had a few opportunities to buy them and have passed since I drive my rig on the street.

[H8PVMNT]

Iroks will not last on the street. They are an awesome snow tire... I have had a few opportunities to buy them and have passed since I drive my rig on the street.

Good to know thanks!

[H8PVMNT]

I think the main advantage of the irok is there are larger sizes available. In todays world 36-38 are baby tires. Since the Radial TSL only goes up to 38, they were never even considered by a lot of people. Then again a lot of people would never consider a radial. If total mileage is a concern, I suspect the iroks will get even fewer miles than the radial tsl.

I have great luck with the radial tsl. I run them pretty hard at 2psi and haven't lost a bead. EBSTEVE has lost a bead several times, but always on the same wheel. He's just to lazy to figure out what's up. The main reason I can get away with it is because they are a 2 ply radial. The sidewall just isn't stiff enough to work the bead off the wheel. Bias ply design works the bead a lot more. Now, I do change my driving style when I'm running extremely low pressure, which also contributes to my success. I run my 36x12.50 on 15x8's which has worked great for me over the years.

One big downfall to the to the tsl radial and other similar radials is they do fold over on the sidehills.

I love 12.50s on 8" wheels too, it's a great advantage to have a narrower wheel for airing down.

One really cool thing I noticed about the new MTRs compared to every other radial mud terrain I've ever had is that they don't roll over that much on sidehills and feel like the track way better at low PSI. I had them at 3-4 psi on a favorite local off camber snow trail we have here and they felt very stable and not too squirmy on the sidehill section compared to the pro-comps I ran the trail with the time before. I don't know why they are different but there is something... I like them alot, I'm just not sure if I like them enough to run them again yet.

[EBSTEVE]

EBSTEVE . He's just to lazy to figure out what's up.

Hey, oh wait never mind

[inthmtns]

Beware the TSL Radials...!

I had a set of 38-15.5-15 TSL Radials on my full size Bronco and after airing them down a few times they formed tiny cracks along the where the tread cap meets the sidewall. These soon became HUGE cracks (within month) and they no longer held air... not to mention I would have called them barely adequate snow tires.

This was over a 2 year time span, and less than 1000 miles... they still had 85% of the orginal tread! I attempted to put tubes in them, but the cracks just opened up and pinched the tubes.

I have since met a few folks that had the same trouble with the tread cap separation... if you never air them down you MIGHT be ok...

I junked them and bought a used set of 39" IROKS, tremendously better tire for traction and durability... 3 seasons now with no issues and NO cracking.

[EBSTEVE]

Beware the TSL Radials...!
after airing them down a few times they formed tiny cracks along the where the tread cap meets the sidewall. These soon became HUGE cracks (within month)

I wonder if you bought old tires, rubber breaks down over time and I could see a shop sitting on a set for years before selling them off. It sucks and no matter what they should not have done that. I air mine down to the low single digits with no signs of problems. Maybe its a fluke, maybe its a bad batch, maybe I am just lucky. No matter what I will be keeping a good eye on my tires and will buy the warranty next time.
Again it sucks to be the one but thanks for the heads up, it helps others make an educated decision.

[inthmtns]

They may have sat in a warehouse for a long time before I got them, and I've never had any problems with any of Interco's products before or since... ( I should have looked at the build date... lesson learned)

The shop that sold them to me 'heard' I aired them down (which I did and admitted to) so they wouldn't offer any assistance.

I recently bumped up to the new 42x13.5 Bogger and am VERY happy with it.

[H8PVMNT]

I have seen the tread separation/crack thing on a set of 32" bias TSLs a buddy had years ago. I have had several sets of swampers sith no problems at all though. I would guess if they sit around for years it could certainly contribute. I also have notoce greatly varied results with the different sizes of swampers. Clearly from the videos the 36s are working out great for these guys. My 34 bias were awesome in the snow with beadlocks but my 32 radials I had years ago were only so so in the white. Another buddy had the TSL SX and they were completely worthless in the snow. I would say there must be some drastic differences in the carcasses of the TSL lineup to see these differences in snow performance.

Thanks for the info though I will stay away from the 38s.

[Nobody]

Sounds like a rotten tire, or otherwise defective. I guess it could have also had something to do with the width of the wheel, or weight of the vehicle. I'd need to see a lot more evidence before writing off a particular model or size though. Could have been change in process at some point as well, which could hit any tire, any time.

I think getting as much info out there is a good thing though.

I bought my tsl radials in 2002. They've seen a lot of hard tail use, and have been run at 2psi for miles and miles in the snow. No tire is designed for that, but they're still going

[Fubar]

Wow those things look damn near new nobody. That's awesome