Yes, I was dealing with Jerry. He seemed like good guy.
Tires showed up on Friday, and I got them mounted yesterday- I went with 7.10x15 on the front and 8.20x15 on the rear, blackwalls. Interesting thing- these giant tires balanced out with a quater of the weight the goodyear 215/75x15's that I had on there...I also had the tire shop use the lug "fingers" to balance instead of using the center hole/hub-centric style balancing (I am convinced that these Wheel Vintiques rallye wheels do not have a center hole that is punched true....)
I took it for a drive, got it up to 80 on the freeway and everything felt great. So my vibration issue was definitely due to the flat spots in my tires. Moving up to 8.20's on the rear also made a nice change in my drive ratio- with my 3.73 rear end, everything feels better, from 1st all the way to overdrive 5th with the T5 trans. The truck is also noticeably quieter on the road (less tire noise).
The tires have cure dates no older than mid-to-late 2022, so I'm satisified there.
I did notice a deformation on one of the sidewalls after I pulled it out of the garage- a raised sort of blister that is about 1/16" thick and 3/4" inch wide that runs radially from the rim to the edge of the pie crust (about 6 inches long) on that one tire- it is soft enough for me to push in with my thumb. I will call them tomorrow to see whether it is anything I should be concerned about (hopefully not).
Last edited by Norcal Dave; 01/15/2024 12:04 AM.
