Nitto Tires????

[Marauderjack]

I went to the Nitto site and ended up at Discount Tire Direct asking a bunch of questions and got the following answers and info......

I'm thinking about going with Nitto NT 555 street tires and the following sizes are available....

Front: 235/40R-18 These are 1.8" shorter (diameter) than the OEM BFG's

Rear: 255/45R-18 These are 1.46" shorter than the OEM BFG's and will result in about a 3.6 MPH error at 60 MPH and be the equivalent of having 3.76 rear gears!!

Does anyone have a clue how they will wear on back?? The BFG's are good for 15-20K miles and are not even available now??!! :mad2:

Also, I can get all 4 shipped to me for less than $600.00.....Not bad if they will work!!

Comments and ideas?? :help:

Marauderjack :D

[SergntMac]

I have not seen any wear data on the Nitto 555 street tire posted here, but they are very popular with the local Mustang owners who drive very hard on them around here. They are so popular, I have to presume that the wear factor is acceptable.

OTOH, a lot of Mustang owners blindly buy what everyone else buys just to fit in, and not stand out to be made fun of. One ram produces ten sheep, which makes wear data worthless, and not a good indicator to buy by.

I think you have made a good choice, in size, and in quality. But, without solid wear data supporting long term use on the heavier Marauder, all I can do is wish you well.

Our member Glenn is using Nitto 555 street tires on his MM in another size, maybe he can chime in with some wear data expectations for you.

[sailsmen]

Big Joe P has them on the rears.

[Motorhead350]

I called and heard they last about 15,000 miles and are no good in the rain so I wouldn't use them for a daily driver

[Marauderjack]

DANG!!!!!!! :mad2:

What do we do now???? :confused:

BFG cannot keep up the supply of rears and nothing else fits?? :argue:

CV Sport wheels and a larger tire assortment?? :help:

Will have to recal speedo......xcal 2??? :bows:

Marauderjack :o

[SergntMac]

I called and heard they last about 15,000 miles and are no good in the rain so I wouldn't use them for a daily driverThat's true with the drag radial, Dominic, but we're talking about the street tire here. I don't know how they wear, but it's got to be more than 15K miles for the Nitto Extreme 555. The drag radial is the Nitto Extreme 555R.

[Marauderjack]

I emailed Discount Tire Direct to see if they have any input as to the durability of the Nitto "Street Tires"??? :confused:

Marauderjack :D

[Marauderjack]

Discount Tire guy wouldn't stick his neck out....said we wouldn't get 40K miles on the rears but would get 20-30K unless we drive HARD!!! :beer: :bows:

I have a local tire shop looking for replacements for the BFG's....Mine now have 15K on the rears and about 75% GONE!!!! :argue:

BTW....Fronts still look NEW with 15K miles......What the heck is wrong here??? :confused:

Marauderjack :o

[SergntMac]

Fronts still look NEW with 15K miles......What the heck is wrong here??? :confused: Marauderjack :o There are several points to consider when asking why the rears wear before the fronts, a common experience among us. My Pirellis likewise wear sooner in the back, and I imagine it's because...

1)Compound. The better a tire adheres to the pavement, the quicker it will wear, and over the years, I've seen very few complaints of poor handling from the OEM tires. If there is one chief complaint, it's wear, and that's a sign of decent grip, IMHO.

2)Task. The front tire steer and brake, 80% of the braking, but usually in a straight line. The rear tires are responsible for pushing the whole car forward, all 4400 pounds of it, and maintain control in turns, high speed or not. Taking an average highway curve at legal speed is more stressful to the rear tires than the front. Even in normal daily driving, moving 4400 pounds is a lot of work. If you examine your rear tires closely, you'll see more wear on the right tire than the left. That's because (generally speaking) the right rear is doing most of the work in normal conditions, IMHO.

3)Inflation. Though we have yet to agree on a "sweet spot" PSI, proper inflation for how you drive your MM plays a role in early wear. I see the best wear on my Pirellis at 40 PSI, though I got less than 10K on my last set of rears. No complaints, mind you, but a lot of fun.

Just my thoughts on it, carry on...

[Marauderjack]

Hey Sarge.....

I realize the rears push all the time and the RR wears faster but the centers of these BFG's get SLICK with 7/32 of tread left on the shoulders??? :argue:

I don't mind changing them often except for the wear & tear on the wheels.....some changers are pretty rough on them!!! :mad:

I wonder if I put the rears on back and a smaller tire up front......would the smaller (old) fronts outlast the current OEM's (more than 20K miles)??? Has anyone done this?? :help:

Marauderjack :o

[looking97233]

Here's a new choice for tires.

I am looking at going this route when I need new ones.

Toyo Proxes ST.

255/45/18 for the front and,
255/50/18 for the back.

I need to do some more reasearch on these. They are made for trucks and SUVs so they should hold up to our cars weight well. Also I got a quote from a local dealer mounted and ballanced for $550.00
Rod.

[MNMarauder]

There has got to be people out there with replacement not old style tires on their cars?

I am getting to the point where I need to replace soon too. What are people using? Am I reading right that NOTHING else fits?

[BillyGman]

There has got to be people out there with replacement not old style tires on their cars?

I am getting to the point where I need to replace soon too. What are people using? Am I reading right that NOTHING else fits?Look at post #11. It sounds to me like he has something there.The Toyo Proxes ST tire in P255/50/18 is exactly 27.9" (outter diameter) which is only .5" shorter than our factory stock tires are, and the front tires are also very close in height to the 27.1" Toyo P255/45/18 tires.

And BTW, I agree with MAC. The tires that provide better traction usually do so mainly because they're made of a softer rubber compound, and in addition to providing better grip on the pavement, a softer compound will also wear quicker. This is true of many high performance tires such as most Nitto tires, (especially the drag radials), many Pirelli tires, and even many studless snow tires. That's just how it is. Having tires that provide great traction, and at the same time high mileage is often a tall order. As with most things that we discuss concerning cars on this board, you can't have it all. There are usually trade-offs, and you just have to decide what your priorities are. That's just the way it is.

[Hugh Brooks]

I like the idea of the Toyo Proxes S/T (see post 11) but would prefer to go with the 255-50's front and rear (then I could rotate the fast-wearing rears to the front). Does anyone know if having the same diameter front and rear will cause problems with the traction control and/or ABS?

[huot5]

Here's a new choice for tires.

I am looking at going this route when I need new ones.

Toyo Proxes ST.

255/45/18 for the front and,
255/50/18 for the back.

I need to do some more reasearch on these. They are made for trucks and SUVs so they should hold up to our cars weight well. Also I got a quote from a local dealer mounted and ballanced for $550.00
Rod.Rod, have you gone thru with the Toyos? they sound very doable, and for a great price. what is the treadwear rating for the Toyos? I will be in the market soon also.

does anyone have info on the traction control and same size tires all around? I would just as soon turn off the TC for good ( with the programmer)

update....http://www.tires-easy.com/start.html (http://www.tires-easy.com/start.html) total for the 4 tires 416.00 not including shipping. great price.

[shakes_26]

Okay, SO here is MY experience with Nitto's and my Mustang 5.0

Perfect. The tires were quiet, dry traction? Awesome, distint reduction in braking distances (over my Toyo Z Proxes Z rated), Wet traction? Excellent (and thats witha high HP car with a real light hiney). Wear? I got near 26K on them when I sodl the car, and the guy asked me if they were new, he didn't believe they had that much mileage.

Never heard anyone complain about their Nittos. Rick-n-Miami has them on his MM, and they grip, let me tell you. He also (ask him if you want) they grip real well in the rain. Then again, you can't get buck wild with a 400+HP car in the rain, unless you want trouble.

I'm not agaisnt the Toyo Proxes, I had less than great experience with them, thats my experience. Good to know there is another potential avenue for the MM.

I've got widened rims coming so for me theres really little choice.

[Marauderjack]

Shakes....

Thanks for your insight!!

I think I'm going to try the Nittos next time around....VERY UNHAPPY WITH BFG's!! Are the BFG's still available??? Our local guy cannot find them!! :mad:

Marauderjack :D

[shakes_26]

dunno about the BFG's, but I've got a set of rears that most likely wont see the sun rise next saturday :) as they DI always said "Smoke'm if you got em" :)

I just ordered a set of front/rear Nitto 555 for the car, and a pair of the drag radials. Yeah, what can I say, I love the smell of roasted tires....it..it...it smells like victory.

[oldekid]

Shakes....

Thanks for your insight!!

I think I'm going to try the Nittos next time around....VERY UNHAPPY WITH BFG's!! Are the BFG's still available??? Our local guy cannot find them!! :mad:

Marauderjack :DCheck with Discount Tires. I was told this weekend that they can get them (BFG's) now. . . both front and rears.