So, I talked about my tire dilemma, and how it looked like I might have to support the Great Satan. I finally did it -- I now have the Uniroyal Liberator tires from Wal-Mart on my truck.
So how do they work? Well, like truck tires. They have a thick six-ply sidewall, so they're very stiff and ride rough. They also have an astonishingly high load rating for such a skinny tire, and require a lot of weight to balance. Traction-wise I can only compare them to the OEM tires, but they seem to have more traction on both wet and dry pavement than the OEM tires (not that this is saying much -- the OEM tires would trigger the ABS even on normal braking when the pavement was wet). And because they're so stiff, they make the handling somewhat crisper than with the old Kitten Paws, which would howl in dismay whenever you asked them to anything more vigorous than a graceful weave.
All in all, they are what you pay for -- a cheap truck tire that's better than the OEM tire, but not by much. There are definitely better tires out there, and if I intended to put a lot of miles on this truck, I would have bought one of them. But since this truck gets used very occasionally (I usually ride my motorcycle)... it just didn't make sense to put a top of the line tire with an 80,000 treadwear warranty onto the thing. Hell, I'll be ready for retirement before I put 80,000 miles on this truck!
-- Badtux the Truckin' Penguin
Well, okay, but I'm sure you'll find some suitable pennance for your sin. 8)
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