Well, I just had a Ready Lift leveling kit and 33" Interco Thornbird's put on my 04 Silverado. I love it, but on the highway or interstate, the truck seems to kind of "float", for lack of a better way to describe it. I guess that's the best way to describe it, is this normal?
Floating truck?
1 - 3 of 3 Posts
Joined
·
6,542 Posts
Welcome to the wonderful world of Interco Thornbirds.
Thornbirds are an off-road tire with terrible on road handling characteristics, they're trickey to balance, they wear twice as fast as other tires, they chunk when used on road a lot, and they ride rough.
On the plus side if your gonna off road a lot then the Thornbirds are one of the best tires you can get for different situations, they self clean in mud, you can lower the pressure to 10psi in sand and rocks and get terrific traction and not roll a bead, at 20psi they blow through snow real good and dont chunk up when they get to cold, and they have double sidewalls for protection.
But unfortunately most of us spend most of our driving time on road.
Check your tire pressure, the shop may have aired the tires a little high.
The best way to get the correct pressure for your tires is to load the truck like you normally drive it, draw a heavy chalk line about 6" in front of each tire across the tires path, then roll the truck across the chalk line. The tires should have a chalk mark across the tread, if they have to much air you'll only have chalk on the center of the tire tread, to little air chalk on the outsides of the tread, just the right amount of air a chalk line will be all the way across the tire.
Thornbirds are an off-road tire with terrible on road handling characteristics, they're trickey to balance, they wear twice as fast as other tires, they chunk when used on road a lot, and they ride rough.
On the plus side if your gonna off road a lot then the Thornbirds are one of the best tires you can get for different situations, they self clean in mud, you can lower the pressure to 10psi in sand and rocks and get terrific traction and not roll a bead, at 20psi they blow through snow real good and dont chunk up when they get to cold, and they have double sidewalls for protection.
But unfortunately most of us spend most of our driving time on road.
Check your tire pressure, the shop may have aired the tires a little high.
The best way to get the correct pressure for your tires is to load the truck like you normally drive it, draw a heavy chalk line about 6" in front of each tire across the tires path, then roll the truck across the chalk line. The tires should have a chalk mark across the tread, if they have to much air you'll only have chalk on the center of the tire tread, to little air chalk on the outsides of the tread, just the right amount of air a chalk line will be all the way across the tire.
Joined
·
1,625 Posts
Lifting a vehicle, putting huge tires on it makes it more unstable on the highway and can contribute to that floating feeling you mention.
It also makes it more susceptible to a roll over in a highway quick lane change or emergency situation.
This will make the truck better in the woods, sand, rock climbing. But in some states also make it illegal because of the dangerous highway driving you will put yourself and everyone around you in.
I am just stating facts not trying to put you down for doing what you have done.
All the facts I just stated should have been told to you by the people who sold you those tires, if not they “could” be liable to a degree.
It also makes it more susceptible to a roll over in a highway quick lane change or emergency situation.
This will make the truck better in the woods, sand, rock climbing. But in some states also make it illegal because of the dangerous highway driving you will put yourself and everyone around you in.
I am just stating facts not trying to put you down for doing what you have done.
All the facts I just stated should have been told to you by the people who sold you those tires, if not they “could” be liable to a degree.
1 - 3 of 3 Posts
Join the discussion
