Mickey Thompson Tires
Ever since this project began, I wanted big tires and wheels for our truck. During the building years, I could not afford to shod the truck with big rubber. I was extremely grateful for the support from Pro-Comp and from Alcoa for the tires and wheels they supplied to us. We had come close to achieving our goal, but were just a few inches shy. The truck was cool, but just didn’t have the ‘monster truck’ look I was trying to achieve.
As this website had grown in popularity, the revenue the truck generates had also grown substantially. With this, I decided to set aside some funds to investigate the purchase of larger tires for this year’s show season. It turns out that Mickey Thompson recently began offering a 40″ version of the new Dick Cepek Fun Country Radial II tires and with a sufficient load rating for the amount of weight this truck weighs. So I contacted the folks over at Mickey Thompson and explained our situation. The Mickey Thompson corporation was extremely responsive and supportive. They have a great sponsorship program and the truck qualified. There was only one problem, new wheels were required as well since the ones on the truck were only 16″ and the tires required 18″. Not to worry, Mickey Thompson had us covered there as well. And the great part, is that the M/T wheels are still made by Alcoa and we love the quality of the Alcoa wheels.
A few weeks later, the truck arrived and we took delivery of the new Dick Cepek Fun Country Radial tires and Mickey Thompson wheels. I could not believe how massive these are. Even though moving up from 36″ to 40″, which does not sound like a lot, it turns out that it really is. They were loaded up the trailer and I hauled the tires and wheels to my favorite shop to be mounted and balanced. I picked them up a few hours later. Now it was time to put the new tires and wheels on the truck. As you can see from the photos, there is a huge difference between the old and the new. The Dick Cepek tires dwarf the Pro-Comp tires. As the truck was lifted off of the ground, I wondered when I would have to stop in order to have enough clearance to slip on the new tires.
When it was done, the truck was several inches higher and the look I had been striving to attain had been realized. These new tires and wheels really finished off the truck and it was time to take it out for a test drive. One thing we found right from the start is that one steering stabilizer was not enough when your truck is shod with such large tires. Other than that, the truck ran great and the RPM’s have been reduced and the gearing is now close to what I had hoped for. So all in all, it’s been a huge success for Project Responder and I would like to thank Mickey Thompson for their support and for a great product.