Nitto Tires- First Thoughts

 Veronica got put up on the lift to change her shoes. I was really  happy with the decision to stay at 265/70/R16. Right before the Grand Canyon Trip, I had the factory spare mounted onto one rear wheel and purchased a brand new tire to be mounted on the other rear wheel to replace the one that has had a slow leak since I got back from Moab in May. That leaky tire got patched, and along with the other rear, both became spares. I had thought initially that I would need to buy more rims so that each set of 4 tires (I want to get some Mud Terrain tires at some point) would have two spares of the same make. But this is not necessary. I feel as long as the spare is a full-size truck wheel of the same size and rating, it should be fine for emergency purposes. I would thus have put these two tires to waste if I was seeking to buy two more Nittos on my own. And then go out and buy 6 more of another brand or type later. Even this provides an example; should I wish to continue sampling and testing out various wheel and tire combinations, with each change I'd be leaving behind potentially two new/newish wheels that were under-utilized.

I'm also starting to think that it was likely less the shortcomings of the stock tire and more the shortcomings of the driver when it came to my unfortunate White Wash Sand Dunes debacle in Moab. I've done more reading on the topic of driving in soft sand, and I probably could have been a bit more liberal in dropping psi before heading out. Otherwise, they weren't "bad tires" and are more than capable as a backup to limp out of most sorts of terrain.

I did a tire rotation upon my return since the fronts had been upfront for quite some time. So technically, today the fronts (previously from the rear) were retained as spares to the Nittos. Not sure what to do with the other four though. I'd love to get them retread as M/Ts, but I'm not sure if the economics will pan out. I'll have to look into those options.

 This is Veronica right out of the service bay. Aesthetically/cosmetically, the tire tread pattern looked just "OK" when they arrived. Yes, I was tremendously excited to get them. I did miss having the 'pop' of the white sidewall lettering, as the Nittos have a subdued raised profile on one sidewall and a striated or distressed profile on the opposite sidewall. I went with the distressed and like that arrangement.

However, once they were mounted, they did start to make my truck look a heck of a lot tougher. It may be owing to the sidewall construction which features raised ridges. They are not nearly as pronounced as those from the Nitto MudGrappler line of tires, but having not had them present on my previous set of tires, I was unaccustomed and pleasantly surprised at the difference they made in the appearance. The tread pattern itself looked a bit more imposing than when the tires were merely a stacked column of rubber sitting on my garage floor awaiting install.

 A couple of my favorite vantage points of the truck. I didn't take any from the rear as the branding of my spare tire is obviously visible for the one mounted to the tailgate. I intend to pickup a wheel cover to mount over that spare going forward.

Up close look at the tires now mounted.

I really want some inclement weather to happen. I probably won't be able to get anyone to commit to going wheeling until after the holidays. Bad weather, thus, will likely be the first test/challenge these tires will face.

The return trip home from the jobsite was about 40 miles or so of primarily highway driving on asphalt. Ambient air temperature was about 53 degrees. Handling was well-mannered. I've driven a buddy's lifted Suburban years back where he was running something 33+, maybe even 35s; I'll have to check. I wasn't yet as much into trucks as I am now. Anyway, he had some very aggressive M/Ts on there, and you could feel every...single...lug as you rode along. The sound from that big rubber more than hummed, it darn near roared at times...which I of course thought was awesome at the time being a naïve young man. But more sensible considerations of minimizing further degradation of fuel economy and also concern of the longevity of the tires themselves (given the typically high capital investment) has imbued me with a  greater level of concern for rolling resistance and suitability for the terrain which is to most likely be encountered by the vehicle.

Bearing that all in mind, it is a truck. If I were greatly concerned with fuel economy, I'd drive a Leaf (trying to stay in the Nissan family). So I do feel a truck should feel and perform like a truck. (There are other ways a driver of a truck can still be an environmental steward: for example, consolidating several errands/trips into one, carpooling, limiting idling time, etc.) That being said, a more alto-toned serenade could be heard from the tires once I reached highway speeds north of 60mph. It was a more pleasant, harmonic tone than the baritone drone I recall from my buddy's Suburban. In no ways was it deafening. In fact, I only noticed it because I deliberately had the HVAC off, radio silenced, and windows up to listen for any perceptible road noise. (By comparison I did this periodically with the truck when new so I could be attuned to what the truck sounded like when operating at presumably peak mechanical performance when new versus after years of service. It was a bit quieter). And once the stereo was brought to level 7 (far lower than my normal listening setting), the tone all but faded into the background. I anticipate that over time, with wear, this will all but cease to be present. For me, it was not objectionable at all. Again, this is the kid that LIKED the drone of mud tires. As an adult though, I'll make that tradeoff either by dragging the M/Ts in a trailer, hauling in the bed, or just finding a more local mud hole to romp in to minimize time on paved roads. Any M/Ts I get will not be a full-time set unless a manufacturer is testing a longevity compound in their new tires and I get another opportunity to be a tester.

That said, so far so good.

Going forward, I'll try to be a bit more scientific. I have a set of calipers with the plunge-depth thing-a-mah-jig on there that can be used to monitor the tread depth. I also have an infra-red thermometer; it may be worth noting the temperature difference between the tires and the ambient air or road after a certain length of driving. Not that I'll be able to ascertain anything from it, but maybe it'll prove useful to the folks at Nitto in reviewing the performance of this set on my truck. I'll also have to get this heavy girl on a scale to get a sense of the cumulative added weight above stock so that the additional stresses of the auxiliary components can also be factored. Pretty fun stuff to be involved in.

Only about 40 miles into the testing. Time to start racking up some mileage.

-will