Ford Excursion Update : General Grabber Tire Review 2

So it's been 4 days since I've installed a set of General Grabber 35.0 x 12.50 18 tires on my 2002 Ford Excursion Limited.  I'm very pleased with the tires so far.  They look great on the truck - I'm still looking back when I get out of the truck and head for the door of my destination.  The ride is excellent - not as rigid as my Toyo M/T's. The road noise is far far better than I ever expected.  They have a slight noise on the road but the frequency is far lower and a far lower magnitude.  Even at high speeds (75+) the right is stable and quiet.  

At this point I'm pleased to have selected this tire rather than a large all terrain tire.

Ford Excursion Update : General Grabber Tire Reveiw

When my 2002 Ford Excursion Limited with a 7.3L diesel motor was new to me, the shoes it was wearing were a set of 285/75-18 Toyo M/T tires.  I've never had a vehicle with tires this large.  They were pretty used up at the time and I new they'd need to be replaced sooner than later.  To Toyo's credit, the tires lasted  far longer than I ever imaged they would.  In addition, they drove better on the daily commute of 32 miles than I expected.  When snow hit the area where I live, I had no choice but to drive the Toyo's through the snow covered streets and they performed really quite well, given they were 85% done.  With the center tread mostly gone, hitting any standing water on the road presented a white knuckle moment. The only real issue that I have with the Toyo's is the noise they generate on the freeways.  The howling is quite significant. Obviously with a heavy vehicle and a diesel motor capable of generating significant noise, this isn't a quiet vehicle but the howling of the tires is annoying.

I began researching tires to replace the Toyo's.  My first thought was to replace the tires with an all terrain tire of the same size.   The search proved difficult since there are very very few choices for similar sized tires that have a load rating capable of dealing with this large head vehicle.  The load rating needed for this vehicle is E. 

Load Range	Ply Rating
A	2
B	4
C	6
D	8
E	10
F	12
G	14
H	16
J	18
L	20
M	22
N	24

 Many larger tires are delivered using the alternative load index shown below.  

Code	Weight		Code	Weight		Code	Weight		Code	Weight
60	250 kg (550 lb)		80	450 kg (990 lb)		100	800 kg (1,800 lb)		120	1,400 kg (3,100 lb)
61	257 kg (567 lb)		81	462 kg (1,019 lb)		101	825 kg (1,819 lb)		121	1,450 kg (3,200 lb)
62	265 kg (584 lb)		82	475 kg (1,047 lb)		102	850 kg (1,870 lb)		122	1,500 kg (3,300 lb)
63	272 kg (600 lb)		83	487 kg (1,074 lb)		103	875 kg (1,929 lb)		123	1,550 kg (3,420 lb)
64	280 kg (620 lb)		84	500 kg (1,100 lb)		104	900 kg (2,000 lb)		124	1,600 kg (3,500 lb)
65	290 kg (640 lb)		85	515 kg (1,135 lb)		105	925 kg (2,039 lb)		125	1,650 kg (3,640 lb)
66	300 kg (660 lb)		86	530 kg (1,170 lb)		106	950 kg (2,090 lb)
67	307 kg (677 lb)		87	545 kg (1,202 lb)		107	975 kg (2,150 lb)
68	315 kg (694 lb)		88	560 kg (1,230 lb)		108	1,000 kg (2,200 lb)
69	325 kg (717 lb)		89	580 kg (1,280 lb)		109	1,030 kg (2,270 lb)
70	335 kg (739 lb)		90	600 kg (1,300 lb)		110	1,060 kg (2,340 lb)
71	345 kg (761 lb)		91	615 kg (1,356 lb)		111	1,090 kg (2,400 lb)
72	355 kg (783 lb)		92	630 kg (1,390 lb)		112	1,120 kg (2,470 lb)
73	365 kg (805 lb)		93	650 kg (1,430 lb)		113	1,150 kg (2,540 lb)
74	375 kg (827 lb)		94	670 kg (1,480 lb)		114	1,180 kg (2,600 lb)
75	387 kg (853 lb)		95	690 kg (1,520 lb)		115	1,215 kg (2,679 lb)
76	400 kg (880 lb)		96	710 kg (1,570 lb)		116	1,250 kg (2,760 lb)
77	412 kg (908 lb)		97	730 kg (1,610 lb)		117	1,285 kg (2,833 lb)
78	425 kg (937 lb)		98	750 kg (1,650 lb)		118	1,320 kg (2,910 lb)
79	437 kg (963 lb)		99	775 kg (1,709 lb)		119	1,360 kg (3,000 lb)

Many of the options I found were not rated high enough to support the load and capacity of my truck.  I visited the Les Schwab store in Wilsonville Oregon during their big Fall tire sale.  The previous time I visited the store I was told that the best price on large Toyo's was during that sale.  The quote for a set of 4 Toyo ATII tires was outrageous.  My next visit was to America's tire in Wilsonville Oregon.  A.J. helped looking up a series of options to address the load problem and noise problem.  It boiled down to two choice:

• General Grabber - 35 x 12.50 R18
• BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO LT325/65R18/E 127 R

I've had a set of BFG TK's before and found them to be amazing tires.  The set I had on my previous Ford Excursion were siped before they were installed.  The total miles I got out of this set of tires was horrible.  I attribute this to the fact that a vehicle this heavy should not have siped tires.  As you can see from the 127 weight rating, this large set of BFG's would more than handle my Truck.  The other option, General Grabber's, are more traditional looking M/T tire.  The General Tire provides a look and capability that is more in line with a lifted 4WD Excursion.  The design of the tire is such that typical road noise is greatly reduced. 

Review So Far

After two days of driving, my one word review is amazing.

Why?  First, driving down the road (pavement) at 35-45 mph, there is no noticeable road noise.  Driving down the freeway at 60-75 mph there is very little whining from the tires.  The tires drive very smooth.  They probably need a little more air.  The initial installation pressure was 50 psi.  I believe I'll settle on 60psi rear and 55psi front. Yesterday, on the drive home from work, the rain was falling and the location just before getting on the freeway where there is a large puddle of standing water was just ahead.  With the old used Toyo tires I'd avoid this water.  This time I accelerated through the deepest section of the puddle and nothing.  No feeling of instability and very little side splash - the tires seemed to simply pump the water right through. 

When I get the chance to drive off road, I'll provide additional data.

Ford Excursion Update

Our 2003 Ford Excursion, which I have written about several times before, received a fatal blow when it was rear-ended by a Toyota Tacoma Pickup about 14 months ago - December 10th 2012.  The Ford was stuck in traffic rolling along at 2 to 3 MPH when the Toyota changed lanes and didn't seem to recognize that traffic was at a virtual standstill.  The impact was quite astonishing.  The Excursion didn't look horrible.  Further inspection told the story of just how powerful the impact was.  The rear doors were jammed into the frame.  The front doors were jammed into the frame.  The rear quarter panels and roof like were bent downward along with the class 5 receiver hitch and bumper.  The car was totaled with over $16,000 in damage.  Of course insurance doesn't really cover the cost of replacing the vehicle, just the value they want to pay.  They use various 3rd party services to provide valuations to separate themselves from being tied to customers actual losses.

2003 Ford Excursion, 7.3L Diesel, Eddie Bauer - Totaled 2012-12-10

The pictures above show some of the major visual damage to the car but the real damage was under all of the body panels.  The frame and fuel system were all twisted and needed to be completely replaced.

We searched for 6 plus months to find a replacement for this vehicle.  Our search took us  north to  Everett Washington and sound to Los Angeles California.  A few of the candidate vehicles seemed really good until we got a closer look.  We missed an offer on a really nice vehicle in Washington.  Eventually we called a posting on Craigslist in Portland Oregon.  The description seemed interesting but not exactly what we were looking for.  A few days later the seller called and said the truck was still available.  We made an appointment to go look at the vehicle and didn't really expect to find a candidate.  It was a 2002 Ford Excursion Limited with a modest lift kit.  We arrived in the early evening and found a vehicle that seemed really nice.  With only 115,000 miles the engine was just getting broken in.  The car had 35" tires on 18" wheels.  The drive on the freeway was amazing.  The truck drove really well.  We got back to the sellers place and took a walk together to discuss what we thought.  We ended up making an offer for the vehicle.  I made arrangements to pick the Excursion up the next day and provide a cashiers check for the purchase price.  I was really nervous driving the car home.   After doing more research, I learned the truck had the following:

• AFE Cold air intake system
• Custom stainless exhaust system
• Edge Products engine programmer
• 18" Pro Comp aluminum wheels
• 6" Pro Comp lift kit
• 35" Toyo MT tires (not too much life left of these)
• Front end steering stabilizer

The most recent work I've had done on the new (to me) Excursion was to get the front end tightened up.  Driving over typical transitions - driveways, speed bumps - I would notice a knocking noise.  I expected to find the ball joints were in serious need of replacement.  The result was something quite different.  The tie-rod end at the pitman arm was warn out and the track bar was loose.  With both of these issues taken care of the truck drove much better.  The next day was the scheduled installation of new tires - General Grabber 35 12.50 R18;'s.  These tires are about 1-1/4 inches taller than the previous set which adds about 5/8" to the vehicle height.

What's next?  There is one repair that needs to be done.  The rear washer system has a leak and when used, the window doesn't get soap but the interior of the rear tail gate does.  The biggest challenge here is the taking apart the  rear door panel.

After that, there are other additions/changes that are planned:

• Cobra CB radio with single side band (SSB) capability.
• 2 meter short wave radio
• High output backup lights. The halogen lights have been purchased.  The installation is a little interesting.  The goal is to have the lights be automatic or manually controlled..
• Electronic train horn.  This will be an electric version - actual air horns are very expensive and take a lot of space on the vehicle.
• 1200 watt amplifier and a pair of 12" sub woofer speakers in a sealed down-fired cabinet.
• Pair of Yakima or Thule factory mount risers and cross bars
• 12,000 pound winch