Where is the 7" comparison going on? I haven´t seen it yet.
Regarding DOT or legality of your truck it´s almost the same in Europe.
You definitely need to get your whole car/truck through MOT or TUEV which is like a government scrutineering and in some places even tougher than the FIA.
Everything on your truck needs to be approved by law, tested by MOT/TUEV approved facilities, etc.
That´s what is rather time consuming with my project, too, though sofar every bit is road legal and approved.
Across Europe every state has their own set of regulations and it´s getting stricter every 6 months.
In some places it´s already a miracle if you manage to fit 35" tires on a car that´s intended to have 33".
In Austria it´s almost impossible to legalize a roll-cage and don´t even think about going to their MOT with a full-external!
When you travel around Europe or Russia it may not be required to have everything on your car legal in the country that you´re traveling to, but it helps if you get pulled over by the police. The less they can find on your truck the less you have to pay.
For me it´s also important that I have some sort of test done with for example the wheels.
There sure are great wheels out there that will be fine to ride around with but they can break under excessive loads.
I still owe you guys a picture of my shattered Hutchinson which still works fine. A crash like I did back then would most likely have broken most other wheels.
Now to the siping.
I am trying it the first time and it´s a test to see how the Cooper STT behave on snow and ice afterwards.
There was no snow where I was until now, so I can´t tell you if there´s been any improvement.
So long,
Robert