GOVE Global Overland Vehicle Economical build.

[DzlToy]

If I understand you correctly. The shortest tire for a 20 inch wheel is 40 inches? I would not want to go that big on my rig. I would try to stay away from lifts. Thank you for the research.

Incorrect. I know for a fact that Continental makes and MPT in 275/80R20, which comes out to 37" mounted on a vehicle with some weight on it and probably 38" inflated and off the truck. Since there are many companies that make an MPT type of tire, I cannot imagine that Conti is the only one available in this size. Additionally, there are MANY truck tires made to fit 20" wheels now. Their suitability will depend on your weight requirements and intended usage.

It is a moot point now, but for anything other than a highway/freeway truck, there is no way I would use a low profile tire that cannot be aired down and put that tire onto a 22.5" heavy truck wheel. Might as well just buy a big class A motorhome and make a tour of all the national parks and KOA's. They are incredibly stiff tires, even at moderate pressures, are not widely available in the size you quoted and can generally only be serviced by a heavy truck shop, not something you may find in a rural area or in every small town/village. Will the tires work in this application? Probably. Could I walk around the country or ride a bicycle around the world? Theoretically yes but that does not mean its the best idea or that I want to do it.

I wish you the best of luck, but it appears to me that some of the original goals and plans have gone out the window here and we are a bit off onto another path.

Cheers

 

[heimbig]

DzlToy: I'm afraid you've missed an important point of the thread. Yes there is Conti MPT 275/80R20 but the load index is 134 which equates to 4675lbs per tire well below the GVW of a F550. In terms of not hitting the original design goals my original tire was 285/70R19.5 Michelin XZE2+ /XDE2+ (listed in the VERY first post of this blog) so I haven't changed my goals much - true the XDE is not low profile but is also not off road. The failed Rickson with 285/70R19.5 were about $1500 less than the 22.5 for 6. The XDEs were only $80 less each than the X Multiway XD. The X MultiWay XD is 7390lbs Max load - 40lbs over factory rating and 1000lbs stronger per tire than the 19.5 285/70. Worth noting there are other Michelin and Conti low profile tires with similar max load. With out doubt, larger (not low profile) 22.5 tires are more common but the low profile style is advertised in every region of the world.

I think you'll find many ATW travelers are using truck tires (including EarthRoamers with this same dimension tire) and not off-road tires because you are not going to drive around the world off road. Any of these road/regional truck tires require a machine to change the tire. People who use off-road tires for long expeditions have something closer to an unlimited budget compared to me and/or want to go the absolute last mile of rough terrain.
In terms of ride, I should have data in the next few days.

pricing:

• 6 x 22.5 steel wheel with X multiway = $8600. (admittedly a lot of money) (update 2/15/14: final price was $8935 due to front wheels needed bigger offset.)
• 6 x 20 Hutchinson with MPT = $14,000 (with 4 wheel adaptors) + tax + shipping + $200 each wheel for bead lock.
• 6 x 20 steel wheel (field serviceable but not as easy as split wheel like the Hutchinson) about same price as 22.5

and like I've repeated several times - the MPT may get only 1/2 the miles as X Multiway and almost no one chooses to re-groove the MPT even though it can be done - So MPT/XZL is going to continue to cost more over time.
Of course getting stuck could be costly too, but I'll cross that hole (or go around it) when I get to it:sombrero:

 

[heimbig]

just where does one REALLY find 20" tires globally

• BTW, I always hear that the Conti MPT or Michelin XZL 20's are available everywhere on the planet because military use them everywhere. So when you are in Indonesia and you need the tire that the military uses, how do you get one? go to the base? I've never understood that, the fact that the military has them, to me, doesn't help. Maybe someone can explain how this would really work.

• Not long ago I was in a UN refugee camp on the Somali/Kenya border serving the people there. The UN camp headquarters was very secure and even though I, as an American, paid for much of it :sombrero:, they really did not want to let us in (they had the only restaurant). Once inside I noticed all queued up were Humvees sitting on MPTs - I am POSITIVE they would not have sold me a tire.

 

[Capt Eddie]

Heimbig. I do not think that you will come closes to the max GVW of your truck. My rigs is larger and I too carry a lot of stuff for a family of four. My worse scale weight was 16900. Why do you think that you need such heavy weight capacities. 20 inch wheels with ******** Cepek tire are what first attack runs on the fire trucks. It seems a lot cheaper then the choses you have listed.

 

[Capt Eddie]

I know that you will not be able to tell any difference in ride, noise and MPG with the installation of your Turbulent Flow eliminator. I have seen then on campers before. It makes the camper look tacky in my opinion. I would wait for Mythbusters to confirm or deny the validity of the T.F.E. before you spend the time and money, as well as all the extra holes in the camper.

 

[heimbig]

GVW Weight and 22.5 tires

I am concerned about GVW. Current loaded weight 18,200 details at http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ehicle-Economical-build?p=1379249#post1379249

additional items I'm adding/added since it was on the scales:

Approx lbs

100 skid plates/bottom protection 65 2 folding kayaks 120 rock-slide engineering slider/step 25 solar panels/wiring 25 heavy duty folding camp table 85 additional tools/parts/lube/supplies 250 day to day supplies for long term travel (clothes, electronics, person stuff) -100 replace factory exhaust 35 upgrade to HD sway bars 160 22.5 vs 19.5 tires wheels 100 2 spare 22.5 vs factory 19.5 30 updates to motorcycle: skid plates, cargo rack, hand guard, fender eliminator, rotopax tanks

845 pounds total

This summer we'll be spending 3 weeks in Mexico that will give a much better idea of weight, performance, how much stuff we will bring, what works and what does not.

 

[heimbig]

turbulent flow

turbulent flow: I've seen opinions all over the place on this. And ugly is a concern. Factors that say do it: 1) many reports of people who added 'marshmallow' bag between cab and cab over report increases in fuel economy, 2) factory 'pickups' have turbulent flow blocks between bed and cab (and other places) 3) people interested in max vehicle speed will tape closed all body seams - make a significant measurable increase. Don't do it: 1) ugly, 2) may actually be noisier, 3) if no benefit it'll be a complete waste of time and money.

One place I will do it is between the camper and garage as they do not line up correctly (forms a narrow V going up) Just for looks, and to keep junk from falling down the 'V' I can cover and 'straighten' this.

 

[heimbig]

22.5 wheels and tires arrived & photos

The 295/60r22.5x9.00 were mounted yesterday. The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] party wheel build is not as nice looking and the powder coat is not as good as Rickson, but wheels appear to be much stronger based on 2 to 3x the weld passes, 4 to 6x weld passes on the front since Rickson did just one (bad) bead on one side of the wheel (admittedly one side is standard for front wheels) Also, the Schwab's are thicker steel all around. In terms of customer service, Schwab told me 2 to 3 weeks for delivery and a week after I ordered them said the builder was swamped and it would be 4 weeks. They were delivered just short of 4 weeks. Compare this to Rickson 30 days to ship estimate and instead 9 months of broken promises, order was never completed, and a wheel broke.
They ride just fine. In fact, a bit smoother on the highway and potholed roads than the factory 225/70R19.5. Off-road, I expect them to be similar to the 285/70R19.5 which was not as good as the factory but you never know.
X multi XD front and rear are identical but the rear is definitely noisier. The rear XDE2+ were even noisier than the X multi XD, whereas the HSR and XZE2+ are ‘silent' in comparison. I wouldn't call any of these loud. I have to wear earplugs to drive my wife's Prius with ‘hi efficiency' tires.
I suspect the ride quality is related to the sidewalls and the factory is very low profile and has 8 rear sidewalls:
	Sidewall height	Tread width
225/70R19.5 factory continental HSR	6.25”	7.5””
285/70R19.5 (front XZE2+)	8”	9”
285/70R19.5 (rear XDE2+)	8”	9.25”
295/60r22.5 X multi XD	7”	10.5”
I noticed a bit of tail wag at 60+ MPH with the 22.5 but not as severe as the 285/70R19.5 singles.
It turns out 1” taller and 1.25” wider is a LOT bigger the new tire is way too big to use until I make room for it by modifying the front wheel well – mostly it hits the rear of the wheel well opening, but I'll have to jack it way up and turn wheels to be sure there is clearance (like an inch ?) everywhere else – This was a somewhat expected result.
Front 22.5 wheel with tire weighs 237 lbs (the rears are on the truck), the front are probably a bit heavier than the rear since front have a ‘dish'. Michelin lists the tires at 115 lbs so those are heavy wheels.
The front/rear tracking isn't bad: Rear is exactly 7' wide and front 7' 3" at tread edge.
Wheels delivered:
The dish on these wheels is welded not pressed steel. Not sure if that is better but it is impressive work:
Need to make my under bed boxes smaller:
The new tires fill the holes nicely:
Michelin X Multiway XD tread detail (those are factory HSR on top): 
The front stick out a bit, I'll probably do something (like ad a plastic 'flange') to keep these from spraying and throwing mud all over:
The tires are barely wider than the wheels:
Factory look:
22.5 look:

 

[heimbig]

camper featured on phoenixpop.com

phoenix popup camper featured our truck on their web page, don't know how long it will be there - but is now.
http://www.phoenixpopup.com/

 

[ben2go]

I have used commercial flexible fender flares on my trucks before.I used to get it from the school bus shops.It's become quite popular as a cheap alternative flexible flare. http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/inde...sions-2-5-wide-and-4-25-wide-by-the-foot.html

 

[crazy]

How much was the cost of the wheels alone?

 

[heimbig]

the 4 front wheels were more expensive than the rear, but they didn't itemize it that way so the average = $516 each. Total: $8935

 

[heimbig]

Side by Side:
(L) Michelin X multiway XD, (Middle) Michelin XDE2+, (R) Continental HSR
Both Michelin tires are directional and M+S

 

[golf_n_bees]

Hello heimbig, great thread and project! Heck this whole website is fantastic it's my new favorite thing.

Anyway as a fellow 6.7 owner I read up on a situation a couple of years ago that I thought you might find interesting. Also I jumped ahead from page 7 so if this has been addressed in later pages disregard.

I purchased the 2011 4x4 F250 6.7 diesel (dream truck) and then started reading up on the things on the forums as this is my first diesel. A guy on one of the forums has the 6.7 and a few years ago managed to get water in his fuel tank on a fill up. I don't remember all the details of his thread but the long and short of it was the water got past the various filtering systems and into the fuel pump. This wrecked the pump which was a 1200 dollar problem. Bigger problem was at the pressures these systems operate the shards of metal were pumped into the injectors at high pressure. What started as a 1200 dollar problem turned into a 12,000 dollar injection replacement problem.

He said Ford denied warranty coverage because they have no control over what goes into the tank but his insurance did fix things. Take this for what it's worth because it did come to you via the internet but it got alot of attention on the Ford diesel forums. I'm not sure if anyone else has had a similar experience. Since reading that I use a Ford diesel additive and check the fuel separator on each fill up.

Seems to me this would be of some interest to you traveling abroad where the fuel supplies could be dicey. And again sorry if this was covered after page 7 but I'm heading to work and don't have time to finish the thread right now but wanted to post this.

 

[heimbig]

fuel filters

thanks golf_n_bees , yes I've heard similar things about water and dirty fuel but your report is the worst I'ld heard.

There are 2 factory fuel filters and I've added a 3rd. Back on post 30 to 33 there is some discussion of how I attempt to address this.
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ehicle-Economical-build?p=1261998#post1261998

you can see a photo at: http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...ehicle-Economical-build?p=1347793#post1347793