Installed a set of 37x13.5x15 Pitbull Rockers on Champion beadlocks this evening. I went back and forth between these and Iroks for a while and opted for the Pitbulls after talking with their local distributor. I paid him via bank transfer one afternoon, and the next afternoon the tires were waiting at a local shop to be mounted.

First impression is that this is going to be a good tire for the T. Compared to the 36x12.5 TSL I was running these are huge and appear to clear the body more than the advertised additional inch of width would suggest. They are notably taller than the 36" TSL I kept as a spare, but it also has about 10k on it, so that didn't shock me as much as the apparent width.

The outer lugs compare somewhere between the size of the Iroks and Boggers of the same size, and the center section has plenty of void to make it look as though it will clean easily. The cut of the center section also makes it look as though lateral traction will not be an issue as it commonly is with Boggers and at times I found it to be even with TSLs.

I ran into a slight fitment issue around the front caliper brackets (D44) due to the lead tape style balancing weights, but in a shakedown drive to break apart the Dynabeads sacks inside the tire it seems to have self clearanced.

With the combination lead-based static balance (7.5-8 oz/wheel) and Dynabeads internal dynamic balance (10 oz/wheel) I had the slightest shimmy out of the driveway that lasted until the bead bags split and distributed the medium through the tire. After that, these were as smooth as my 35" winter radials on basic steelies. Zero death wobble where the TSLs sometimes made me stop and try again to get past 42 mph.

Noise is there, but it's not the Cessna roar I've been used to. It's easy to tell at speed that you're driving a tire that will 'get it', but you could still hold a conversation on the way to the trail. I imagine they will get louder with wear, but at the moment I'm very impressed with the lack of road noise they generate.

Unfortunately I have a wheel bearing and center bearing to replace, a Pitman arm/drag link end approaching scary, and four out of four blasted shocks that need to be relocated with the replacements (which is leading to a ubolt flip and exhaust job to accomodate the new shock location), and with the end of school coming in the next couple of weeks then the summer in Southeast Alaska working on my masters, I probably won't be able to give these a trail test before August (unless I find a way to ship it to myself in Sitka). At first drive, though, this seems to be a tire that has been worth all the talk since it came to market.

Pics?!


(you knew that was coming)

I did. I was hoping to hold out for something more than a parking lot shot. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />







Don't get me wrong, I will always have an affection for the TSLs, but I look forward to running the Rockers.

Good stuff. Hit a Valley trout lake this morning. The places that used to require throttle and careful steering may as well have been dry road, and I was lazy and only took them down to 15 psi. I can't wait to get back here in August and really put them through their paces.

Winter update:

For a number of reasons I decided to run these as far into winter as I could before I swapped over to my studded tires.

I still haven't swapped over.

The Rockers hook up very well on slick roads for a large-blocked mud tire. I attribute it to the moderate siping and oddly-angled tread blocks giving the tire the edges it needs to find traction. Every so occasionally I will drop it into 4H in order to be efficient when leaving a light; mostly I get around with no problems in 2wd with the diffs open. They don't stop on a dime, but studs don't either, and when I've skidded on braking and reminded myself to pump the pedal (no more ABS) the truck comes back under control just fine.

I have only had one unexpected "incident," which amounted to a non-issue. I was coming home from a fishing trip the other night and had the rear end try to wag out into oncoming traffic on the way up a mountain pass. I was in 2wd with the rear diff locked, and the weather had been a mix of snow and light rain, temps between 20 and 30, for 24 hours before. Easing up on the gas was all that it took to straighten out and crest the hill.

I have heard negative reports about how they load up with our mud up here, and while I haven't run into that problem, there are soils up here that will turn boggers into slicks, so I'm not surprised someone found a complaint with this.

All in all I'm very impressed with these as an all-around highly aggressive tire.

Nice Adam! Where did you get those up here? Or did you have to order them?

The guy is in Wasilla and a vendor on Alaska4x4Network. I actually never met him. One PM and a short round of phone tag; I wired some money; he left them at Underground here in town the next afternoon.