These trucks are not geared for fast living. Fortunately the motors are renowned for fast revving not doing them too much harm and well over 500,000km is expected before any sign of trouble. However I prefer a more relaxed tone in relationships so I wouldn't mind slowing things down a bit. In addition I don't believe that dual rear tyres are ideal for dirt/gravel/off road work so something has to change. The original tyres are 8.25R20 on 6.25 x 20" rims - something a little larger would be nice.
(As an aside it is technically not possible to change anything on an Aus. motor vehicle unless the original manufacturer approves or offered a similar item (which must then have an independent qualified motor engineer approved certificate of roadworthiness) in order to be registered. This particularly applies to wheel sizes and offsets!!) In order to get the front and rear wheels of trucks like this to run in the same track when fitted with single rear wheel/tyre combinations it is necessary to alter the offset of the rims from standard (if you require to use the same tyre/rim combination front and rear to save on the number of spares carried) and mount the rim on opposite sides at the front and rear as the front and rear axles are of quite different width. (Don't give up now !)
Nevertheless nearly all mining and government vehicles seem to be able to fit them when required so this avenue will be investigated further.
Some weeks later ....
Finally after multiple blind alleys we have "proper wheels and tyres".
The original skinny front tyre.
The new 385/65R22.5 on 11.25 x 22.5 8 stud tubeless rims
The original dual rear wheels
and the new rear tyres on the same rims as the new front tyres with only 12mm variation in track width!
As an added bonus these tyres are 10% larger in rolling radius so now the engine runs 10% slower at any given speed and the speedometer is exactly correct. (No it will not give me any better fuel economy).
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