good scare - hydroplaning

[DEITZ645]

Laura,
I used to have a Chevy 1500 Z71 with an extended cab and 6 foot bed that was always a little light in the rear end. When I ran out my factory tires I replaced them with Bridgestone Duelers and they were wonderful. As soon as I run out the tread on my current truck I think I am going to put a set of Duelers on.

Just some more options for you.

Be sure to let us know what you get.

[funkill]

I spent about 1-1/2 hours at the *tire shop* (actually, family owned allignment shop) on Friday afternoon. This place is warmly regarded in the community and I spoke with the owner (and a couple other employees who tow travel trailers and large motor boats). Two of them drove my truck. And, after explaining my towing situation/habits and non-towing concerns (hydroplaning), they suggested that I might be a little disapointed in the E-rated Revo's for daily driving. Their suggested alternate tires were Cooper Discoverer H/T, heavy D-rated and a Michellin E rated. The Michellins are about twice the price. I think I'm going with the Coopers. I'll let you all know how it works out once I've towed a bit!

[DEITZ645]

Laura,
Thanks for the update and please do keep us posted. I noticed the sneakers on my TV are starting to dry rot and will need to replace them before the season is over. They only have a little over 30K miles on them and there is still plenty of tread, but the truck only gets driven to hunting / fishing camp and pulling the Airstream. I guess I should buy a set of tire protectors for the truck like I put on the Airstream.

[Larry in MO]

Laura-
I wouldn't get too carried away with brand of vehicle, brand of tires, where they might have been made, or exotic tread pattern. The real problem with SUV's is that the salesmen will tell you that the vehicle will go anywhere. Not true!

The whole concept is a function of speed and water depth and tread width. Any vehicle/tire will hydroplane depending on the speed and depth of water.

If you get really confident w/ your "new" tires while driving in the rain at 60 mph, for instance, and you drive through a portion of the roadway that has deeper water than other places, you might have a problem where you didn't 100' ago. I won't suggest a speed as there are too many variables but slowing down in the wet is a very good idea. Trailers, and their tongue weight, push the rear down and lighten the load on the front. That helps toward the onset of hydroplaning. Hydroplaning begins at the front of the vehicle and not at the back. One of the WD hitch people will explain if that happens on their setups.

Telling on myself a little here: A couple of months ago, I was near home on US 50. No trailer on my 2WD Dodge truck. All major roads have a crown, meaning the road surface is higher between the two lanes rather than at the edges to allow water to run off. It is crowned more than you think-maybe 4-6". It was snowing a really wet slushy snow which had accumulated to a depth of about 1". This stuff didn't look like snow but like a tan icy from 7-11. See where this is going? Really cold water an inch deep and I had the same problem you described. Off the road I went. After a short ride through the grass (w/out fence posts, cows, ditches, culverts, etc.) I was able to steer back onto the roadway. My wife was less than impressed.

Keep in mind that one can hydroplane on a hill, too. When it is raining very hard, the runoff can be deep enough to cause problems on hills. The key is to slow down--you can't be in that much of a hurry to wad your vehicle up.

[funkill]

So, I decided to go with the Bridgestone Dueller A/T Revo's on my Yukon. I re-thought and re-thought the decision until I was almost crazy. I read um-teen-dozens of reviews on these tires, received some pm's, and decided that I could not discount them: both for towing and hydroplaning benefits. After I made an appointment to have them installed, I finally slept!

After they'd been working on my truck for about an hour, I got a call to come to the service desk. The tire specialist just wanted to reinforce that this E-rated tire was going to be very uncomfortable, that I should maybe reconsider. I told him that I had already heard the concerns but, for now, the positives outshined the negatives.

I didn't immediately notice much difference in the ride. I'm used to driving trucks that seemed to be much *tighter* than the Yukon anyway, so any stiffness was actually good in my eyes. When I got home (few miles), I checked the pressure. They were at 40 psi. The next day I hitched Ophelia for a ride south and swung back into the shop to increase the pressure to 65 psi. On my short trip, I did notice the potholes/roughness in the areas of heavy construction/roadway work. When I traveled back over those areas (without the trailer), it was even a bit more noticeable. Still – nothing uncomfortable. I did run on the interstate for awhile and yes, I did feel the road more. As of today, I am happy with the Revo’s and will, more than likely, continue to run them at this pressure. I’m still planning to get to the scales and see where I’m at – then I’ll reassess pressure (and hopefully get my WD hitch dialed in).

Thanks to all of you who spent the time advising and educating me. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m getting a little overwhelmed by the science that seems to be lurking by each of my decisions. Before you know it, I’ll be asking about bathroom etiquette. Not.

Laura

[purman]

Good choice. We just put new tires on the Sequoia, It came with a passenger rated tire, and I didn't want to drive through 7 states with them being nearly worn. We Debated with this tire too. but I went with the Yokohama Geolander. In a "D" rating. "E" would have just been to harsh for that nice soft ride.. I notice the ruts and bumps a lot more with this tire, but sure feel a lot safer towing...