Tires for a rental truck

[Jkuhn22]

Maybe I am crazy but wanted a few hundred of my rokslide friends to confirm. I plan to head back out to Montana next fall to elk hunt. I have driven out once and flown the other time. The benefit of driving out is I can use my truck with 8-10 ply tires and feel pretty confident I can handle the mountain roads (stock 2015 F-150 with Michelin AT2 load E tires). I know I can’t go some places without a true off-road truck, but I was impressed all the places I was able to go.

When I flew out I rented a 4x4 truck and blew a sidewalk out of a tire going down a mountain road. Thankfully it had a spare and I was able to change it and Head to town the next day and replace it.

Has anyone rented a truck, took it to a tire shop and slapped on 10 ply tires for the week and then sold the tires back to the tire shop? I am sure I will lose 300-400 bucks on the resale, but would give me more access. Thoughts?

 

[Boiler]

Pretty crazy. But your money your hunt, do whatever you want and enjoy!

 

[BFR]

This is a new one for me. Have you talked to a tire shop about a buy back? Not sure how they would View it. How about the rental company? They might not be happy if something unforeseen happens and tires didn’t match their records, you could end up owning it, and paying them for lost rentals. Just something to think about.
But, hey good job thinking outside the box.

 

[2ski]

How bout rent a side by side in addition to the truck....

Whats the airport you would fly into?

 

[MuleyFever]

Blowing out a tire is probably not normal. Think of all the other people that drove that road and were fine. You are talking about spending a lot of money and going through the trouble for a slim chance it happens again. Also, you have a spare so you were fine.

 

[KChunter71]

I’d check on freighting them back home.

 

[Jkuhn22]

Flying into Bozeman.
I am considering renting a side by side but we rent a cabin and drive a lot going from place to place to find elk. Was not sure I wanted to haul the side by side all over the unit.

 

[Scrappy]

Flying into Bozeman.
I am considering renting a side by side but we rent a cabin and drive a lot going from place to place to find elk. Was not sure I wanted to haul the side by side all over the unit.

Their is a place outside of four corners west of bozman that rents jackedup bubba trucks. Might call them and ask about renting a truck that is setup with beefier tires. They might be able to hook you up without all the other fuss.

 

[Billy Goat]

I have thought about it. I have seen a lot of problems out there in the form of tire damage.

Problem is going to be what to do with the tires that were on the truck while your driving around. They seem to find ways to disappear.

 

[def90]

In colorado all of the rental cars have red fleet license plates. I doubt a shop would do any work on a car that was a rental car.

 

[wytx]

Look for some used 10 ply with enough tread to get you by.

MuleyFever blowing out a tire is actually pretty common in some areas of Wyoming, I'm betting Montana is the same.

 

[137buck]

Blowing out a tire is probably not normal. Think of all the other people that drove that road and were fine. You are talking about spending a lot of money and going through the trouble for a slim chance it happens again. Also, you have a spare so you were fine.

The rental trucks come with P rated tires and here in Montana, the rocks eat those tires. Two years ago, my truck was sideswiped during hunting season, I ended up with a brand new rental truck and it had P rated tires, I ended up shredding two tires while out hunting, luckily I know the guy who runs the local Les Schwab and sold me two exact tires for $60. Just this year alone, with 10 ply tires, I've had 5 flat repairs done and two of my tires have cut sidewalls and this is just on the roads I use to get to my hunting areas. Granted the tires are goodyear duratracs that came on the truck when I bought it and I'll never buy those again, as I'll stick with Toyo's which I've had great luck with.

 

[Camo]

I could be wrong on this, but seems to me if you rented a 3/4 or 1-ton, the stock tires on those are 10-ply rated as opposed to a P rating on the 1/2 ton trucks. But if your driving where @137buck goes, your mileage may vary.

 

[FLAK]

Thats one of the big problems with flying. I blew one out on a rental in southern NM on an Aoudad hunt once. And they only have those dang donut spares. Turns into a stressful situation real quick. I also partially ripped the plastic skid plate out from under the same vehicle. I bought a new tire identical to the one that blew and cut the skid plate out with a serrated knife. I returned the rental and never said a word.

I try to drive out on all my hunts now.

 

[MuleyFever]

Guess I thought rental trucks would have more durable tires.

 

[Whip]

Years ago my wife & I headed up a mountain for a week of camping. I had P rated tires on that truck and woke up the next morning miles from nowhere with two of them flat. Luckily one of them was not quite down on the rim and I happened to have my bike along with a tire pump. I changed the worst one with the spare and then was able to pump the one tire up with just enough air to drive it slowly to the nearest town.
I vowed to never again go into the mountains with anything but E rated tires.

 

[Dave_]

I could be wrong on this, but seems to me if you rented a 3/4 or 1-ton, the stock tires on those are 10-ply rated as opposed to a P rating on the 1/2 ton trucks. But if your driving where @137buck goes, your mileage may vary.

This. We used to rent from Enterprise truck rental to get load E tires. Usually get an f250 or similar. They aren't all terrain tread but better than the regular trucks

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[GunsAreFun]

What does it cost to rent a 3/4 or 1-ton for 7-10 days? Think that might give me sticker shock.

 

[AaronMColeman]

Can you drive SxS in the road in Montana? In Wyoming they’re fine. I’d go that route.

 

[Jkuhn22]

I will check out the 3/4 ton rental. Last year when I blew one out I took it to town and slapped a decent tire back on and put it under the truck as a spare. Could not get an exact match. Never heard a word from the rental car company.