Minnie Winnie Back Country Tire/Shock Decisions

[Harvester-WO]

I have a 2020 MW 22R, bought new in May 2020. It came with the Hankook LT225/75R 16's (6 plus a spare in the garage). They've held up pretty good so far, but at some point in the coming months, I'll want to replace them with new tires. When that time comes, I was thinking of putting something a bit more beefy/aggressive with a possible upgrade to the shocks and/or suspension. The reason for this is to better handle lengthy drives down dirt and gravel roads - often with washboard type conditions.

FWIW, I have looked at the U-joint Offroad 4x4 upgrade for the E-350 chassis. That's quite a radical upgrade and includes all kinds of things with 6 new Toyo Mud Terrain tires - 2 17's on the front, and 4 16's on the rear. The cost is just north of $25K. They also have some pretty awesome bumper, and onboard air compressor solutions as well (for extra $$). Not sure I want to spend that much, and have some reservations about maintaining that upgrade over time.

So what are some alternatives that would do the job without going to all that expense? I do like the idea of the new Toyo tires - my local RV tire shop here in Conroe, Texas also recommends this brand. They were the ones who also installed my Safe-T-Plus steering stabilizer. My understanding about making improvements for those washboard roads is to do something about the springs with a combination of new shocks and possibly sway bars.

I was wondering if anyone else on the forum has gone through this process.

Thanks.

The video is a U-Joint conversion of the exact MW I have:

 

[creativepart]

Wow! That's quite the mod.

I bet that one REALLY rides like a truck - an Army truck at that. And, it's probably a tad bit noisy.

 

[Harvester-WO]

As a bit of a quick update to the original post, I reached out to the company that does the 4x4 conversion (U-Joint). and asked a number of questions, for which they quickly responded, and a couple of the items stood out to make this a bit unappealing to me:

1. Doing this 4x4 conversion will reduce the fuel economy by about 2 MPGs. I'm already getting 7-8 MPGs, so that is an immediate deal killer for me.

2. Interestingly, they are saying that the 4x4 conversion actually makes the RV ride more stable. They do a 6 inch lift, as opposed to some out there who do a 4 inch lift, and will only do the 6 inch style. I'm thinking that any lift would make the RV feel more "floaty" around tight mountain corners - especially in high winds.

3. They've got about a 13-14 month wait list to perform the conversion.

Okay, I'm back to my original plan of just replacing the six Hankook tires that came new with the RV. However, those tires are not new, as that RV sat on the dealer's lot in Dallas for over a year. I'm reading some of the posts on that idea, which is already a lot to digest. So many opinions, thoughts, different strategies, etc. Going to a custom 4x4 thing on a Minnie Winnie would be too much to deal with.

 

[Bobn1957]

I recommend the Toyo tires!