Thornbird or Super Swampers?

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Edelbrock

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Thornbird or Super Swampers?

Mainly on pavement.
Rarely on freeway.

Goal: Cool looking tires.

Concerns: Noise, bad road manners, short tread life.

So.... Thornbird or Super Swampers?
 

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nvrenuf

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It's not Thornburg, it's Thornbird

Most of the Interco tires are bias ply, this means short tread life (avg less than 20k even if well maintained) and the potential for flat spotting.

All of the Interco tires are noisy, it's the nature of aggressive tread patterns with large voids.

Tires like these can be difficult to balance or ride smooth with no weights, be prepared for this struggle. The bigger they get the worse it could be.

All the cool kids run Boggers. :favorites37:
 

TotalyHucked

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Exactly what he said^ These are gonna have all of these issues: "Concerns: Noise, bad road manners, short tread life." If you're concerned with it, find some modern tires you like. They'll ride better
 

bucket

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Thornbirds ARE Super Swampers...

There are many varieties of the TSL tire, some ride better and last longer on the road than others.

As for the Thornbird specifically, I've always thought they were a cool looking tire. Now with that said, they don't get great traction in mud, snow or rain. For things other than looking cool on pavement, there are FAR better options.
 

TotalyHucked

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Yeah, we always called them ThornTurds cuz they weren't particularly good at anything.

If the main goal is cool looking tires but you also want them to be halfway decent, Nitto Trail Grapplers are some of my favorite tires. I've had several sets and they wear well, they're great on the road wet or dry and in most anything offroad other than straight up soup. The only drawback to them for a daily/often driven truck is the weight, but that goes for anything more than an A/T anyway
 

85K304SPD

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Super Swamper TSL RADIALS were good on my truck for many years, but they were only available in 16.5's, so I went to a Cooper all terrain type. Much more peaceful, yet they don't look as cool.
 

83Stepper

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My 91 K5 Blazer with a 4" suspension had some 37" TSL Radials on them. Was a daily driver and got decent life out of them before going to a set of 36" Dick Cepek Fun Country II's (FC-II) after having the original Fun Country tires with a much more aggressive tread pattern. Yeah the TSL's were loud as hell and sounded as you'd expect. The droning hum of the tires doing 55+ down the highway got to be a bit much after a while. But if you're in town and not really doing highway speeds that much, you'll be fine.
 

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