locrwln
Expedition Leader
Jack,
How's your shoulder? Have you had the rebuilder work on it yet? After reinjuring my rotator cuff 2 months ago, ( the hangover from rolling my Jeep on the Little Sluice 10 years ago) I went to the shoulder specialist and he said I'm not in enough pain to warrant an OP. It would be 8-12 weeks in an immobilizer, and 12 months of rehabilitation before you can put your shoulder to the load.
About the tire size decisions: Especially for Overlanding: every time I would go with the heaviest load rated tire. It's not traction you are looking for, it's survivability. Since 16's are out of the picture, I would go directly to 18's as they have the highest load rated tires available, as you have found out. The next question is wheels. I would not take any alloy wheels to Terra Del Fuego. Even with the moderate load of a pop up, being over built is a good idea when you are far from home. I 'should have' (as in woulda;coulda;shoulda) gone to 18's when I did my drive train upgrade last year. As a some time dedicated sand dunner with a 10K pound truck camper, I wanted to retain the tall sidewalls, not knowing my custom made 16" x 10" Stockton Wheels (the so called "Power Wagon" model with 1/2" plate center hubs) would not quite clear the front brake calipers. So, I have 16x10" with 4-1/2" backspaced wheels only on the rear, and stock H.D. steel wheels on the front. The 16x10's with a 6.25" B.S. Stockton Wheels are languishing in my garage ready for a buyer with drum brakes. Stockton wheel also makes custom 18" steel wheels with any back spacing you want with a 3/8" solid steel center hub and in 8,9,10,12" widths. Probably still over kill for your rig.
As far as flats are concerned, I would just carry a 20 pound CO2 tank or highest quality compressor and the all important ingredient: Safety Seal plug set. It saved me over and over doing hard core 4wheeling, with up to 17 little worms to plug a sidewall that worked fine for the rest of the trip.
I'm on my second set of 50 plugs, which can all be installed with the wheel on the truck. You literally can make anything hold air....for a while. It just looks bad. Besides, from what I've read, there just isn't a lot of 'off-roading' in C. and S. America unless you go looking for it.
As an update to my 315x75R16 Cooper AT/3, 35" tires: I chose these for overlanding because they seem to have the longest mileage profile and are tough. @ 46 pounds ea. they are heavy. They get slightly better mileage than the 'mud' or aggressive 'AT' tire by Cooper. After a grueling 6-day trip through the backcountry of Death Valley at 28 pounds pressure I could not find no wear and nary a cut or divit.
The bottom line here for me is I do nothing for "THE LOOK". It's all function; no falderal. Good luck in your quest. Your trip is one that I sincerely contemplated when I was your age.
jefe
Still in a holding pattern and thank you for asking. I am fighting with worker's comp as this is a result of a work injury in 1999. Turning 47 in a few days and the old injuries are starting to catch up. I've been able to deal with the injury, but have reached the point where it's time. Even supposed to get a graft...
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I am starting to come to terms with going to the 18's with steel wheels. I like alloy wheels for the weight savings, but as most have pointed out, steel wheels come with a certain comfort in toughness and less worry about getting damaged from tire changes. I have the air source covered as I have a York engine driven compressor on my truck and yes I have used my tire plug kit in the past to get home after a puncture (in the tread area, took three plugs to fix the leak) with my Nitto TG2's.
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I have had similar experiences with my Cooper's. Several offroad trips with the hardwall camper and no evidence of wear, rips, chips, or chunks. Very impressed by that and like you, I would go with an A/T for this trip as I do want to get the most mileage I can. I will just have to deal with the difficulty in finding 18's (if I need them).
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Jack
