I got rid of my TSL-SX tires after nearly 2 years of non-stop 4'wheeling. These tires turned heads while they performed like offroad champions. I once went on a "Jeep Run" with a group from Tri-County Gear - you know, those ace Jeepers from Pomona, CA who take their championship Wrangler on all of the hardest of rock trails. Well, people laughed and joked, here's this young guy who doesn't look like he's ever been offroad in this sparkling new pickup truck. How's he going to travel the "Most Difficult" trails in the San Bernardino National Forest? Will he 'wimp out and go home crying? HELL NO! By the end of the run, I was being asked by the Jeep guys, "Hey, what kind of traction diffs are you runnin'?" and "Hey, what kinda suspension kit is that, 'cause you're getting lots of flex 'out back!"
See, those TSL's never let me down. Not on the trail, not on the street. But, one problem I ran into with these "Traction Performers" was the rapid treadwear on the street. After only 22,000 miles, the tread looked as if it would last only another 3,000 miles before it would drift away into oblivion. A man in Palm Springs, CA was selling his 33" BFG-AT's (pre-K/O's) for $350. Would I purchase AT's, or buy another set of TSL's? Damn, I miss my TSL's. The "whrrrrrr" sound they made on the freeway inspired me to return to the deserts or the mountains each weekend. The bumpy/nobby sidewalls threatened jaywalkers from Los Angeles City to Ensenada, Baja Mexico. "The Look" of my lifted Ranger with these tires inspired young men as they tooled around my native Riverside, CA in their 6" lifted 2WD F150's. I really miss my TSL's. Now, I'm running 33" BFG's. They really perform well on the street. I get great mileage, and they are really practical. My father doesn't curse and remind me of the TSL's reminding him of his Military Transport days in the Korean War back in the 1950's. The tread hasn't changed much since the week before Thanksgiving when I finally had these tires installed after removing the balding TSL's. I really appreciate the flotation these tires have on the sand - a terrain I need to negotiate as my travels to Baja, CA has become to increase over the past year. I really have an appreciation for my BFG's, but I really cannot run two sets of tires due to my apartment dwelling situation, and because my wife just doesn't see this as practical. She's an adventurous type whose daily driver is a '95 Jeep Wrangler. It's lifted, w/ProComp springs and 31's. This rig has a CB, inspires Jeepers, and gives my wife the added confidence of a lifted, roll-caged truck. She's cool with me running either tire, but not spending $2,000 on 2 separate sets of tires. Anyways, she wants herself a set of 31" BFG KO's. Maybe, I'll do that straight-axle conversion with full-length F150 axles, and get a set of 35" TSL SX's. I will have paid my truck off, and will be living in a house by then. I won't care what the neighbors or my boss thinks, because I figure they're just jealous they don't have the guts to explore all of the backroads that me and my Explorer friends are able to. We'll see what the future will hold. Maybe I'll slowly morph into that soccer-dad whose kids play multiple sports, and crawl into the new-generation of lower, safer Explorers. "Reborn" is how they're now touted. Maybe I'll be one of those believers - pampering my shiny, still new-looking Ranger. Showering it with a new paint job in another 5 years. Fitting her with full-width Dana 44 and 9" axles, with Detroit Lockers fore and aft. Making those young kids with 2WD trucks even more green with envy as they try and follow me on the easiest of trails, but have to turn back for fear of harming their custom paint, or breaking their Fabtech 2WD street suspension kits. We will see, but for now, my Ranger is one Bad MOTHE*$&#&%)$!!!!!
See, those TSL's never let me down. Not on the trail, not on the street. But, one problem I ran into with these "Traction Performers" was the rapid treadwear on the street. After only 22,000 miles, the tread looked as if it would last only another 3,000 miles before it would drift away into oblivion. A man in Palm Springs, CA was selling his 33" BFG-AT's (pre-K/O's) for $350. Would I purchase AT's, or buy another set of TSL's? Damn, I miss my TSL's. The "whrrrrrr" sound they made on the freeway inspired me to return to the deserts or the mountains each weekend. The bumpy/nobby sidewalls threatened jaywalkers from Los Angeles City to Ensenada, Baja Mexico. "The Look" of my lifted Ranger with these tires inspired young men as they tooled around my native Riverside, CA in their 6" lifted 2WD F150's. I really miss my TSL's. Now, I'm running 33" BFG's. They really perform well on the street. I get great mileage, and they are really practical. My father doesn't curse and remind me of the TSL's reminding him of his Military Transport days in the Korean War back in the 1950's. The tread hasn't changed much since the week before Thanksgiving when I finally had these tires installed after removing the balding TSL's. I really appreciate the flotation these tires have on the sand - a terrain I need to negotiate as my travels to Baja, CA has become to increase over the past year. I really have an appreciation for my BFG's, but I really cannot run two sets of tires due to my apartment dwelling situation, and because my wife just doesn't see this as practical. She's an adventurous type whose daily driver is a '95 Jeep Wrangler. It's lifted, w/ProComp springs and 31's. This rig has a CB, inspires Jeepers, and gives my wife the added confidence of a lifted, roll-caged truck. She's cool with me running either tire, but not spending $2,000 on 2 separate sets of tires. Anyways, she wants herself a set of 31" BFG KO's. Maybe, I'll do that straight-axle conversion with full-length F150 axles, and get a set of 35" TSL SX's. I will have paid my truck off, and will be living in a house by then. I won't care what the neighbors or my boss thinks, because I figure they're just jealous they don't have the guts to explore all of the backroads that me and my Explorer friends are able to. We'll see what the future will hold. Maybe I'll slowly morph into that soccer-dad whose kids play multiple sports, and crawl into the new-generation of lower, safer Explorers. "Reborn" is how they're now touted. Maybe I'll be one of those believers - pampering my shiny, still new-looking Ranger. Showering it with a new paint job in another 5 years. Fitting her with full-width Dana 44 and 9" axles, with Detroit Lockers fore and aft. Making those young kids with 2WD trucks even more green with envy as they try and follow me on the easiest of trails, but have to turn back for fear of harming their custom paint, or breaking their Fabtech 2WD street suspension kits. We will see, but for now, my Ranger is one Bad MOTHE*$&#&%)$!!!!!
