Sometimes you just want new shoes and sometimes you NEED new shoes....

Our puller a 2008 Ford F-450, often called the BAT mobile (Big  Azz Truck) is just as pristine as you would ever want your truck to be.  We were lucky to find this monster on Ebay being sold by a young man in Maryland.  Little did we know that he had OCD when it came to his truck.  He kept it in the garage and cleaned the thing meticulously, nay I say religiously.  It was so clean you could eat off of the engine.

It came with almost new front tires but the rears were worn pretty badly and it only had 38,000 miles on it.  Seemed strange to me as everything about the truck seemed like it just came off the show room floor.  So now I have to find 4 new tires for on the rear of the monster hauler.  Man have you priced tires lately?  Because this is the monster King Ranch hauler (33,000 lb. tow capable) we have to have 19.5  inch tires.  Seems they run somewhere in the $300 a piece range for the good tires, 200 to 250 for just so - so tires.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm for new shoes but I'm just not sure I need Florsheim's,  can't I just do with some Buster Browns?  Then I got to thinking about it, I'm hauling my HOME around behind me, do I really want to skimp on tires?  So I think I'm going to have to save up some beans and go for the more expensive tires and hope that they last for ever.

And just how long is forever?  I think we should get 50 - 60 thousand miles out of them and if we spend 15 - 20 thousand miles a year on the road then we are looking at 3 to 4 years of traveling.  Now that only happens if you:
     1.  Keep the tires inflated to the proper temperature.
     2.  Don't suffer any puncture, scuffs or sidewall damage.
One of the things we plan to do to lower the yearly mileage is haul the motorcycle with us and use it when we are camped.

The motorcycle is a Goldwing trike that we've had for 6 years now.  Three years as a two wheel and three as a three wheel motorcycle.  When ever we go somewhere on it, it's a real conversation starter.  So if you see a big white BAT mobile pull in and unload and drop a blue Goldwing trike, come over and say hi........we don't bite!