After two years of building a truck to compete in the Outlaw Diesel Super Series events, and more, Project DeadSpool has really come a long way. In the beginning, the truck was a single turbo, small injector, 600-horsepower street truck. While that was plenty, we wanted to set ourselves up to compete at a high level and let others know we can race, too. Thanks to Mickey Thompson, we’re doing exactly that.

We have teamed up with multiple companies this offseason to ensure we bring nothing but the best to the staging lanes, and with the newfound power comes traction issues. As you may know, last year we ran the 305/45R18 Mickey Thompson ET Street R. That tire, which is a very unknown tire to the truck world, measures out to 28.8-inches in diameter, 12-inches wide, 5.4-inch sidewall, and makes 700-revolutions per mile.

The old setup’s best 60′ time was 1.44-seconds.

After doing much research, every source was saying head another direction and the tires weren’t going to perform. Putting our trust into one of the most known tire companies in the country, it worked. Our launch performance increased, our 60-foot times decreased, our overall weight of the wheel-tire combo was lowered, and last, but not least, they looked great.

Although some people mentioned the tires looked too small for the truck, at the end of the day, it didn’t matter. We were doing better.

We credit our second place points finish to many things but these tires are at the top of that list. We found ourselves out front at the beginning of the race and for that to happen a perfect tire is necessary. With a combination of good reaction times and precision consistent launches, we did some damage in DeadSpool in 2018.

So, our journey continues. With our 6.70 Index class racing going great, we have the Outlaw 5.90 index class in our sights. We have some major plans to help force our way into that 5.90 class, but until then, we’re going to continue our push in 6.70 until the logistics are lined up for next season. So, as we’re preparing for the 2019 season, we meet with our friends at Mickey Thompson and collaborate about their new tire size.

Tire One: 305/45R18 Tire Two: 315/50R17

After seeing the measurements of these new tires, we couldn’t wait to get our hands on a set to test these things out. Fortunately for us, Willy Woo with Mickey Thompson got us hooked up with some of the new sizes. As you can see, these are visibly larger. So much larger that the tire actually went down in wheel size. The new size they offer is 315/50R17.

Everything about this new size is a plus for us. We wanted more sidewall, more footprint to the track surface, more tire height, and we got it. The 315’s are 2.1-percent taller, 3.3-percent wider, and have 14.4-percent more sidewall. Once we got the tires mounted up to our new wheels that were purchased prior, wow. These have got to be one of the best looking wheel and tire combinations.

DeadSpool has been going through some major surgery over the winter, but it’s starting to go back together. Once it is put back together, we’re going to get out and test these new tires to see how much real-world increases we can gain. We’re looking to improve our 60-foot times even more than years before without changing any suspension items.

Be sure and stay tuned to see how these new tires do in the upcoming weeks. For more information about Mickey Thompson tires, check out their website. Stay tuned to DieselArmy as we run these tires through their paces and see what they can handle.