Dick Cepek Radial F-C II review

[firehunter]

I read a ton of reviews from multiple sources comparing BFG's (personal experience), Goodyear's (personal experience), Pro Comp's (no personal experience), Dick Cepek's (no personal experience), and a few other tires and the Dick Cepek's always got good reviews. Best of all is they are supposed to have excellent tread-wear specifically on diesel pickups. So I took a chance and ordered them up.

I just had them put on today and have to say I am already a little surprised and maybe disappointed. Each tire took an average of 7 oz's to balance on factory aluminum wheels. To me, this is unacceptable for modern manufacturing techniques and only a 33" tire (285/75 R16). The tire shop that put them on did an excellent job of balancing them - shame it took almost an hour of fighting with the tires.

They do ride nice and are very quiet compared to the Toyo M/T's that they took off the wheels (24K miles and completely bald!). Obviously time will tell how they hold up but my experience with the Dick Cepek's is off to a rocky start.

Other experiences with this tire?

 

[RedSmokey]

I dont have experience with that tire. But i have been in similar situation with the weights. SOMETIMES after driving on them a little bit the tire will kind of fall in place and require less weight. Did the tire shop deflate the tire and turn it on the wheel or just keep trying to balance them?

 

[Zmann]

I had a set that I never got to ride right I even had them trued ,,
I wil never buy them again nor any of their tires

My Toyo Mt's seem great but I only have a few miles

My procomp extreme's got 50k and were very nice tires ,, only at the end did they act up and follow grooves in the road

 

[TyCorr]

My procomp extreme's got 50k and were very nice tires ,, only at the end did they act up and follow grooves in the road

Extreme all terrain or xterrain?

Im interested in the extreme all terrain they offer.

 

[shanev10]

I'm running a set of 37" FC IIs right now and they are good on the hiway, not to loud and have been wearing pretty good. But they suck in the mud. If I never went off road I'd buy another set but since I spend as much time on gravel and dirt trails I'm going with something more aggressive. And ya it took a fare amount of tire weights to balance my FC IIs.

 

[SEABEE08FX4]

Honestly I have had a set of 38/15.50r20's and they have been the best tire I've ever run on my truck. They didnt take to much to balance but I've seen some good years and my old BFG's that took more. They lasted me over 2 years and 65,000 miles and when I got my new wheels and tires there was still a 1/4" of tread on them. Another forum member even bought them off me.

I wish they still made the 36/15.50r20's though.

 

[juniort444e]

I have 315-75-16's on my truck right now and love them. Funny you guys said it took alot of wieght to balance, my tire guy told me that two of my tires needed more then 2 lbs each to balance, i told them not to put anything on it, and was going to put the bag stuff in them. Never did, nor have i ever felt a vibration from them. I drive my truck hard and alot and i cant even tell that there is any wear. I would get them again. Did good this past winter in deep snow. Neverreally mudded in it.

 

[David S.]

I love my FC-II. Had them for almost 50k and they are wearing real good. Survived through a couple burnouts as well

 

[TyCorr]

I havent bought any Cepek tires since 97...wont ever again either...

Same for bf goodrich..no thanks...

Mickey thompson stinks for their limited sizes but Ive never had trouble balancing a set of them. They balance right out.

I wish MT made his atz in a 35x15.5 R22...One downside to 22" wheels is the tire choices arent too good.

 

[SEABEE08FX4]

I havent bought any Cepek tires since 97...wont ever again either...

Same for bf goodrich..no thanks...

Mickey thompson stinks for their limited sizes but Ive never had trouble balancing a set of them. They balance right out.

I wish MT made his atz in a 35x15.5 R22...One downside to 22" wheels is the tire choices arent too good.

Just fyi, mickey tompson makes dick cepek tires.

 

[Dieselcraft]

"whs" lol

 

[TyCorr]

They did back then but its like miller making coors beer, still not very satisfying.

MT makes a lot of peoples truck tires. So does Goodyear and Firestone. They dont improve the already bad designs in doing so however. Its like the procomp xterrain and the MT baja claw, very similar tires in look and intended usage but the end result is very different. Especially for the guy that mounts tires everyday. One of them needs meticulous weighting for the balance to come out close.

If you like em, the Cepeks, thats all that matters. I just wouldnt ever have another set. Same with BFG's. I intended to run the original bfg MT pattern on every truck I ever had once I ran a set on my old 88 ranger. My 2000 sd had a set of 35" bfg's on it and I luckily bought them at sears because I took em back a week later and said "Get these POS off my truck!" LOL they got me a wildcat something or other(cooper tires). They were a pretty good tire too!

Ive had great luck with Kumhos on cars but Ive heard negative things about their truck offerings. I believe if MT could make some more sizes in their flagship brand they could convert a lot of people. The atz is imo the best truck tire out there.

 

[firehunter]

Wow, more input than I expected. Glad to here more positive reviews about the longevity and interesting to hear others have had issues with using a lot of weight to balance. I don't drive much in the mud as it's usually dry/gravel/dirt roads or snow around here. The jury will be out for quite a while with these but I am optimistic they will work well for us.

 

[SEABEE08FX4]

They did back then but its like miller making coors beer, still not very satisfying.

MT makes a lot of peoples truck tires. So does Goodyear and Firestone. They dont improve the already bad designs in doing so however. Its like the procomp xterrain and the MT baja claw, very similar tires in look and intended usage but the end result is very different. Especially for the guy that mounts tires everyday. One of them needs meticulous weighting for the balance to come out close.

If you like em, the Cepeks, thats all that matters. I just wouldnt ever have another set. Same with BFG's. I intended to run the original bfg MT pattern on every truck I ever had once I ran a set on my old 88 ranger. My 2000 sd had a set of 35" bfg's on it and I luckily bought them at sears because I took em back a week later and said "Get these POS off my truck!" LOL they got me a wildcat something or other(cooper tires). They were a pretty good tire too!

Ive had great luck with Kumhos on cars but Ive heard negative things about their truck offerings. I believe if MT could make some more sizes in their flagship brand they could convert a lot of people. The atz is imo the best truck tire out there.

Yeah but your talking about technology thats 14 years old from the last time you tried them. Mickey T didnt own them back then and a lot has changed. Honestly your veiw is the only one I have heard like that on DC tires.

 

[TyCorr]

I had a set that I never got to ride right I even had them trued ,,
I wil never buy them again nor any of their tires

My Toyo Mt's seem great but I only have a few miles

My procomp extreme's got 50k and were very nice tires ,, only at the end did they act up and follow grooves in the road

Apparently, Im not the only one. In this limited pool of surveyed consumers thats two out of five!

I had a set of Cepeks on a 77 f350 with 390, 3spd, on 8" lift. Pretty comparable to what we are running in weight, etc. Those were good tires. On to my gasser one ton ford, 95 with a 460 and 6" lift running 16.5" welds with a DC FC II in 36x 14.50. Didnt balance well and lasted one winter on the truck. They were replaced by thornbirds for chrissakes! We all know that those arent real awesome.

I would say your experience is more relevant than mine, indeed but BFG and DC were 90's truck tires. And I know for a fact bfg isnt improved. They havent made a good tire since the 90's. I would say FOR THE MONEY there are better deals out there.

For clarification, when did MT acquire DC? It was during the dead-era for trucks after the new millenium wasnt it?

 

[KPSquared]

For the cost and from the reviews, I'd still like to try a set of Treadwright re-caps. I've been hearing so much good stuff and you can't beat the price!

 

[TyCorr]

I found the info, MT acquired them in 2000 due to them being flat broke. Bankrupt in fact.

SO I must have gotten the bottom of the barrel in terms of their production over the years.

The op, in his lead off post kinda pointed out some of the reasons I didnt like them 14 years ago. Balanced hard. Mine werent wearing real good, the second set I bought. First set were good.

Well, the op already bought the tires in a 33" size so its not like my experience is gonna dissuade him from buying these. He's kinda asking what to expect. Ive given my old, two cents so Ill butt out and let some of you newer users fill him in.

 

[SEABEE08FX4]

There's alwa going to be a fluke or a few problems with anything, I just haven't heard many complaints at all about them. I say the good far out weighs the bad. I'd still have a set of dc's if they had the 36/15.50r20 still.

 

[PTSUPERD]

Did somebody say Thornbirds. Lmao. Had a pair on my Yota.

 

[SEABEE08FX4]

Did somebody say Thornbirds. Lmao. Had a pair on my Yota.

Had a set of those on a old school K3500, driving in the rain was an adventure lol.