OOPS! My bad on the mileage quote. I got to wondering about that halfway throught the post...Yeah, there's something not square about that truck, unless it has gigantic mudders! Vacuum line sucked shut, or something...
On the wheel bearing grease, I bet a synthetic grease would do better. I've heard of the vaseline trick on drag cars, back before they started going over 200 mph a pass... (Hey, I said "OLD" ASE Master...of course now it is "old" as in former...) On going any looser with the wheel bearing nut, it doesn't take too much until you see misalignment, and a smaller contact area, which leads to premature failure: about 58 miles...away from home...don't ask...
I can't argue with your sidewall max pressure point, for the most part. I just remember a study somewhere back in the '70s or 80's fuel crunch where a group (Car Craft, maybe???) put some tires other than factory (now that I think of it, these may have been 8-ply and aired up to @65 psi) on a car, and at a certain point mileage actually began to suffer. I'm guessing the hybrid car tires nowadays that run at so much pressure aren't 8-ply, so there wouldn't be the same issue. Yeah, I gotta give you that one.
This does remind me of the girl that brought in the Sunbird for a lube job, and the (OEM) tires all read in the 50-60 range. That'll make you pucker up...and I ain't talkin' lips...
