New Maxxis RAZR AT811's and a bit of Patrol TLC

[iandvl]

I've been rolling on Cooper Discovery AT's since 2019. Seriously, they've performed well. They've done various trails, a dune trip, several river trips, various trips to Moz, Nam and Eswathini. And although the tread was still relatively good, there were various chunks out of the lugs and a few sidewall chips (not cuts - superficial) and the start of a bubble on the left front. So I just felt it was just time to replace them.

I got a good deal from Maxxis and fitted my 285/75R16's at Rob's Tyres Centurion yesterday. I'm super chuffed with them. Nice, quiet ride. Very aggressive tread pattern for an AT tyre. And the lugs on the sidewall shoulders for when one deflates are much better than those on the Cooper AT's I have had.

Most of the Patrol folk roll on Maxxis now and I've heard uber good things about them too. I'll see how they last. I need to take them offroad though...

And yes - pics or it did not happen.

Whilst in Centurion, I also collected a new Kut Snake fender flare for the front right which has been lying with Tinus in Centurion for a few days. A piece of it broke off on the mud roads during my Waterberg tour last year. I collected a new one and replaced this yesterday.

Apart from this, I've had a bit of a suspension knock for the last little while. It's not been serious - damaged swaybar bush and bracket - I must have hit a rock at some point (refer pic). I've had replacement bushes for a while now, but I've been battling to get a new swaybar bracket. Well, not battling in terms of finding the part - battling in terms of finding the time to collect it. This was delivered to a Patrol friend's place in Centurion last week. So I also collected it whilst lurking in Centurion and replaced it yesterday too.

In short, I'm now rolling on 33" Maxxis RAZR's. They're awesome. The truck looks a little better on the right hand side with the fixed fender flare. And I've lost the suspension knock which has been annoying me when driving over speed bumps (there are a million of them between my home and the office).

I've still got some things I need to do. I need to have the truck serviced - I'll be scheduling an appointment with Anthoney for this. I need to replace the windscreen, which is scheduled for tomorrow. The front side panels resprayed (you will notice the surface rust patch behind the fender flare) and I need to recon my rear bumper. It looks a little bad after a fire I had inside the bumper during the river trip last year. This fire also damaged the bearings of the second spare wheel carrier, and I'll definitely need to have this fixed prior to my Nam trip in the middle of the year as I'd feel more comfortable rolling with two spare wheels...

[jakeslouw]

OT, but I didn't have good service from Coopers. Really wore very quickly and started picking up repeat punctures at around 50% tread depth. That implies that the rubber compound is too soft and the nylon ply and steel belts quite weak.

Have had MUCH better service from Hankook Dynapros.

[Mad Manny]

Jake's I had great service from my Cooper ST Maxx', essentially 90 000km.
No punctures. Not one.
But grip on tar in the wet was not outstanding...

[grips]

Ian hope you get many happy miles.

[Mad Manny]

Don't talk kak Grips - you think Maxxis are kak...

[jakeslouw]

Jake's I had great service from my Cooper ST Maxx', essentially 90 000km.
No punctures. Not one.
But grip on tar in the wet was not outstanding...

ST Maxx is not the same as the AT3s.

[iandvl]

So a little more TLC for the Patrol the last few days.

The truck is sporting a new windscreen and I've replaced the rear lights. Both screen and lights were cracked. I also fitted new bonnet struts. This means I can see better and I should stop blowing as many bulbs as I do when it rains. It also means that I don't have to travel with a broomstick anymore to keep the bonnet open.

More TLC coming up too. I dropped the truck off with Bruce Tait's team at Summit this morning. Quite a bit of work - required. There is something I'm not totally happy with about the rear bar. The bits that extend under the wheel arches towards the fender flares have always been a little "floppy" in my opinion. and I want them stiffened a little (yes, Willem - I know there is a poor joke there somewhere).... Also, the bearings in both of my spare wheel carriers have packed up, which means I am currently driving around with a spare in the boot. This means no storage space, fridge etc. In turn that means no cold beer when camping without the trailer... I am also having the rear bar resprayed so that it matches my new front bar.

Sadly, this means I'll be truckless for three or four days. The rain is also not going to help thins. Apparently, their powder coating sub-contractors battle a little with the weather.

Let's hope it is three days rather than four. But I shall post pics when I get it back...

[iandvl]

So - I got my truck back from Summit 4x4 yesterday afternoon and I'm very happy with the end results. I am very grateful to Bruce, Jaco and their team.

It took a little longer than originally forecast, but in Jaco's words, "they bit off a little more than they could chew" quote-wise.

ie: bearings for the wheel carriers needed to be replaced, bumper sprayed etc. I was also not totally happy with one minor thing related to the bumper. And there were a few dents in the bumper from previous trips which, as far as I was concerned, could remain. However, they ended up panel beating the dents, fixing the gripe I had with the bumper and even upgraded the wheel carrier locking thingies.

And they kept me up to date regarding the stuff. When they realised it would take a day or two longer, I was kept informed.

Despite all the extra work done (and even though I offered), they did not charge me a cent over the quote.

I highly recommend Summit 4x4. Their stuff is super solid, they are local and their support is excellent.

[Bugjuic]

Looking good!

[Redman]

+1 on Summit 4x4... Also had great service from Jaco and the team in the past... One of the few okes that says he will phone you with updates and then he actually does

Looking really good Ian

[Mad Manny]

Jaco cannot be Afrikaans - no Afrikaans businessman has ever consistently done what he says he will....

I haven't used Summit4x4 for work, but I have bought off them.

I ordered a raised air intake (snorkle) from them, it arrived, had the word Hilux on it.
I called and said I don't want the word Hilux on my Fortuner.
They said they don't have one with Fortuner - only a plain one, would that be OK?
I replied "You think?"
They collected the Hilux one and then sent a plain one.

It was R1800.
Everyone said I should rather buy the expensive R5000 one.
I pointed out that "I'ts just a fcuking pipe!".

Anyway, 10 years later my cheap one is still 100%...