Tyre choice Superthread

[KurtG]

Mike Nel, here’s another thread I am starting:

There has been a lot of debate on this forum about tyres and what is best.

Yes, it’s normally a “price and looks” debate but let’s put our money (or lack thereof) where our mouths are.

What tyres are best for what application? There is sand, mud, rocks, overlanding, targrazing etc. so the options are endless but who here has some good advice for tyre choices for the different applications we as 4x4’ers would experience?

I will start:

1) BFG for longevity and sidewall strength, i.e. a high load index, but utterly crap in sand. Same applies to Cooper ST Maxx. 2) Hankooks, if you like to see a split sidewall on rocky terrain. 3) General Grabber A/T because you are a cheap ass bastard.

So what’s best for what?

[Wave]

So what’s best for what?

I'm not sure there is a tyre for all, we've only had 1 real 4x4,I'll exclude my 2nd car, a 1997 Hilux 2.2 4Y single cab SFA, as back when I was 19 I had no clue about anything nevermind 4x4ing.

When I bought my Tuna, it came with Goodyear Wrangler A/Ts; I will say that all round these where actually brilliant tyres, they were good on the tar, they were pretty decent in sand and over rocky terrain, never had a puncture but they did chip.

So not happy with the chipping I moved to Bridgestone, those 694s that came standard on all the Fortuners and Hilux bakkies; they too were good to me, sand, rocks and tar I was happy, never had a puncture, when they started running low I moved brands again.

This time I went for BFs KO A/Ts; these looked the business, made the 4x4 look more pukka and so many people swore by BFs I couldn't go wrong. How wrong I was, this tyre really disappointed, chipped so easily, big chunks at a time, side wall would get scratched showing the white rubber underneath, so they started looking tatty, and then on River Trip, my 1st time ever I lost a tyre to a side wall slice, not impressed with the "3ply" advertising.

I then had to buy 2 tyres on a budget, in Tzaneen, 2 Bridgestone 693s (the ones the newer Tunas and Hiluxes came with) as we were not spoilt for choice, when we got back from RT I bought 2 more to make a set, these are now my everyday tyres as the tread is road bias and only a 2ply sidewall SUV rated tyre.

I always wanted Coopers after the BFs and found some at a really good price, so ST Maxx is what I have and will do their 1st off road trip tomorrow (Jansens 4x4 8th June 2019)

So for me the best is to get forklift solid tyres and never deflate and never have a puncture again [emoji23]

I don't think there is 1 tyre that stands out and 1 tyre for all applications



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[KurtG]

I agree, there is no “one size fits all” and tyres are not made for all occasions.

They may advertise a tyre as an “all terrain” but if you look at the manufacturing processes and the specifications, they actually design each tyre for a specific application.

It’s way more technical than the average user would ever understand and unfortunately the tyre shops only sell what they have in stock, they very seldom match your needs to the tyre they sell you because that’s hard work.

[Wave]

Trying to fit into the 1 tyre for all occasions, I wonder how that new Cooper AT3 XLT will do? An A/T but 3ply sidewall, maybe Cooper has hit the nail on the head? (as best as you can with an A/T)

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[Hedgehog]

I agree with regard to the BF's and Coopers, The new Dunlop 3 Ply would also most probably fare the same as those hard side walled oukies.
The Good Year Kevlar range is, almost (Not as) as tough, more flexible, and very bulgable on sand, They also grip to rims like snot to your finger.. And, I have never seen one chip on rocks.
But they do not nearly give the same mileage of those hard cases mentioned before.

One thing though, if, and this would be vary few and far between, if you do get a puncture in those Kevlar armored tyres, be aware that you will have the fight of your life getting a snotplug in, and your snotplug tool out of those bitches..

[Prof]

Strange how everybody tends to stick to the 'well known' brands.

When I was in market for tyres also looked at the GY Wranglers with kevlar. Thought that kevlar would be great in the sidewalls. But alas did not go for those and later found out kevlar only in tread part of tyre. The tyres in USA have sidewall kevlar.

On the mommy Rocky I went for Kumho AT51. Very happy, they don't mind being deflated (lowest I had them is 0.6bar), and grip on a trail quite good. Little road noise and grip in wet is good.

On the daddy Rocky I went for Kumho KL71. As this is play car, I went for aggressive tyre. Lowest deflate is 0.8bar on mountain trail. More than makes up for not having a diff-lock. But noisy on tar. But for that a good sound system works.

Kumho KL71.jpeg (9.79 KiB) Viewed 6733 times

[grips]

I think the area you operate dictates your tyre choices. Owning several 4x4`s shot with all different tyre brands over the years.
One of my all time favourite were the very first Yokohama Super Diggers. They went 80k plus and had good sidewalls. Must have go through around 5 sets with no puncture or any other problem. The next generation Yokohama Super Diggers came with a complete different design lost a few due to sidewall cuts.
We had Dick Cepek`s nice tyre with good grip but poor tyre life. Maxxis are great in sand but do not expect good milage we have lost 3 to date due to sidewall cuts.
Cooper Discover SST Pro, Christopher had a set under the SFA Hilux nice tyres but I am not sure that you will see 80k km on them.
Also did not have nice experiences with Coopers under my business 4x4`s. Numerous punctures. The General Grabbers fall in the same category relating use on my business 4x4`s.
I am not going to discuss BF`s but all I can say I had only one cut side wall out of numerous sets and that were on the very first section of the Namaqua ECO route.
Currently looking at 32 x 12.5 for the V6 Cruiser that size will determine the brand as only few manufactures do that size.

In the end my choice stays with BF`s and Cooper SST.
Might give the new Good Year Kevlars a go. Maybe try a set on on of the business 4x4`s running on the mines. That will be the best test.

[XJ Junkie]

It’s very true what Grips said about availability. It’s an important consideration.

As far as I’m concerned all chunky MT tyres have very similar grip off-road. There are of course others that stand out over & above, like Khumo KL, Trepadors, Crushers, Interco, etc. But other than that there’s not a huge difference in basic ability.

The main considerations are:

1.) Must be good on wet tar
2.) Availability - it’s no good having tyres where a replacement can’t be readily bought.
3.) Price - they shouldn’t cost the earth
4.) Flexible sidewall for off-road
5.) They shouldn’t have ‘BFG’ written on the sidewall.

Regarding longevity, performance & life expectancy shouldn’t be used in the same sentence. Virtually any tyre manufacturer can easily double the mileage that their tyres can achieve, but there will be a performance trade off by using a harder compound. We can’t have both

[Mad Manny]

Fearless came with Bridgestone Duelers.
If you stared at the sidewall long enough you could split it.
In 42000km I had 4 split sidewalls.

So I fitted Cooper ST Maxx as they had the strongest sidewalls.
I have done 70 000km on the Coopers.
* Not one puncture (considering I've done about 40 off roadtrips on them, that excellent).
* Tread has worn down from 14mm to about 6mm (so about 60% gone).
* They are NOT great on tar though. But neither is Fearless.

I'd like to fit the same again, but at R25 000, I may give PowerTrac's a serious look...

Hopefully Rabbiddog will be here soon to tell us how crap Yokohama Geolanders are...

[KurtG]

Don’t you mean Hankook Dynapro’s?

[XJ Junkie]

I’ve got my second set of Geolander ATs. They’re ok.

[Mad Manny]

Don’t you mean Hankook Dynapro’s?

Sorry. Yes, Rabiddog shredded a sh1tload of Hankooks....

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[Apocalypse]

Best mud tyres I've had on a road car - Dick Cepek Crushers. Massive traction on wet mud, dry mud, rock, dirt... but you'd better have a good tight schpincter if you have to hit the brakes hard on wet tar... deafness is also something you will soon experience - big bonus if the mother in law is in the back seat, but it's a bit wearing after a while.

Other aggressive muds that I've had - Dick Cepek and Cooper - pretty much the same.

Worst tyres ever were those Grabber red letter 35s, but at the price I could live with them..... Useless on wet tar. useless on mud. not overly loud on dry tar, but very good on fast hard to loose dirt (which is that they are made for)

Right now, I'm running the Chinese Powertracs. they are a third of the price of the big name muds, not incredibly loud, very very good in west mud and on sand and you can seriously hooligan them at very low pressures (I rune 0,4bar in sand) - better than Coopers I'd say, not as good as Crushers - surprisingly good on wet tar and dry tar, and very good on dirt - although the corners come off when pressed very hard on abrasive surfaces.

I haven't tried Maxxis, they seem very expensive these days.

I don't believe you'll beat the Chinese ones for value for money. high on performance, low on street cred though. they ain't a BFG thats for sure...

[XJ Junkie]

Yip. Those Crushers are more like paddles than tyres. The only negatives I’ve read are the Yankees complaining about lateral slide on rocks.

But the Trepadors are not far off the Crushers off-road & also offer good tar grip & are quiet

[grips]

Best mud tyres I've had on a road car - Dick Cepek Crushers. Massive traction on wet mud, dry mud, rock, dirt... but you'd better have a good tight schpincter if you have to hit the brakes hard on wet tar... deafness is also something you will soon experience - big bonus if the mother in law is in the back seat, but it's a bit wearing after a while.

Other aggressive muds that I've had - Dick Cepek and Cooper - pretty much the same.

Worst tyres ever were those Grabber red letter 35s, but at the price I could live with them..... Useless on wet tar. useless on mud. not overly loud on dry tar, but very good on fast hard to loose dirt (which is that they are made for)

Right now, I'm running the Chinese Powertracs. they are a third of the price of the big name muds, not incredibly loud, very very good in west mud and on sand and you can seriously hooligan them at very low pressures (I rune 0,4bar in sand) - better than Coopers I'd say, not as good as Crushers - surprisingly good on wet tar and dry tar, and very good on dirt - although the corners come off when pressed very hard on abrasive surfaces.

I haven't tried Maxxis, they seem very expensive these days.

I don't believe you'll beat the Chinese ones for value for money. high on performance, low on street cred though. they ain't a BFG thats for sure...

Maybe I should give a set of 35 Powertracs a go