4x4 Tyres

[Sully]

Hey all,

This is the first 4x4 I have owned so know SFA on whats a good brand tyre for them. Rang a few places and get a different story every time. Basically its a 2006 Nissan Navara Dual Cab with 265/70R16 on it (original tyres). All the prces are within $20ea so not phased by cost as long as I dont pay more for a crappier tyre. Brands include Micky Thompson Wildcats, Toyo A/T, Kelly Safari, Kenda, Kuhmo, Dunlop, Maxxis, Pirelli, Cooper and Goodyear, all around $280-300 ea fitted and balanced. Mostly do highway driving so an 80/20 would be sufficient.

Cheers..

Sully

 

[brettprevans]

nothing wrong with kuhmo. suprised they dont take yoko's.
arnet cooper tyres those USA tyres that exploded or had major defects? or was that firestone?

hmm just rereading. a navara's a ute not a 4x4!

 

[chappo1970]

Sully have a look at the Coopers AT's IIRC. Great milage and good in sand. Can handle the odd rough 4x4 trip as well. I had them on my Nissan Patrol and got close to 90K out of them. Did heaps of towing as well. MT's do a great agressive 4x4 but you'll need ear plugs for the highway from the tyre noise.

Cheers

Chappo

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

We put Eldorado ZTR Sport tyres on our Ford Escape..

They are made by Cooper and so far they have gone well...

But the Dunlops,Goodyear,Pirelli,cooper would be the pick.

Maxxis are crap, Micky Thoms are a bit agressive

Basically look at the tyre to determine if it is a Road baised or Off road biased...

 

[crozdog]

used kuhmo for years on the 4runner.

have run coopers on the jackeroo for over 5 years.

both good for my 90+/10- (city/dirt) use

 

[drew9242]

Im surprised no one has mentioned BF Goodrich AT. I would go for them IMHO, good all rounder, and great on mileage. I Have used them on all my 4WD and have never been dissapointed.

I wouldnt trust coopers, had a few mates with them, and heard nothing but bad stories. Just my experience.

 

[Maple]

My vote goes with chappo, the coopers ATs are going to be what I put on my patrol next. Don't go brigestone. Got 20k on my last set.

 

[komodo]

I've had Cooper STT's and BFG KM2's and currently rolling around on Mickey T MTZ's all my rubber has been in a 285/75R16 (equivilant of a 33" tyre)

Mickey T's are wearing well done a 3000k trip around west cost tassie earlier in the year with about 400ks of tassie off roading (they rate their tracks weird!) done about 12,000ks so far and looking to be holding up well. I have had 2 punctures however and 1 was on the black top...

Coopers I thought were average but were on the car when I go it. Staked out and never balanced properly. Interestingly Coopers and MT are supposedly made at the same factory...

BFG KM2s brilliant. It'd be hard choice between the MTZs and the KM2s off road and the KM2s in the dry seemed better on road - but noisier in the wet. Saying that the MTZs do slide a bit in the wet under hard braking. Id probably go back to the KM2s if i was to be honest. I'd like to give the Dick Cepek FCIIs a go too one day.

What id look at in future. Goodyear MTRs. Get good reports all round.

Saying that all the above tyres are agressive All terrains / mud terrains.

What sort of tyre are you looking for?

The Maxxis tyres get a good wrap and are affordable. We run them on one of our 4x4 work utes (2005 Nissan Navara D22 STR) the boys reacon they drop the pressures and get out of anything on site. So if your only using the 4x4 for the occasional fishing or camping trip this might be a good option. If your doing a lot more off road work ...


I've always gone tyres based on experiance from mates with similar vehicles travelling similar areas. For example the STTs I drove on over to perth - what I found over there (touring - not looking for challenges) I would have been better on a more road going tyre. If touring go for a more road going tyre. If mums taxi - just get roadies - heaps cheaper. If weekending - go more agressive. If out back touring all out puncture resistance.

My $3.95 on the subject

 

[FNQ Bunyip]

I think coopers of old were a very good tyre and ran them on my scout 33x12 and 35x12 were the ducks ..

stopped playing around with toys and now just drive a bog standed L/C ute , with standed treads ...

Have been hearing lots of tales of coopers not profoming like they used to ,, low mileage , and alot more puntures on the ruff stuff ...

cheers

 

[Screwtop]

Coopers

Want any 4 x 4 tyre to last on bitumen.........keep pressures high, sidewall straight 45....50 if towing weight. Travelling around OZ did a set in 40,000K was told everything, it's the steep road camber in WA, it's the increased number of roundabouts, it's the stone we use for road surfacing hereabouts, heard em all. Then I was told by a tyre dealer to run higher pressure that the recommended and keep the sidewalls straight. Had done a further 80,000 when we got home still on the tyres he sold me.

Screwy

 

[komodo]

^ agreed with the high pressures. I run 50 - 52psi all round in the MTZs. The KM2's I had upto 56 pound in when towing and the STT's always had about 48-50 psi in them on the black stuff.
You just need to be observant when inflating your tyres first up to check for ballooning. Also when you get you car back after a service or having a puncture repaired check ALL your tyres - they'll wanna drop them to about 36 PSI cause its "softer" for the passengers.

Gotta be honest though I dont think 40,000ks is too bad if you were off roading it too. off roading chews the crap out of your sticky stuff. if i can get 65,000's out of a set of treads I'm considering myself pretty lucky.

If your running roadies (I ran Eldorado ZTR Sports on a 99 4500 GU ST patrol) I would expect atleast 80-100,000k's and only keeping it on the black stuff.

Dad only got 25,000k's of his last set of rubber - mind you he is running 30 series tyres on a set of 22" lexani wheels bolted to an 08 TDV8 rangie sport LOL - and he off roads it too LOL. Its a supprisingly capable vehicle off road - the only thing that really let him down on "easy" tracks is when it gets wet on an incline - had to laugh at him the other week I had to snatch him out after he nearly stuck it on its lid. Boys and their toys LOL

 

[beer slayer]

Strange to hear the problems with Coopers.
Ive been running the ATRs and they seem great and seem to be getting great mileage. I have a mate thats running more a road type cooper and
he has had no probs. They have been used both on and of road.
Cheers

 

[yardy]

I've got Coopers on my pathfinder, i do a lot of miles and have had no problems at all, good on the beach also.

Yard

 

[Gulf Brewery]

:icon_offtopic:

While we are sort of talking about tyres, if anyone in SA has a set of Desert Duellers that they are replacing, I would like the old ones for a buggy.

The most obvious deal here is beer for tyres :chug: . If you have some, please let me know and we can do a deal.

Cheers
Pedro