Thread: All terrain tyres

Originally Posted by bigbear

I can get a set of brigdestone a/t for $600 a set for my hilux. I was thinking of putting a set of bfg's on it this time round but the way i see it i can get three sets for the price one. Shit tyre i know. I dont get massive kms out off them but its a cheap set (about 30000km) gisborne roads are the worst in NZ

I have bfg m/ts on my truck. Fronts have done just over 100k kms and still more life in them. Rears are at 35k and were only replace cause some muppet punctured one ane wasnt repairable

As mentioned above.... Maxxis are simply not in the same class as Coppers.

Not even close.

3rd division vs Premier League.

I know this from years of running 4WD fleets in remote areas, Aus, Africa, Canada. Vehicles came on site with crap tyres, we’d bin them there and then and go with Coopers. It was cheaper than risking suffering a failure in the long run as higher speed blowouts on heavy vehicles in rocky country damaged rims and more besides, and was flat out dangerous. Some of the tyres masquerading as off road ATs are a criminal bloody risk if you ask me. Maxxis were just ‘ok’ but they wore out in a year. Bridgestone Duellers were pathetic.

We ran a mix of tyre types depending on duty, it really is important not to select an overly aggressive pattern if you don’t need it most of the time, and vice versa obviously. We would routinely get 60-70,000km from a set of Cooper all terrains, pretty much the entire period we ran the vehicle (2 years), what is important to know there is that we changed out tyres at least 10,000km before minimum tread spec was reached as we didn’t want to risk failure, chance of which increases significantly towards the end of a tyre’s useful life.

I negotiated AT tyres on my new 2014 Hilux from the dealer in Perth, I asked for Coppers and got Maxxis which really pissed me off and they lasted 30,000km in the Outback. Now the vehicle has done 102,000km and its still on the subsequent set of Cooper Discoverer S/T Maxx ATs, over 70,000km of very tough kilometres. Not one single puncture. That is a fact, not a fanboy exaggeration.

On the same vehicle (now here in NZ obviously) I now run a set of Cooper STT Pro mud terrains in the winter. Where those tyres will take me at 15-20psi and diffs locked is unbelievable.

Cheap all terrain tyres on a 4WD are a false economy on my view. The wear rate is more than double, and beyond 50% wear the failure rate goes through the roof. And you’ll definitely get stuck more often!

Oh and what the guy in the tyre shop in town knows? Probably bugger all unless you go to a specialist. Even then the “best” tyre is the one he thinks he has a chance of selling with a good margin!

If you want your ATs to last the distance, they need to be balanced and rotated every 10,000km under normal duty, 5,000km in heavy duty conditions especially in rough mud or rocks where there’s an increased risk of loosing balancing weights.

I check wheel alignment every 10,000km just because what I do with my truck is hard case, if it gets a real hammering up front I’ll check the toe and caster marks myself, you’d be amazed how much they can move out of spec during a heavy session up the S Island braided rivers, or in the mud and steep country in the central N Island. The trick is always to run low pressures when you’re in the rough stuff, makes a massive difference not just to traction but wear and tear as well.

Originally Posted by mikee

I have bfg m/ts on my truck. Fronts have done just over 100k kms and still more life in them. Rears are at 35k and were only replace cause some muppet punctured one ane wasnt repairable

I am running the same, an MT that gets 80-100k is better road mileage than most ATs, buggar all noise too eh. Very very good off road.