Thread: Tyre Choice - Wrangler Silentarmor VS Michelin

Back in 1998 I had to change tyres before setting of on a FIFO (well more like DIDO!) job in central Africa. I'm a BFG man myself, but they weren't available, so I was "forced" to put a set of Wranglers on. They were obviously not the new Silent Armour type, but I was pleasantly suprised by their durability and they are much quieter than any other 50/50 tyre I've had before. I put 75 000km on them in 18 months driving a 90, I did 98% of that on severely corrugated roads and they were good for another 5 000km to 10 000km. In my opinion you can't go wrong with the Wranglers.

I've not run the Michelins myself, but mates with them on had no complains I know of. They appear to be a good long distance touring type tyre.

I remain a BFG man, but that is just foolhardy brand loyalty I'm sure!

I've been using XZA michelins on gravel and tar for about 6 years on the defender.when I bought thetruck it had geolander A/T on wider rims that had not been rotated and were very noisy. When XZA was fitted there was NO noise.
over that time only one puncture from a nail. Lots of warning if you push them too hard on both gravel and tar. currently upto about 70000km's and probably another 20 000 to go.
On soft stuff around home after rain they tend to cut in but have not been bogged yet.
not sure if I will try XZL next time as they were on the bushfire truck and very good.

I have had Silent Armours on a Rangie for nearly two years. So far I have been very impressed. They are quiet, have excellent road holding and seem to be wearing well. Surprisingly I have had no punctures even though I spend allot of time on building sites where I would have expected at least a couple of punctures a year.
I have been lazy on the last couple of 4wd trips and could not be bothered changing wheels to my mud tyres and also have been very surprised by the performance of the tyres on tracks, MUCH better than I would have thought at low pressures however I did pop one off a rim on a very rutted muddy hill at 18 psi.

by the way, my silent armours are not American made as I thought they would be but have made in Indonesia stamped on them.

Originally Posted by amtravic1

I have had Silent Armours on a Rangie for nearly two years. So far I have been very impressed. They are quiet, have excellent road holding and seem to be wearing well. Surprisingly I have had no punctures even though I spend allot of time on building sites where I would have expected at least a couple of punctures a year.
I have been lazy on the last couple of 4wd trips and could not be bothered changing wheels to my mud tyres and also have been very surprised by the performance of the tyres on tracks, MUCH better than I would have thought at low pressures however I did pop one off a rim on a very rutted muddy hill at 18 psi.

by the way, my silent armours are not American made as I thought they would be but have made in Indonesia stamped on them.

Thanks for that. Is it possible you have the Wrangler AT/SA? Have a look at the tread pattern on the link. They did mention that they weren't made in the US. They include "silentarmor" technology so it's probably still relevant.

I have this one

Tyre Search, Goodyear, Australia

Originally Posted by amtravic1

I have this one

Tyre Search, Goodyear, Australia

Well thanks again. That's the one I'm looking at. The brochure in front of me says that they are made in the USA so I'll check that. They must have changed source at some point.

Just checked and the four 235/85R16's I have for the trailer and its spares are all Made in U.S.A. These were bought in 2008.

You may have seen my other thread on Wrangler MTR's but I'm pretty convinced I'll go with Silent Armours now.

4bar ATZs are worth a look too.