Thread: Defender tyres for WA conditions

I have done 75,000 km on my current set of Dick Cepek FC 2's
Lots of gravel and Hwy and plenty of off road , I regularly tow 2T on & off road . Never had a puncture & never been disappointed with their all round performance . I will have to replace them soon & wont hesitate to get them again . Shame Bob Jane put the price up when they got exclusive agency for them ,aprox $100 ea more compared to what I paid for them aprox 18 months ago . So far they are the best tyres I have ever owned .

I measured the width of my alloys and they look to be 8" (between outside faces), so presume means wider tyres should be no drama at all

Originally Posted by Samblers

I measured the width of my alloys and they look to be 8" (between outside faces), so presume means wider tyres should be no drama at all

You can run 285/75-16" (about the same diameter as a 255/85) or even slightly wider...

Originally Posted by Samblers

I measured the width of my alloys and they look to be 8" (between outside faces), so presume means wider tyres should be no drama at all

Very much within limits... There are rules and regulations that limit the width and as far as I know 285's are the absolute max for OME alloys, but I'm not sure if its strictly legal either.

265 as in the earlier posts remain the most sensible option as there is more loss than gain in going wider. (Very heated discussion a couple of months ago on the topic )

Cheers,

Lou

PS: Only saw Isizurover's post after I sent mine!

Will i get a slap if i enquire what the arguments for/against taller/narrower tyres are vs wider/shorter?

i wont be going wider/taller because i'm not a bogan

Originally Posted by Samblers

Will i get a slap if i enquire what the arguments for/against taller/narrower tyres are vs wider/shorter?

i wont be going wider/taller because i'm not a bogan

Not sure what you are asking??? 235s are too narrow for 8" rims IMHO. That limits you to 255s, 265s, 285s.

255/85s and 285/75s are both just over 33"
The largest 265 is too small in diameter - smaller than most OEM defender tyres.

IME the 255s are better in mud, the 285s better in sand.

Originally Posted by Westie

Any views on the longevity of BFG A/Ts? They may have changed the compound but a few years back they were a bit soft and definitely didn't wear well on dirt e.g. the Gibb River Road.

There was a thread on here recently about them chipping badly,on a defender.

I have just done around 4k(in the D4) on very rocky dirt roads,some high speed and my rears are badly chipped.They have only done 20k and are around 18months old.
Fronts are not to bad,but rears copped it badly.

On smoother dirt they seem to be OK,i have had a few sets and never had bad chipping until this last trip.

yes BFG AT used to be good, but I will not buy another set, it was mine that the thread was about chipping badly, mine rears are stuffed after 20k in outback QLD! Got 60k from my prev set. they also dont hold balance well.
Next set will be Toyo M 55