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Sean,Quote:
Originally Posted by mojo
If you're talking about these, yes replace asap and change all 4 as they are all the same.
Land Rover Defender Front Hub Rubber Dust Cap - JGS 4x4 Land Rover Parts
What the heck is in the air where you live? I've seen these 20 years old and still doing their job (well just about). You usually loose them long before they perish!
Cheers,
Lou
Yep, that looks like the rubber cap that fell out, except mine was in pieces. Thanks for the link, I'll order some replacements.
Cheers
Sean
In my experience, tyre life expectancy is between 6-10 years. Do you know the date of manufacture of your tyres?
http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/.../care/age.aspx
I had the same on my old BFG Trac-Edge tires, the supplier informed me that the main cause for this deterioration is the high UV from the sunlight, which I believe is the same in Australia.
His advice under such conditions is a new set of tires every 5 to 6 years.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...015/01/824.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...015/01/825.jpg
So tyre manufactures can't put a UV stabilizer in their rubber compound, given that their product is used outside... in the sun!!. I reckon they are giving a plausible pile of BS to fob off any sort of blame.
I too have experienced instances of BFG carcass failures - lots of cracking on older tyres, mostly MT's. These were on older tyres (5+ years) that were not used frequently. But I've also had much older other brands that lasted till they wore out. (10years on a set of Factory Defender Tyres)...
I have a theory that the BFG MT tread design means the rubber has to flex more than perhaps other non MT tyres as it rotates, and this flexing is what causes the cracks. I guess there is a trade off between making the rubber so flexible it does not crack when flexed - and a tyre that lasts 80,000k's
Either way - I do think replacing the tyres at 5 years is a good idea.
(Perhaps not practical when you have 10 land rovers that are used infrequently though)....
So I've been contacted by a bloke from Michelin, who I assume either own BFG or perhaps distribute them in Australia. They were pretty much uninterested in what happened, and certainly were not about to offer any kind of compensation. I guess the tyres were a couple of years out of warranty, but given the low k's on them I was hoping they might at least offer a good price on some replacement tyres. His only suggestion was to give me the names of some of their dealers and shop around for the best price.
I'm definitely going to replace the remaining tyres, it's just a matter of what with. Not sure yet if I'll stick with the BFG's or get something else.
Cheers
Sean
An interesting one for you... I have several friends in the tyre game...
One was a dealer of BFG and I was speaking to him about them.
He showed me a new tyre with small little 'dots' where the edge of the tread met the sidewall.
With a bit of a rub he managed to expose the slightest little amount of metal - a little piece of belt it would appear.
As he was showing me this a Patrol limped in with 2 blown BFG tyres...
This was not the first time he had seen it, and suggested that the batches of tyres at the time had belt fragments that exposed to air rusted and this helped the tyre weaken.
Whether this was the case I can not confirm, but it seems interesting that it played out.. And a few additional failures soon after from what he told me.
He switched customers to GY
Regardless of that, BFG Australia offers warranty for 6 years from date of sale or 9 years from date of manufacture and wear down to 1.6mm if you don't cross over into their exclusions list.
The main thing is that not all people selling BFG in Australia are authorised dealers - that is certified by BFG USA and receive their tyres directly from the factory and not via a third party wholesale distributor.
Warranty | Tyres | BFGoodrich Tires Australia & New Zealand
Tyreplus is one of a surprisingly short list of authorised BFG suppliers, hence my reason for dealing exclusively with them. Their database shows every bit of detail surrounding the fitment of tyres on my car (both my A/T and M/T sets) and they offer free rotation and re-balance service when needed. They also ensure that everything stays inside the exclusion list in terms of data collection and materials used.
I recently bought an APT track rod and drag link, which they fitted and the associated wheel alignment has been recorded for wear and warranty purposes.
Sean (mojo), if you have sales receipts I would still check the facts vs the warranty. You might however get done on the "improper storage" item though, because if they're not in use they should really be off the car and stored off the ground and in the shade (impractical I know, before the abuse flows, but those are the breaks...)
Cheers,
Lou
Cant go wrong with Maxxis or General Grabbers both in LT for sheer strength amongst other noble virtues if your looking for replacement tyres.
CHEERS
Thanks, I'll check them out. I've also heard good things about the Continental Cross Contact AT's so will look at them as well. I suspect all of these options are cheaper than the BFG's, although the price doesn't concern me that much.Quote:
Originally Posted by ozscott
Cheers
Sean