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Thread: Tyre talk again

  1. #1
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    Tyre talk again

    So I am after a set of 6x new tyres. I am favouring the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac (235/85/R16) for my 1998 Defender 110 300TDI SW. When getting a price for these I was offered at a considerable cheaper price for the BF Goodrich X02 as an alternative. So I went home to look online and find the differences. Well I’m happy to find that basically they are the same. But what I am wanting is your experiences with either of these two types on the Defender. I suspect that the majority of the reviews related to having them on a Toyota or similar but how do they perform on a Defender. I will mostly be using for general off road touring with the occasional get me over an obstacle type use, depending on track condition. I will not be using for any sort of mud hill challenge etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It could either save me >$400 or cost me $400 more for a set of 6x.
    Thanks...

  2. #2
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    I've run Duratracs on a few trucks both mine and work vehicles. I like them but one of the main reasons I like them and run them is they are very good year round/winter tires for here in Canada. I find that they tend to wear quite quickly in hot weather compared to other tires I've run. I assume this is due to the soft rubber compound which makes them good in the winter. I'd be curious to know if they use a different compound in Australia.

    For me they make a great all around on road and off road tire that is still very good in the winter. They do seem to have soft side walls and may be more prone to side wall cuts than tires like the BFG KM2 that are currently on my 90. My RRC has a set of studded Duratracs on it and I also have a set for my Chevy 2500HD they I've removed due to very fast wear on that truck, I'll put them on the RRC when the current set is done. Though the current set on the RRC has been on there for about 10 years and still has lots of life left.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by chrisbbarnes View Post
    So I am after a set of 6x new tyres. I am favouring the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac (235/85/R16) for my 1998 Defender 110 300TDI SW. When getting a price for these I was offered at a considerable cheaper price for the BF Goodrich X02 as an alternative. So I went home to look online and find the differences. Well I’m happy to find that basically they are the same. But what I am wanting is your experiences with either of these two types on the Defender. I suspect that the majority of the reviews related to having them on a Toyota or similar but how do they perform on a Defender. I will mostly be using for general off road touring with the occasional get me over an obstacle type use, depending on track condition. I will not be using for any sort of mud hill challenge etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It could either save me >$400 or cost me $400 more for a set of 6x.
    Thanks...
    Hi Chris
    I replaced the original Continental cross contacts with BFG KM2's. I found them quieter and a more supple ride. I got 69k out of the conti's
    and only 40k out of the first BFG's but that was my fault, they weren't worn out, but I was doing a huge trip and started it with a fresh set.
    and took the old rear ones as spares. I have almost 20k on the 2nd set and I am a lot more on the ball with alignments etc and they are
    wearing quite well. When off road I find they grip better than the conti's as well. I paid about $280 each for the 235/85/169 BFG's.
    Cheers Ian
    1964, S2a SWB "Ralph"
    1977, S3 SWB "Smeg" (Gone)
    1996 D1 300tdi auto (Gone)
    1973 Rangie Classic (Gone)
    2012, 110 (Series 12) Puma "The Tardis"
    1962 109" Tray Back "Ernie"
    1998 D1 300tdi (Dizzy)
    2017 Kawasaki Versys 1000

    You must now cut down the tallest tree in the forest... With... A HERRING!!!!!

  4. #4
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    I'm running the BFG KO2s in 236/85/R16 on my 110. They've been on for about 18 months now and done about 25k km. About half that distance has been outback touring, as well as a couple of trips to the High Country.

    At the time I was also looking at the Duratracs. Although not a direct comparison, I have a mate who runs them on his Ranger and has had a good run from them. I decided on the BFGs for two reasons. Firstly they were nearly $100 a tyre cheaper at the time. Secondly, they were much easier to get. I thought this was an important consideration. Being a much more popular tyre I felt they would be easier to replace if needed when travelling.

    The KO2s have been way better than the old KOs ever were. On road they are good, even in the wet. Their first trip was the Simpson and they came back looking brand new. This year we went out through Innamincka, Birdsville, Marree and down to Woomera, so similar roads. They came back from that with a little bit of chipping on the rears, which surprised me. They're not too bad though and maybe I just didn't have the pressures quite right at some stage.

    Overall I have been happy with them and would feel comfortable recommending the BFGs. I can't compare them to the Duratracs, but feel they would need to be pretty good to be worth the extra money.

    Cheers,
    Jon

  5. #5
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    Something else to consider

    Running Bridgestone 697 on a Defender tray back and very happy with them on gravel, grass, some mud and on wet tar. No noise and they replaced pirelli scorpions that were just old. Standard book pressures seem to work well.
    Sunraysia rims and tubeless.

  6. #6
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    Gday Chris.
    I took my 110 on the big lap in 2016. Had the Wrangler AT’s on when I left already with about 45k kms on and added 20k+ getting to Darwin the long way.
    In Darwin, the tyre shop had cut a Dura Trac, AT and MT all in the Wrangler range in half.
    AT and MT have Kevlar side walls and belts.
    Dura Trac do not.

    Dura Trac have much thinner sidewalls too and the shop in Darwin said they had had quite a few come back with sidewall tears.

    And yes, I thought that Kevlar might be gimmicky too, however; I drove on some very corrugated roads on those AT’s in central Aust and Southern WA, then on the sharp limestone over the range at Ningaloo with tyres 80% worn. 2 cars I was with tore sidewalls out of virtually new tyres there! (BFG’s and Coopers Tyre talk again)
    Then I drove them up the GRR and through remote NT a fair bit & eventually to Darwin where the AT’s could almost have passed for slicks. They had huge chunks out of them, big slices in the sidewalls but only one flat (from a tech screw in the river going into El Questro station) that I plugged and carried on.
    Needless to say, I went the MT’s with the Kevlar and did not have a flat for the rest of the lap, nor did I til I sold it.
    They say that the super stiff sidewalls can cause issues in cars with monocoque construction but I didn’t notice anything in the 110 & they performed very well in the mud up the Cape and the CREB.
    I will buy them for my 130 when my current set wear out for sure.
    Before the Wranglers I ran Dunlop Super Grippers and Dunlop Army bar treads for the mud!!
    Anyways, that’s my 2 bobs worth

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Colmoore View Post
    Gday Chris.
    I took my 110 on the big lap in 2016. Had the Wrangler AT’s on when I left already with about 45k kms on and added 20k+ getting to Darwin the long way.
    In Darwin, the tyre shop had cut a Dura Trac, AT and MT all in the Wrangler range in half.
    AT and MT have Kevlar side walls and belts.
    Dura Trac do not.

    Dura Trac have much thinner sidewalls too and the shop in Darwin said they had had quite a few come back with sidewall tears.

    And yes, I thought that Kevlar might be gimmicky too, however; I drove on some very corrugated roads on those AT’s in central Aust and Southern WA, then on the sharp limestone over the range at Ningaloo with tyres 80% worn. 2 cars I was with tore sidewalls out of virtually new tyres there! (BFG’s and Coopers Tyre talk again)
    Then I drove them up the GRR and through remote NT a fair bit & eventually to Darwin where the AT’s could almost have passed for slicks. They had huge chunks out of them, big slices in the sidewalls but only one flat (from a tech screw in the river going into El Questro station) that I plugged and carried on.
    Needless to say, I went the MT’s with the Kevlar and did not have a flat for the rest of the lap, nor did I til I sold it.
    They say that the super stiff sidewalls can cause issues in cars with monocoque construction but I didn’t notice anything in the 110 & they performed very well in the mud up the Cape and the CREB.
    I will buy them for my 130 when my current set wear out for sure.
    Before the Wranglers I ran Dunlop Super Grippers and Dunlop Army bar treads for the mud!!
    Anyways, that’s my 2 bobs worth

    Interesting read.... I've got the Wrangler Kevlar MT's on mine and have recently came back from a trip out through the desert (Madigan Line ans some off-track driving) and I did not have any issues (none of us did and some had BFG KO2 as well). Personally, my Wranglers performed well but I don't plan to buy them again due to the road noise on the black top. That's the only reason I would not buy then again. Will be looking at the BFG A/T KO2's or maybe Toyo's either in the 235/85 or the 265/75 sizes

  8. #8
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    My only input is that I like the KO2s for what they've achieved so far on bros D2. Stronger than my Yokohamas over the same tracks, I had heaps of punctures, he had nothing. Only concern was that they chipped(tread) a bit more over the rocky tracks where my Yokos less so(but I'd take chipping any day over multiple deflations) .. they did come good again on the 300km highway trip home tho.

    I remember my old Pirelli FD44s did the same. good grip on dirt and rocks, chipped, but came good again. (when I say chipped, not badly damaged tread, just that normal gibber type lasceration that smooths out back on the road)

    Experienced a D1(same as me) on Duractracs and they are a little(maybe even a lot) quieter.
    D2 has more sound deadening than D1(especially at the rear) so made it even more obvious.

    Early this year I had to change my continually deflating Yokos(still had maybe 10-20K klms to go.. just got sick of them!) .. and almost set to get Duratracs, but pipped at the 11th hour and got a set of cheapo Chinese brand 10 plys instead.
    So far happy with them, quite, good grip on fast dirt(ie. smooth dirt roads 80+ k/h stuff) .. no experience on proper soft sand yet nor rougher rocky tracks.

    I reckon whether you go Goodyears or BFGs, you'll get good actual performance(grip/wear/strength) out either type .. so the deciding factor will be something like noise and or price.
    Can't help on price, but on noise ... go Duratracs.
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by AK83 View Post
    My only input is that I like the KO2s for what they've achieved so far on bros D2. Stronger than my Yokohamas over the same tracks, I had heaps of punctures, he had nothing. Only concern was that they chipped(tread) a bit more over the rocky tracks where my Yokos less so(but I'd take chipping any day over multiple deflations) .. they did come good again on the 300km highway trip home tho.

    I remember my old Pirelli FD44s did the same. good grip on dirt and rocks, chipped, but came good again. (when I say chipped, not badly damaged tread, just that normal gibber type lasceration that smooths out back on the road)

    Experienced a D1(same as me) on Duractracs and they are a little(maybe even a lot) quieter.
    D2 has more sound deadening than D1(especially at the rear) so made it even more obvious.

    Early this year I had to change my continually deflating Yokos(still had maybe 10-20K klms to go.. just got sick of them!) .. and almost set to get Duratracs, but pipped at the 11th hour and got a set of cheapo Chinese brand 10 plys instead.
    So far happy with them, quite, good grip on fast dirt(ie. smooth dirt roads 80+ k/h stuff) .. no experience on proper soft sand yet nor rougher rocky tracks.

    I reckon whether you go Goodyears or BFGs, you'll get good actual performance(grip/wear/strength) out either type .. so the deciding factor will be something like noise and or price.
    Can't help on price, but on noise ... go Duratracs.
    Wondering which chinese you ended up running? Can rememeber some listed as roo shooter specials very heavy duty.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by dromader driver View Post
    Wondering which chinese you ended up running? ....
    I wanted someone local, not net based so went into I think a Tyrepower store maybe.
    Anyhow, ended up with Hifly Vigorous AT601. More closed tread AT type .. say 60/70% more road oriented. I prefer closed tread types for sand driving.
    I've found MT type, and or more open treaded ATs can give less ultimate grip in sand. I generally try to avoid gloopy muddy type conditions, and less noise and usually better wear with closed tread tyres.

    So far they've been good .. in that I used to average about 1 puncture per 2-3 months with the Yokos, so far since Jan zero.
    Quieter as they're new, but at the same 35ish psi I used to run the Yokos, ride was definitely harder with the new 10plys(my first ever set of 10 plys too).
    So I'm down to low 30's psi now.

    The main reason I went with them, was they were about $800(maybe $880??) for the 5. Thought .. why not.
    As a courier for a long while(doing 75-100K per year) .. I once tried some 'name brand' tyres .. not worth the extra few hundred dollars compared to the Chinese tyres I ran.
    Every year you'd be changing tyres, so have tried a few different brands in short order.

    Only set ever having given trouble was when my dad had (maybe on his Explorer, or maybe when he had the Frontera) an issue when all 4 went out of balance .. tread started to separate on all tyres! .. Tyre bloke changed them no question tho.
    But for me personally having run Chinese tyres for the past 10+ years ... never a problem .. maybe the odd puncture once in 3 or 4 years or whatnot .. you expect that doing 400K klms in 5 years tho.
    But when these Yokos had given me about 20 flats in about 2.5 years or so .. time to move them on!
    (note the spare was unused too.. brand new other than having sat primarily on the back door .. I wanted nothing for it and tyre man said he don't deal in S/H tyres .. but I just wanted it off the rim, and something else on).
    Arthur.

    '99 D1 300Tdi Auto
    '03 D2 Td5 Auto

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