Bridgestone 694 A/T's

[TerryO]

I'm looking at some new tyres and rims for the D2 I'm going to swap to 16's from 18's and wondered if anyone has tried the Bridgestone D694 A/T?

Any new tyres I get will be used mostly for highway driving with occassional reasonably serious off road driving, and I'm hoping to get a tyre that will do all of the above things well and stand up to towing a 2 ton off road caravan.

I know I don't want much... ;)

Any assistance with first hand experience with the Bridgestones would be appreciated.

cheers,
Terry

[Yorkie]

i was running the 245/70/16 in these, only passenger construction.
got down to about 5mm tread over 50,000km but found them not be to much cop offroad by then.
very good tyre on road though, quite, responsive and still held up on the dirt, really only in mud at the end they were left wanting.

good tyre, would go LT for the extra strentgh and would have bought again but wanted to try some muddies. :)

cheers

[Tote]

I was running them on my D2 a couple of years ago and found them surprisingly good offroad given their closed tread pattern. Put a rock through the sidewall of one in the high country although whether that was due to me or the tyre (or bad luck) I'm not sure. Better on the road than the previous BFG ATs as well. I didnt put enough KM on them to give an opinion on life though as I bought the D3 not long after fitting them.

Regards,
Tote

[strangy]

I had some on my D2 for a while, they were passenger construction.
Noticeably inferior to the current Pirelli ATR. But these are LTs so there would be difference regardless. Make sure you get LT construction whatever brand you choose.

Cheers.

[Zebedee]

I put some 694s (236/70/R16) on my D2, to replace the worn Michelin HT's.

After the HTs I find the 694's ride better, but handling is far more wallowy (my Disco is fitted with ACE) and they get very grumbly at over 115km/h.

Much better in the dirt/gravel though.

Also the tread pattern on the 694s has changed recently. The newer tyres have a far more aggressive pattern. Perhaps the oldere tyres are more suitable to the D2.

Not sure how they compare with other AT's. My mechanic recommended them, reckons the Geolanders wander around on the D2.

[TerryO]

I had intended to get the Light truck version which I'm guessing might get rid of some of the wallowing ....Maybe? ...Maybe not?

I was looking at the 265 x 70 x 16's which give an overall diameter of 30.6 inches which is a bit up on the 29.04 that the Disco has standard, while this doesn't improve fuel economy it would be a bit better for off roading.

I had heard that the 694's did have a new tread pattern but wasn't sure if this was correct and I was hoping if there is a new tread pattern that hopefully someone had tried them.

cheers,
Terry

[Ean Austral]

Dad has them on his D2a (D@a) and seems very happy with them..LT 245/70/16.he does mainly h/way and towing his bloody big van.
Have read good reports about them, not many bad one's
I got the Silent armours at the same time and am happy with them.. the D694s weren't available in Darwin at the time..

Cheers Ean

[PhilipA]

I have 694 LT 245 70 x16 on my RRC.
Very happy with them.
Ultra quiet on the highway
Good grip on dirt/offroad pulling unbraked camper. Eg down track to Ravine in wet low range.
Good grip in wet
Superior feel on road to BFG ATKO and MUCH quieter.
Only downside is a peculiar "bouncy" feel to the tyres.
Regards Philip A

[SimonM]

I had 694's on my Patrol when I went up to Cobourg Peninsula and they were a good touring tyre, good on the tar and on the dirt. I was going to get them again on my disco but had problems with getting them in when I needed them.

[TerryO]

Dad has them on his D2a and seems very happy with them..LT 245/70/16.he does mainly h/way and towing his bloody big van.
Have read good reports about them, not many bad one's
I got the Silent armours at the same time and am happy with them.. the D694s weren't available in Darwin at the time..

Cheers Ean


Hi Ean,

how would you compare the Silent Armours to the 694's?

I must admit I have Wranglers on the D2 right now and hate the bloody things, that is one of the reasons I decided not to look to hard at the Silent Armours.


cheers,
Terry

[Ean Austral]

Gday Terry

I cant really say as I haven't driven his car with them on it, but he is very happy with them..I do know they look like a more aggressive tread to the Silent armours, but I cant complain about mine either, done the gibb river road with no hassles and will be using them when we do the Gunbarrel and CSR next month..

I was going to buy the D694 as a friend with a rodeo swears by them and I would've if they were available at the time, but I pauid the same price for the silent armours so was and have been happy so far..

As I said, I haven't heard anything bad about the 694's and dad reconds they are great so far..

Cheers Ean

[TerryO]

Thanks again Ean,

So far it does sound like the 694's are a reasonable tyre for the uses I want it for but before I go off and order a set

I'll ask just one more question for everyone, if not the Bridgstones 694 A/T's then what other tyre for around the same price is better?

265 x 70 x 16 Bridgestone 694's fitted and balanced for $259.00.

cheers,
Terry

[PhilipA]

There are no "boutique" brand tyres for that price.
That was the decider for me.
the only things you will get are Korean or more likely Chinese.
Regards Philip A

[5teve]

Hi Terry

I have had these on the Disco II for about 2 years now.. and around 40-50k k's the small amount of sand driving etc that i have done they have been good. wear wise they still look new and i find them very grippy in both wet and dry. cant fault them. I certainly dont find them bouncy? seem better than the xpc but i didnt use them for long...

If i could get them in the size i wanted i would have them on the deefer.

I went for the next size up on the disco and they are in LT consruction. Make sure they are the Japanese made ones as the Aussie made ones seem to get poor reviews.

Thanks

Steve

[TerryO]

Well the decision is made I've ordered the 694's and will have them fitted tomorrow. I wanted new tyres before I go off down to Winton Raceway on Thursday. To far to drive on out of round tyres.

Thank you all for the input.

cheers,
Terry

[Rosscoe68]

235/85 16 694 LT's on my D2 and they are quite nice on road. very well mannered even in wet. not too bad offroad either, although i haven't done any real mudbogging yet, just sand and gravel.

[TerryO]

If anyone is interested I've now done nearly 1100 highway k's on the 694's and they are excellent compared to the old Wranglers I had on the D2a. It is so much nicer to drive now, but the taller wider size of the tyres has taken some sting out of acceleration. Fuel consumption hasn't been that much effected so far as I can tell to date.

They ride well are quite upto about 120 ks when they get a bit drummy. I did get the LT's and have not noticed any unusual traits yet. So far so good.


cheers,
Terry

[ramblingboy42]

terry, unless youve lifted your vehicle 265's will give you a clearance problem. the 245-70's are a good size without a lift and hardly affect speedometer error.....the 265's will give you a large speedo error

[El Duderino]

I've got them in a 245/70R16 LT. They were a new set fitted by the previous owner prior to sale, and while I was happy to have new tread, they admittedly wouldn't have been my first pick n had plans to get rid of them asap for some muddies. Never been a Bridgy fan n always preferred Michelin on all my cars over the years, there was instant bias against them.

The only honest comparison I can make with them, is against the GY Wrangler A/T's on my TJ Jeep, and the use n capabilities of the vehicles differs as you can understand.

I have since done approx 5k klm's on the Bridgy's, and have no real complaints with them...they're pretty quiet, grippy, good water dispersion, etc. They have been far better than I ever expected, and for what 90% of people's driving they realistically do, they are an excellent tyre. I have put them through some pretty harsh and some pretty sloppy scenarios and coped well. Admittedly, it was with these that I got bogged for the first time ever! They strike me as an excellent tyre for daily and touring use, with occasional off-roading.

Off road I feel they aren't as good as the GY Wrangler A/T's though. The Wrangler's are a better tyre for playing offroad, but there is a penalty for that...they're squirmish, dreadful in the wet, and don't provide acceptable levels of grip on bitumen (wet or dry). In a proper down-pour, I preferred to ride my sportsbike. Wear on them however is good, and have been able to get 60k klm's out of a full set, n are due for replacement atm...not sure what I'll pick next tbh.

What tyre you chose ultimately comes down to what kind of driving you do, your intended uses, and what you're prepared to put your rig through. My D1 is a 15yo, cheap run-around/mission-mobile/scratch-able , and I'm prepared to play harder with it. I look after it very well n care about it, but have less of the 'omg factor' with a challenge in front of me, so will be upgrading to a set of GY MTR's after the current Bridgy's die. That's the Top-End toy.

As for the Jeep, it's a 4yo vehicle which is worth substantially more, have taken great care with and not prepared to push it as hard as the Landy for these reasons. It goes off road and gets a challenge, but not the same sort. The GY Wrangler A/T's have served their purpose well, but I'm inclined to try a set of Cooper ST's next. This is more the daily-driver/good car.

Back to the topic at hand, I can happy recommend the Bridgy's. They are a great tyre n I reckon for your useage they'd be the best choice. :)

[Tombie]

terry, unless youve lifted your vehicle 265's will give you a clearance problem. the 245-70's are a good size without a lift and hardly affect speedometer error.....the 265's will give you a large speedo error

Nah, should be spot on with 265-70-16's

[TerryO]

I intend to get the D2 lifted before I take it bush for the first time to play. In part that is why I brought a taller All Terrain tyre and swapped from 18's to 16's so I could take it off road occassionally with some confidence. The Good Year Wranglers on the 18's would get stuck down the bottom paddock if it rain for even five minutes, they were hopeless both on road and off.

This size tyre has presented no problems to date on road as I said previously and it doesn't rub anywhere under normal driving.

I know they are a compromise tyre but I never intended to do anything radical off road with these tyres, I have a modded D1 for that. :twisted:

I'd be suprised if the 694's aren't reasonable off road though, they have a far more aggressive tread pattern then the Pirelli's that many people think very highly of off road. Plus in the last few months supposedly they have received a different tread design so the new design could be even better off road then the old ones, or conversly worse, time will tell.

Yes the speedo is out but only about 6 ks at 100 clicks, I can live with that.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

Hey Tombie, you still selling the airbag lift spacers for the rear?

cheers,
Terry