Your thoughts & comments?

[jonesfam]

Those of you who have read the "Stories" thread will know I have had a flat tyre.
This makes 4 in the less than 2 years I have owned the D3 & although I am well aware that I live where this sort of thing happens I am a bit sick of it.
I had the OE Wranglers (3 flats) replaced about 10 months ago with Continentals, at great expense, & this is my first flat with them but I have noticed they are already getting a bit cut up & chipped.
So as I see it I have a few options & I would like some opinions on which way to go. Yes, cost is a consideration but so is getting where I'm going without the stress of will I have another flat & when I do having to be very careful not to have another. BTW I would rather NOT have the spare wheel carriers due to cost, convenience & I don't like the look of them.

1. Keep the 19" Conti's till worn out but buy a second spare & have it on the roof or in the trailer as a back up.

2. Ditch the Conti's & buy 5 of the new A/T 19" tyres, GG2 I think.

3. Ditch the wheels & tyres, buy 17" or 18" rims with good A/T rubber.

4. Number 2 but still get a second spare.

5. keep going the way I am & hope for the best.

Your opinions would be appreciated & yes I have read the threads on tyres I just want ideas to consider about what, to me, is a real problem with my D3, just about the only problem but no tyres & you don't go far.
Jonesfam

[chuck]

Jonesfam

I would buy 17's or 18's.

You can get BFG's (both AT or MT) in 245 X 70 x 17.

18's are a little more difficult however you can get BFG AT's in 265 X 65 X 18however these may be to large for Qld, although I do know they will fit even if the spare is a tight fit.

Regards

Chuck

[Blue C]

I agree with Chuck. I bought a set of 17 inch Performance Wheels with Cooper STT 245/70/17 MT's for offroad use and only ever use the 19 inch OEM wheels around town. This also protects the OEM rims for when I sell the D3. I have done a High Country trip + Red Centre & Kakadu + Litchfield with no punctures (yet). I accept the STT's are noisy onroad so you would probably prefer good LT rated ATR's as per Chuck. Regards, David

[sean c]

Jonesfam,
I am running 265/60/18 Bridgestone Silent Armour's on my D4, with Gordon's rims.
I know with tyres it can be a bit of luck but we have just come off the Gibb River Road this morning. We went from El Questro to Mitchell Falls and back to Kununurra over the last few weeks, as well as many other places along the way with similar roads. I have been on the roads around your way and these are similar but have more 'knife like' rocks standing on edge than I have seen up your way. Managed not to hit any of these. Plenty of imbedded rock poking through the road, similar to your area.
We had no flat tyres or any other issues on this trip, which included a trip to the Bungle Bungles.
The roads we traveled got worse as we headed away from the bitumen. The Gibb River Road was thought to be a bit rough on the way north, but by comparison on the return trip it was quite good.
The time that we were on these roads we saw about 6 vehicles either changing flat tyres or working on severe damage to trailer/campervan axles and suspension. There were a few dead trailers and parts therof littering these roads.
The conversations at each stopover was about what damage had been incurred to tyres or suspension.
We had no problems. I ran the tyres at 34 and 35 psi front and back cold. Had Intended dropping lower but talked myself out of it given road conditions. Road could be smooth enough to run at 80 kph and quickly change to rocks pocking out of road and requiring to slow to 30 kph.
Spoke with a guy who ran at 25 psi and had 'smallish' rock destroy his tyre.
Realise this is statistically insignificant as it may have been just luck.
cheers,
Sean

[bbyer]

Getting rid of the 19" really is not economically that practical and buying more 19" rims and tyres, kind of like digging a deeper hole. Even if you could paint the rims pink, it is unlikely you could get that football hero to purchase them as I suppose he would want 22".

It seems that for some reason, 18" rims seem to be a better size than 19" for anything other than dry pavement - more tyre choices I guess.

A possible thought would be to purchase four 18" rims and tyres that have the same OD / circumference as the 19" Continental size you already have. That way, you can then take with you on your next expedition, up to four "spare" tyres so to speak. When you get the next flat on the 18", running one 19" with three 18" rims will not cause bad things to occur.

I have this set up and while it does not look pretty, it will work and does no harm to the gearing.

[Graeme]

I went straight to 17" to fit LT245/70-17 with LT255/65-17 as a backup size in standard overall diameter. I was pleased to find that my Yoko AT/S have 3 ply sidewalls although they haven't had a serious workout yet.

Edit: I keep a 2nd spare at home (currently a 19") rather than with the vehicle so I only need to get home with no spare if 1 gets a flat.

[IvanR]

Having travelled through your area last year (June) and seen the roads, I would suggest that any brand of low profile tyre is at a far higher risk of damage than say "70" profile. I agree with Graeme that 245/70/17 is the best option, however the cost of change over may be an obstacle. But 17" steel rims plus tyres may be about the same cost as 19" tyres.

Ivanr

2005 TDV6 s
245/70/17 Cooper ST

ps have done approx 21,000 kms on outback trips with out any flats on these tyres.

[DiscoWeb]

Jonesfam,

I run the Continental AT's but on 18in rims and whilst I have been pleased with them I think the sidewalls are pretty soft and some of the tread blocks are a bit chipped already and I have not done a huge amount of off road work.

If, as it sound like for you you do most of your miles at reasonable speed on roads with plenty of rocks etc then I could see how they would cut up and possibly get damaged easily over time. Also they are not cheap !

The 17in rims with LT tyre sound like the way to go, PM as I am aware of a set of 4 with brand new BF Goodrich LT tyres for sale at circa $1,500.

Regards,

George

[rmp]

17s.

LTs.

Worry no more. That is the only choice for rough roads.

P-reinforced is not enough. I tried that myself and it didn't work out.

[scarry]

17s.

LTs.

Worry no more. That is the only choice for rough roads.

P-reinforced is not enough. I tried that myself and it didn't work out.

X2,one of my HATES is tyre trouble.There was a set of 5 17's on fleabay the other day,suit D3.

Tyre trouble is a lot of worry i can do without......

On another note,the main reason there isn't a D4 3l in my garage is this tyre issue:(

[jonesfam]

Thanks folks.
I haven't decided yet but the bloke I sent my tyre & wheel to in Mt Isa phoned today to say that the tyre was, what's a nice word for it?
STUFFED!
Rock fracture to the inner side wall, not repairable. So I have asked the tyre bloke to price me 5 17" rims & tyres. I will also start having look on Ebay.
I don't need or want 2 sets of tyres, most of our driving is a mixed bag of seal, gravel, soft dirt, rocky gravel or mud, I love mud. So I guess I really need a tyre & wheel combo that has a bit of all round ability, mainly I just want the odd flat instead of the current regular flat. I'm sick of driving around with my heart in my mouth all the time.
I have read somewhere that higher profile tyres in either P or LT will give me a more comfortable ride & although I do like to give it a bit of curry occasionally I don't get anywhere near the limits of the tyres or car before I chicken out.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Jonesfam

[Graeme]

If you're changing to 17" for stronger tyres then you should get ones that are LT construction, not that all LT are the same. Some 255/65-17 are only P-rated so their only advantage is more sidewall height. Some 245/70-17 are also only P-rated but the load index of those is too low anyway. The tread is often deeper and more open for LT versions than P verisons of the same tyre too.

[Owl]

17s.

LTs.

Worry no more. That is the only choice for rough roads.

P-reinforced is not enough. I tried that myself and it didn't work out.

I couldn't agree more. Avoid any of the P rated variants - LT should be the only option.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/08/1068.jpg

[Graeme]

or something for everyday use such as this
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/07/599.jpg

[discojools]

I have just done trip in my D4 towing camper: Melbourne, Mildura, Mungo Nt Pk, Menindi, Silverton, up the dog fence to Camerons Corner and then across to Hungerford. Then a mad dash to Bourke and then Cobar and back to Melbourne. Was on pretty much every surface eg. Mungo was very very wet (I saw the front number plates of both other vehicles I travelled with on a few occasions, I had no grip probs! ). Hungerford to Bourke was very rocky and I didn't hang about. There were many ks on good sealed roads. Tyres were 245/70/17 BFG KM2 MTs. Fantastic tyres that I could happily live with all the time if I didn't have the original 18 inch Wranglers. The KM2s are a bit noisy, mainly at low speed and showed no damage after the trip.
Having had GG AT2s on my D3 I know which tyre I would prefer for an outback trip...definitely the KM2s. They handled all surfaces easily.

Discojools

[jonesy63]

Agree 100% with Discojools... BFG MT KM2 are great tyres.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/08/1043.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/08/1044.jpg

[Graeme]

Tyres were 245/70/17 BFG KM2 MTs.
I've bought 1 of those for a 2nd spare that's yet to be picked-up. I'm considering getting another 3 to make a set for outback travel using the Yokos as spares for such occasions.

[TerryO]

It would seam that the 245x70x17 KM2's are very popular amongst members as a good off road tyre and rim size for their D3/4's. My question is has anyone tried the 265x70x17 KM2's (roughly 31.5" in size) and if so is there any downside to this size tyre and rim combination being fitted to D3/4's?

I'm not looking at replacing my 18" Conti's rather getting a second set of wheels and tyres for off road playing and also using them while towing our rough road van on hopefully long distance out back trips.


cheers,
Terry