Best AT 255/60/R18

[Dealc]

Hi Folks,

I have a 2.7Ltr 2012 Disco 4 and have now had 5 flats on the stock Pirellis in 4 months. No off road, this is just with most travel from work to home and back. One tyre was destroyed by a one inch piece of glass through the firewall.

It would be hard to convince me that I didn't luck out with a bad set of Pirellis and as such i am hesitant to put the Pirelli All terrains on.

I was going to fit a set of Yokohama Geolander 265/60/R18's but they would not go into the spare wheel well without first removing the tow hitch.

As I am over the flats and would like a decent set of off road tyres that my wife would not find too noisey, does anyone know what the best option for an All terrain is for the standard 18 inch rims at 255/60/R18; or did I just try and fit the 265 into the well the wrong way; i.e. is there a trick to it as I was shocked it would not fit?

Happy for any advice and apologies if this has been asked a thousand times before.

Dealy

[SimmAus]

I've just put on a set of Bridgestone D697 265/60/18. Pretty nice tyres so far, haven't been into rough stuff yet, fit into the spare arch well. I did remove the hitch to wind it back up, but the hitch went back in ok.

[Celtoid]

Pirelli Scorpion ATR....but you didn't want to hear that....:wasntme:

Seriously, lots have guys on this forum are operating 18" & 19" with I think only good reports. I'm not aware of any puncture trends.

I've had my 19s for about two years with a mixed bag of offroad. What impressed was a run into Sundown NP in QLD, where the rocks are infamous for shredding tyres...very sharp shards. I was careful of sidewall intrusions, so had no issue and the treadblocks were completely unmarked.

They are quiet and grippy on the road and punch above their weight off-road.

Cooper Zeon LTZ are getting a good rep....I hope so, I just bought 5 for my 18"s....LOL!!!

I'm really surprised to hear reports about Pirelli being prone to punctures....OEM fitted Wranglers, yes....had that experience but I though Pirelli were top notch.

Cheers,

Kev.

[Gords]

A million threads on here and worth a search to get some opinions but in a nut shell, the D697's are the flavor of the month with some great reports coming out. Plus they are the only 18" light truck tyre available to my knowledge at the moment. Personally, I've got the copper at3's and will be going the D697's soon... Unless I find a decent priced set of 17" rims, and some mud tyres to go with them ... Hrmmm ...

[Disco4SE]

Personally, I've got the copper at3's and will be going the D697's soon Just wondering why you are changing Gords?
Haven't you been happy with the AT3's?

Cheers, Craig

[WhiteD3]

I've run two sets of Scorpio ATRs on my D3 & D4 with no issues at all. This includes Fraser, Sundown and a lot of other off road work. Just fitted a set of Geolander 265's too! But I don't tow.

[tony_s]

D697s for me! I've done about 8000Km of mixed roads/tracks on them so far and they are quiet and, being LT, hopefully tough and lasting. From memory they were $370 fitted. The OEM Wranglers were gone at 40000. There are a number of informative threads that go into 18" tyres on here.
Good luck.
Tony

[Hoges]

This is a timely thread...thank you :D

I have 16" on my P38 and have seen D697s (245/70/16) for $240 @ Jax. Are all D697s of the LT construction or are there different types within the D697 range? (My Coopers (H/T) are rough as guts on broken bitumen and am hoping the D697 will have a less harsh ride.) Advice welcome...
cheers

EDIT: Sorry for the inconvenience...someone who will remain nameless but was reading over my shoulder has pointed out to me an advert in the local paper which has distinct D697 A/T and D697 LT listing (blush!) (Hence her nickname "MrsGoogle")

[Graeme]

According to the Bridgestone web-site the 245/70-16 D697 is only available in LT.

[AnD3rew]

I'm on my second set of General Grabbers, first were AT2, current set are AT. Done some pretty rough stuff including Sundown, beaches, and all through The areas around Lithgow, birdsville, Big Red etc etc. no punctures and no issues at all.

Having said that I think I will try a set of D697's next just because they are LT.

[Gords]

Just wondering why you are changing Gords?
Haven't you been happy with the AT3's?

Cheers, Craig

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/159159-unhappy-cooper-at3-bridgestone-697s.html

This post pretty much sums it up:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/159159-unhappy-cooper-at3-bridgestone-697s.html

Had some bad luck on a trip with the coppers.. But since then they have been fine, but still a LT tyre would be nice!

[Lanceanot]

I went for Cooper AT3 265/60/18, which are not LT construction, and generally they have been OK except when I tow my van (2.5t loaded, 250kg ball weight, measured).

The Cooper handbook says that the ideal psi increase between cold and hot should be around 3. If it is more you just increase the pressure accordingly.

I also have ‘SensaTyre’ pressure and temperature monitoring fitted to all 6 tyres for the car, plus all 6 van tyres (2 spares).

Without the van, at 38psi, all 4 tyres increase pressure by about 3psi from cold to hot over all speed ranges, so all good.

With the van, the fronts behave but the rears start freaking me out. The rears, at 44psi (max allowable pressure), increase by up to 9psi. It is speed dependent, ie the faster I go the higher the psi increase but I don’t travel any faster than 100kph on good sealed roads. The tyre temperatures are OK and don’t get excessively hot.

I spoke to Mr Cooper about this and basically got the “sh*ting dog look”:mellow: from him. I also asked if I should try the rears higher than 44 to reduce the amount of increase but I was told ‘not to exceed the max allowable pressure’.

On gravel roads I drop the rear pressure to around 34 (and slow downhttps://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/06/138.jpg) and I’ve punctured twice within 6 months of the tyres being new. Both times it has been the rear left and through the tread (not the same tyre). I'd thought these types of punctures were caused by the tyre still being inflated too high and not being able to comply to the terrain??

I've since looked a bit more carefully at the load ratings:
AT3 (not LT) = 110T = 1,060kg / 190kph
Zeon LTZ (not LT) = 120S = 1,400kg / 180kph
Bridgestone D697 LT = 114S = 1,180kg / 180kph

The LTZ have an impressive load rating but I would have thought that the AT3s at 1,060kg should be OK. I'm also not sure which of those two has better puncture resistance but for my next set of tyres I’m leaning very heavily toward the 697s with their LT construction.

[Graeme]

I have 36 in the rear of my 17 LT for a mixture of gravel and sealed with basically an empty vehicle with no RWC or LR tank. 34 seems too low even for just gravel which would be worse for a passenger tyre. IMO the rear tyres must be capable of 50 psi when towing a heavy load.