Kumho Muddies - Good?

[Shamo]

Hello all,

I am currently looking into buying a new set of muddies, and i wanted to try something different, i have been running Maxxis bighorns in 245/75 r16 on my D1 and since i have written it off and bought a D2 i want to upgrade the size (32 or 33) and try something different.

So i have called around and found that the Kumho's are considerably cheaper ($345 horns - $280 kumho's) and was just wondering if anyone has run them before or is currently running them and what you think of them? The only thing that is sort of detering me at the moment is the fact that the are a directional tyre, so a spare would be kind of useless and i wouldnt be able to rotate between the spare and the other tyres to try and spread the wear a bit...

I would try and only run the tyres on the weekends anyway and some roadies for my day to day, so would it be worth going saving the money?

Anyway all replies are appreciated!

Cheers,
Shamo

[GuyG]

Shamo, I had them on the rangie from mid 06 until late June this year. I got them through fourby's at Moorooka when they were first released. Have a look on Outerlimits as there is a thread on them KL71's I think is the model. Do a search on Tyre Topic - Kumho KL71 in General Tech 4x4

The only reason I got rid of them is because they didn't pass the vehicle inspection requirements for the Cape trip because I had sliced a couple of the lugs. They have since been sold for someone else to continue having fun with.

They are a great tyre both on and off road. I only ever had the four of them and didn't have any punctures so the directional spare wasn't an issue. In the 31's I found the actual size to be a bit smaller than other 31's eg BFG muds, so if you are going to have a different brand spare just check the actual size not just the advertised size. This may not be an issue with the larger sizes though.

The only reason I didn't get another set for the trip was that a second hand set of 5 MTZ's popped up:D, poor bloke wrote off his car with less than 500km on the tyres:o

For a comparison I did change back to the bfg muds that I have for the Levuka trip last year and wished that I hadn't, they got swapped back as soon as I got home.

I say go for it.:)

[Shamo]

Cool thanks for that Guy, the kl71's (the ones you mentioned) are the ones i am actually looking at, they look fairly good and agressive and have a fairly wide spread between lugs which i think would be good for self emptying, do you know about any other pro's and con's about having a wider spread in your lugs?

Shamo

[dullbird]

i would be guessing the wider the lugs are apart the nosier they would be come..that is a guess though

[ramblingboy42]

I ran high mileage on a set fitted to a '89 pathfinder. the only reason I took them off was because the lugs had hardened and they become roller skates on wet roundabouts.fabulous mudrunners, sang a bit on bitumen. these were Khumo Venturers M/S if were still talking about the same thing. was 5yrs ago.

[Ken]

Kumho have a great construction,are strong and good as far as a mud tyre goes on road
They can be rotated properly as long as they are flipped on the rims
(Easy if you have a competent tyre fitter)

[dobbo]

what disadvantages would arise with rotating a directional tyre so the tread is running backyards

[abaddonxi]

what disadvantages would arise with rotating a directional tyre so the tread is running backyards

Well you'd have to spend more time backing out of puddles and going around.

[GuyG]

The tyres which Shamo is looking at were only released to the market in 2006 and are actually quite a soft compond rubber, therefore the couple of comments where people have had experience with them 5 years or so ago are for a different model of Kumho tyre