Help me decide...another tyre thread

[Hendrik]

Hi all
I am close to buying some mud terrains, so I'm faced with the decision of which tyre to buy. I have found out some prices, so do I go cheaper like Maxxis Bighorns, Pirelli Scorpions, GT Radials etc. Or, do I bite the bullet and go more expensive like Mickey Thomsons, Coopers or BF Goodrich. Is it really worth spending more on tyres? What are your experiences?
I've decided that I will run the mud terrains all the time, as I don't use my car all the much during the week and I can't be bothered changing wheels everytime I want to go offroad. I am looking at 265/75/R16.

Thanks
Hendrik

[josh aka sean]

Hi
I run a Defender (i know not a D2) with BF Goodrich Muddies. I find they are good on road and quiet, as well as excellent off road. So far done about 10000km's on them and no real sign of wear.
Cheers
Josh

[MickS]

A mate of mine swears by the Cooper St's....has had 100K out of them and he reckons he's got another 20K in them...

He doesn't rate the Mickey Thompsons....

There is another thread that rates the Maxxis big horns big time...might be Dullbird's trip report from last weekend from memory...

[DeanoH]

Hi, I'll bite. Tyre threads are good for hours of circular argument.

The latest edition of Australian 4WD Action (No 134) has a reasonably comprehensive comparison of 14 different sets of muddies and is well worth a look.

If you're used to driving on the speed limit you could be in trouble if you forget that with the 265/75's your speedo will be out by about 8 %. ie, 100 K on the speedo = 108 KMH in real terms. Thank you officer I'm glad to make a donation. Also a pain if you're used to using your trip meter to measure distances.

Me, I prefer Cooper Tyres. Not cheap and I'm on my third set. They have never let me down but I'm pretty fussy about tyre pressures and things. The type of travel I do is generally road and track touring towing a camper or caravan, and I find the Cooper ST's are a good compromise bitumen/dirt tyre. My only criticism is that the sharp flinty SA type outback roads tend to cut up the tread a bit, so I guess this is why Coopers bought out the STT which is supposed to be better in this type of terain. I'll try these next time.

My only advice would be that whatever type of tyres you get make sure the black valve holding thingys that go through the rim are replaced when you get your new tyres. I've been caught by this several times.Trashing $300 tyres because the fitter was too lousy/lazy to fit new thingys is a real downer.

That's my two bobs worth

Deano.

[big guy]

Yep, Coopers are now my choice after years of Michelin XPC's.
They are no longer made and I do realise some had bad experinces with Coopers but I have and many friends run them even on a Porsche Cayene and we can not fault any.

They are quiet and have great wear, I do have a couple of chips in them but that is normal as all my 4wd's have had chips or chuncks takenout when I go off road in them.

Go the cooper is my 2 bobs worth, rotate them often and keep tyre pressures correct and they will last you a long time.

Good luck, another can of worms.

[imatt]

Hi Hendrik,
Like Deano said, have a read of the latest 4WD action, it has a buyers guide to mud terrains. The new BFG muddies took first place followed closely by Maxxis Bighorns, it's worth reading. I myself run Cooper ST's on the Disco and Cooper ATR's on Ford Ranger. Both tyres are great but they are only classed as AT's.
Cheers Matt

[McDisco]

Hendrik

If you cant be bothered changing the tyres and intend on running the muddies all the time, I would go for a good cheap, but realiable muddie like the Bighorns. I dont think they will be good as the BFG KM2 or even the old KM's. It not worth your money to pay for good quality muddies and then do most of your driving on bitumen or around town.

I run Yokohama HTs around town and then put on the BFGs for fun...

Angus

[Slunnie]

I most definately WOULD NOT run Cooper ST's on a Discovery2.

These tyres do not tolerate wheel spin at all, something which the ETC requires to operate. Wheel spin will crack and rip off the outside lugs on these tyres. I and many others have already been there with this tyre. Cooper advised me to run the tyres at 20psi due to this but the problem continued before the tyre was changed for a different type

[Blknight.aus]

due to some people pulling out there are still some of the perelli scorpians available from the last lot of the bulk order that I was doing.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/849990-post6.html

[Redback]

I most definately WOULD NOT run Cooper ST's on a Discovery2.

These tyres do not tolerate wheel spin at all, something which the ETC requires to operate. Wheel spin will crack and rip off the outside lugs on these tyres. I and many others have already been there with this tyre. Cooper advised me to run the tyres at 20psi due to this but the problem continued before the tyre was changed for a different type

X2

I am one of the many others, whatever tyre you decide FOR GODS SAKE DON'T RUN COOPERS

Baz.