Thread: Tyre Poll...Advice/ Expertise Needed

Unfortuanately Michelin only import muds in 7.50. If you wanted to you could import some from the UK. Otherwise your stuck with a poor second choice.
LTX only come in A/T but are as tough as nails, and wisper quiet with good grip. My XZL's are awesome but as I said they don't bring in the bigger 4x4 O/R's. Land rover are ment to wear Michies.
You could get the 9.00 x 16's, stonking tyre but $700 a pop

CC

Originally Posted by Reads90

BFG
Definately get what you pay for

So pay for rubbish, get rubbish?? Is that what your saying

I've got BFG Muddies atm, but my next tyre will most likely be a Bighorn.

They're good on road, I run them at 40 / 38 psi for front / rear respectively on a Defender 90 (usually unladen) and they wear well. NVH is an issue on road, especially at speed, but then you''ll get that with any agressive tyre pattern.

Luckily for me, the drone of the V8 completely masks the tyre noise! ... especially at speed!!!

Off road they've performed well WRT punctures. Have only had one sidewall puncture, that I steaked on a stick. My only gripe is running them in mud at low pressures. I constantly break beads at > 12 psi pressures. Meanwhile, a friend runs Bighorns and Wranglers at 8 to 10 psi at the same time and never breaks a single one.

Unfortunately, its a big gripe for me, as my routine has lately consisted of 2 hours of offroading and 3 hours of bead breaking / cleaning and resetting. There is a carwash in there somewhere as well, but it doesn't rate a mention next to the bead maintenance. For me, the gripe is big enough to warrant a brand change at the next purchase anyway. In the meantime, I'm giving Sikaflex some serious thought!

Bighorns!

If it's muddies only stevo and knowing the sort of driving you do, I would focus on the onroad characteristics including tyre wear. I'd go for a harder compound tyre and i'd be fairly happy (given the comments) that most of the tyres you're looking at would go well off road given the sort of off road driving you do and want to do. It's going to be a compromise somewhere, but I would stay away from BFG's as they are woeful in the wet, did wear a bit on mine and IMO, were rubbish off road. I can't believe they cost so much when they are not that great at all, on or off road. I moved from BFG to Silvertone MT117 Sports and they are quite simply excellent off road, they are so sticky in all situations so far and are very well priced. I would not recommend them for you though as they will wear quickly with the amount of on road driving you do.
So, more info for you to digest but focus on wear and strength IMO.....the rest, as in off road, will be fine plus may also help you learn how to drive Smokey better if the tyre is not doing all the work. By that I mean if you have a super dooper tyre, it can take you so many places you thought impossible and can sometimes mask a badly chosen line etc. Looking back to when I had BFG Muds (had 2 sets as well) I had to be ready for unexpected or expected slip in certain situations so it forced me to try and put the car is the best position possible for the terrain knowing that the tyre may not do what I want it to. Am I making sense? I need another coffee but will bore you with my tyre research and thesis later

Aye, Mick

Again thanks for the advice and experiences with the different brand of tyres. At this stage the MTZ's and the Maxxis are neck and neck, though on cost would be leaning towards the Maxxis, will also have a look at the Trepadors Justin. It would have been good to get some comparo's on the new BFG KM2's but I dont think they are available yet. At the end of the day, am looking forward to finally having a landy with muddies on it, the D3 was great with the Grabbers, albiet still low profile, so I think Smokey will look pretty horn with muddies and a lift. Just have to convince SWMBO . Will also look into some of the alternatives that have been mentioned as well,

Regards

Stevo

With 7-800 road kms per week I'd be getting a second set of tyres. Keeping the A/Ts for everyday and some muds for play. Otherwise you'll wear out the play tyres before you even get to play.

I've got BFG A/T for everyday and Maxxis Bighorn for play. There is a size difference but I wouldn't be happy at all with driving on the Bighorns everyday. They are awful on the road compared to the BFG A/Ts. I've had MT/Rs too and they were not near as good on road as the BFG A/Ts either. That is to be expected though.

I'd second the idea of getting two sets. You will be doing a good few km's on road so a set of AT's might be best for that, then break out the spanners and fit the MT's for play time!

With such an open tread pattern, MT's put a lot less rubber in contact with the road surface, this means less grip in both the wet and dry which affects cornering and braking ability. It is very noticeable on a wet greasy road - but you adjust your driving to suit (i.e. slow down!)

I agree with Offender90 regarding BFG's breaking beads or at least getting crap in the beads when running at 20psi off-road. I also know one other BFG MT user who has the same problem.

Jon