Thread: Tyres - tubed or tubeless?

I just got rid of the horrible tubed desert duellers and got a set of BFG mud terrains put on the Defender and I love them.

They are surprisingly quieter, handle better, off road performance is a million times better and the speedo now matches the gps vehicle speed!!

Tubeless tyres on tubeless rims is obviously a better option so when finances permit I will do that but for now the BFGs on the standard rims are doing fine.

Originally Posted by rockyroad

I just got rid of the horrible tubed desert duellers and got a set of BFG mud terrains put on the Defender and I love them.

They are surprisingly quieter, handle better, off road performance is a million times better and the speedo now matches the gps vehicle speed!!

Tubeless tyres on tubeless rims is obviously a better option so when finances permit I will do that but for now the BFGs on the standard rims are doing fine.

When you say BFGs on standard rims, do you mean you currently have tubes in with the BFGs?

I spoke to one defender bloke, and he said that the Discovery steel rims (tubeless) fit the defender stud pattern and you can pick them up second hand for $30-40 per rim. He suggested going for 7x16 rims, so a slighly wider tyer could be installed.

Originally Posted by rockyroad

I just got rid of the horrible tubed desert duellers

That surprises me. Two of us are running Bridgestone Duelers in their All Terrain pattern [604V] and between us not one puncture in about 130 000 combined kilometres and that's with a fair amountof forest/fire track running. Both cars are running tubeless tyres - Rangie Classics - as per the owners manual. One Rangie runs with pressures of 32 front and 38 rear and the other one runs pressures of 28 front and 40 rear. All are rotated every 10 000kms.

Originally Posted by markandsandy

I seem to get alot of differing opinions on this question! Most tyre retailers say tubeless is better (and that I should get tubeless rims). One or two people say that, in the long run, tubed tyres are better in the bush because they don't tend to shred as much when you do get a flat.

I don't know. We've had 4 flats in 2 months running on standard defender steel rims and tubed tyers. We followed text book advice and ran on lower pressures for gravel/corrugated roads, but it appears the lower pressures were letting dust in which rubbed between the tube & tyre wall, resulting in pin-hole punctures. We've since run on 40psi all round, and seem to be doing better (but a harder ride). One puncture on 40psi compared to 3 on 30psi - off course, it could all just be luck of the draw.

So what's best - tubed or tubeless? And what are the pros and cons for either?

Do yourself a favour and go to tubeless and buy yourself a plug kit,and don't look back!!!Modern tubeless tyres on tubeless rims are a far better proposition these days as long as they are maintained.If you want added safety,you can carry a tube incase you happen to smash a rim so that it won't seal on the bead etc.

Wayne

today's tubes just do not seem to be up to the job....

so tubeless is definitely is the way to go, and as Lowrange writes, get a repair kit (ARB have one).

you can run tubeless on the defender tubed rims (without the tubes), but you may not be able to get any tyre shop to fit them for you - you may have to do it yourself

Disco rims are also the way to go (they have the safety rim for tubeless tyres which the deefer ones do not have)

As rockyrd writes, you can make do with the deefer rims if you want to - others & rule keepers may say that there are liability issues but....

BTW & FWIW - I've never heard of anyone having problems with tubeless tyres fitted to tube-type rims (without tubes)

Originally Posted by 87County

today's tubes just do not seem to be up to the job....
....
Hear! Hear!

- I've never heard of anyone having problems with tubeless tyres fitted to tube-type rims (without tubes)

As i have pointed out elsewhere, tubeless tyres were used for thirty years before so-called "tubeless" rims were introduced. And it is quite unclear to me why tubeless tyres on standard rims are any less safe than tubed tyres on the same rim - the tube is not going to hold the tyre on the rim if the air pressure is less than would hold a tubeless tyre on.

John

A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

It seems that land rover lovers prefer tubeless. That's good enough for me! Thanks all.