Thread: New tyres for Defender???

Hi Popotla,

I assume you are wanting to stay with the standard 235 85 r16 size, which means that there is a large choice of options.

I would probably be looking at something like the BF Goodrich All Terrain. They seem to last for ever (70-120000km) are suprisingly good off road, and relativley quiet.

I am sure there are similar options available, from a number of other manufacturers, but I would at that size, for that use go for the BFG All Terrain.

Rgds
Peter

Maxxis 751 Bravo tyres are considerably cheaper than BFG.

I have only had mine for 6 or 7 months and have no complaints.

Other owners I have spoken to seem to like them.

Hi, thanks for replies and advice so far.

I notice that so far there’s no mention of MICHELIN. Though money is not the key issue, the fact that I have one unused Michelin LTX A/T 23/85 (cost of app.USD 130 equiv) sitting on my spare wheel carrier means that if I used it I’d need to shell out for only three new tyres rather than four.

Does nobody like Michelin?

Yup - I do. A lot.

If you can stand the 'whine' a set of Michelin XZL would suit for mainly dry heavy off road use. They are standard fitment to the 130s. I've got them on my 110 and they raise the noise levels a bit around 70-80Km/Hr but surprisingly are quieter at 100/110. Maybe everything else gets noisier at 110 so they tyre noise pales.....

If you want something a bit more road oriented, try the XZY. They go forever and are the choice of overland expeditions through Africa etc. as they are renowned for not puncturing easily.

Neither are cheap though.

Do a search here on XZY and XZL and you will turn up a few threads. Do a search on "XZL Africa expedition" in Google and you will turn up numerous articles.

HTH
David

My dad had XZY's on his S3 swb station wagon, and they only had to be replaced at 135000miles due to perisihing.

However, in the wet on the road they were dangerous. They were hopeless off road if it was wet too.

I've been told of significant on-road steering improvements on Jap 4wd utes after changing to Mich LTX tyres. Others have reported them to be excellent touring tyres on and off the bitumen and lasting a very long time. I almost got some for my D2 but decided on GY Silent Armours at the last minute because they had wider and flatter tread.

Originally Posted by Psimpson7

My dad had XZY's on his S3 swb station wagon, and they only had to be replaced at 135000miles due to perisihing.

However, in the wet on the road they were dangerous. They were hopeless off road if it was wet too.

The rubber might have gone "off" if they got to the perishing state! Mine have been fine in the wet - given that they are a mud pattern, and I'd expect the tamer XZYs to be better because they are not so aggressive.

I will be up to a new set of tyres on my Defender 130 in the not too distant future. Other than the odd nearly worn out tyre on extra 6.5 inch wolf rims I have bought, all it has had is 7.50 Michelin XZL's. Only complaint about the latter is that on the back have had two near worn out ones blow out through the tread and I noticed and removed another one that was close to doing the same.

Don't know whether this reflects on them badly though. Possibly they were damaged by something and may be more resistant to it than many other tyres.

Anyway, I want something better in the wet than road tyres. May still go for Michelins again if relative price is only slightly more exhorbitant than other apparently good brands and not outrageous.
Haven't yet seen the tread on the 235/85 LTX/AT, but it could be better on 6.5 inch rims than 7.50's. Any comments? Apparently 255/100 X16 XZL's fit okay but I gather these are very expensive. Also, they are apparently 36 inch diameter when new. Has anyone had or seen them on a Defender with standard suspension? Would be interested to know if any clearance problems.

Mick