Thread: Unhappy with Cooper AT3 - Bridgestone 697's?

Yesterday's puncture on the GRR ImageUploadedByTapatalk1401426413.381552.jpg ( left rear )
The tyre guy took the plug out from the slow puncture and found a small pebble sized stone inside.

Originally Posted by amtravic1

I have used Toyo Opats on a Rangie and loved them. The tyre seller said they were good but I did not believe him at first. The price was right so I tried them.
I got 90.000 kms out of them before I came back from dirt bike riding one day to find the rear two slashed and unrepairable. Lucky I was only 150 kms from home and I was able to ride the bike to where I could get phone service and my brother bought out my spare tyres and rims to me. I am now tossing up whether to put Bridgestone 697.s or Toyos on my Isuzu Dmax work ute.

I've had Toyo OPATs on for 12 months taken them through to Vic High Country,
Wombat Bogholes and Otway mud. They've been just fine. They'll be going to the Flinders Rangers next month which will be the real test.

So far though I can't fault them

Originally Posted by dukemasterpro

Bit of a grave dig to this post, but having the same drama / dilemmas with AT3's!!
Having an awesome time up in the Kimberley, 10,000km's covered majority on the dirt from Sydney.

#1 LH rear blowout on the Mt Hopeless to Arkaroola track near the NP office. 40-60km/h single track gravel with corrugations. sidewall disintegrated, rim damaged beyond repair ( dent ). Was running about 34psi. Tyre had about 30,000km on it
#2 LH rear puncture on the first part of Tanami Rd about 75-80km/h pulled onto the gravel to avoid oncoming traffic and found the only small washout on that section of road - didn't notice the bump. Tyre repair guy showed me the blister on the top as the hole inside was much bigger than outside. Had been running 40psi, his advice stick to 35psi dirt and 40psi bitumen ( he was a Cooper dealer in Alice ). This was a brand new tyre, 2 weeks old with a couple of thousand on it
#3 + #4 both on the same day, first #3 was a slow puncture we found in the morning on the RH rear, plugged that with one plug. All fine, possibly a bit of metal or similar in the tread. This tyre had about 34,000km on it. Then later that day on the Gibb River Road, recently graded section between Ellenbrae and Home Valley, so a very smooth ride on the gravel, few corrugations compared to Mitchell Plateau we had a quick deflation on the LH rear ( this was the replacement tyre fitted in Alice - running at 35psi as per the dealers advice). Tyre has a cut in the block the width of the tread block, can see right through to the white belt ( ? ). Don’t think I can plug this one!

My dilemma similar to others is do I
a) buy another AT3 have spent approx $900 so far on 2 plus $600 for a second hand rim
b) try another brand - same size e.g. the Bridgestone D697 in 265/60/18 ( LT?? ) - incidentally the tyre place in Alice also sold Bridgestone, he maintained it was not LT spec and was 8 ply vs the AT3 10 ply, i.e. AT3 a better tyre
c) rang Coopers today, the guy I chatted to kind of said, you are on the wrong tyre for the trip ( no **** Sherlock! ), he said to try higher pressure 36-38 rears or possibly the ST Maxx in 275 / 65 /18 - these are $512 RRP each and I’d of course need 6 so $3k outlay for the “peace of mind”. I also have ( remaining ) 2 new AT3, 3 with 35,000km’s on to dispose of
d) some other brand in 265/60/18
e) bite the bullet and go 17” rims ( not sure where up here I’d find 6 at a decent price ) and then I have no firm knowledge of best tyre in that size nor brand

Now I know the answer to all of this is “could have, should have, would have” and gone for e) before leaving but hindsight is not going to solve the issue now. Still have around 7500km to travel again mainly dirt to get home.

Any comments, suggestions or thoughts are very welcome. Redback I am sure you know where I’m at after your experience on 18”s with no RWC, the words of your wife are ringing in my ear right now!

It would all be a fun part of the experience if not a costly experiment in tyre choice and pressure, that asides it’s awesome up here. Have a great diary and lots of pictures for a multi-state report on my return.

As an asides - seen a convoy yesterday 7-8 D4’s, D3, RRS all towing heading west towards the GRR / Kalumburu turn-off. Any ideas whose plate is “D4”??

Thats what i would do.

I recently did 6500k's on one trip,Flinders,across the Simpson from Alice down through Finke,etc,etc,full loaded,didn't change a tyre.A lot of dirt,gravel and bad corrugations,some of the worse i have seen.Many of the roads were also very rocky.

Sure they are badly chipped,particularly the rears,but they all held up.

The other option is to go slightly oversize and get a stronger 18' LT tyre.
The GOE chart is helpful with sizes,etc

As I said earlier in this thread, over a year ago, my AT3's on the D3 are great and are still doing well without one failure yet and they get treated reasonably hard.

Personally I wouldn't want to do a long potentially challenging dirt road/track trip away from civilisation on any set of tyres that had done around 35,000 k's. that is easily more than 50% wear on the tyres.

Not a comment on the tires but when we did the outback and Cape York we ran the tires down a 25-26psi hot and never had a problem.
When you say your running 35psi is that cold or hot?

Higher pressures reduce or increase probability of punctures, side wall damage, or does it ''Depend'' ?

Originally Posted by AndyG

Higher pressures reduce or increase probability of punctures, side wall damage, or does it ''Depend'' ?

It depends of course.

Broadly speaking, on a rough surface:

A higher pressure reduces the amount of sidewall bulge meaning sidewalls are less susceptible to damage.

A lower pressure increases the amount of flex in the tread meaning less chance of punctures through penetration.

But this is all within reason and depends on a heap of variables, such as road surface, load, temperature, speed, tyre construction, etc. The trick is finding the pressure that gives the best compromise between all these factors for a given set of operating conditions.

There has been a few discussions on here recently about this. Have a read of some of the recent threads on tyres, there's some good information in them.

Cheers,
Jon

Originally Posted by TerryO

As I said earlier in this thread, over a year ago, my AT3's on the D3 are great and are still doing well without one failure yet and they get treated reasonably hard.

Personally I wouldn't want to do a long potentially challenging dirt road/track trip away from civilisation on any set of tyres that had done around 35,000 k's. that is easily more than 50% wear on the tyres.

This was something considered at length pre-trip discussed with a few more experienced folks, given the tyres had done 24-25,000kms of mainly city driving it was decided to go for it and if the tread became an issue replace whilst away ( but not expecting 3 unrepairable tyres )