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

hi all im running goodyear wrangler muddies on our defender 110 98 model,
nearly 50,000ks maybe another 10,000 left in them, wearing great wish i had rotated them when at the correct intervels coverd all sorts of terrain from the gulf corregations to black mud behind adels grove rocks and slate behind laura to maytown.
only complaint is they are a bit expensive and loud but in a defender loud is normal and a harsh ride at any pressure but unbelieveably tough, i think the main thing is to be aware as possible to your surrounds and the the type of terrain you are travelling on tyre pressures are very important
vehicle mods.
full maxi drive conversion,ome springs, tjm heavy duty shocks,just fitted the new super pro bushes designed for defenders ,larger intercooler,warne winch,2 inch lift stronger cvs,all the usual underbody protection

Originally Posted by newlandyowner

I'm looking at Toyo open country A/T or stay with Bridgestones.
Anyone used Toyo before?

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.

Originally Posted by Graeme

LT tyres don't provide the comfortable ride of passenger tyres so vehicle manufacturers having comfort as a prime consideration wont be seeking LT tyres for their vehicles. I like the idea of going down from the LI 119 of my current tyres to 114 or even 116 to soften the ride a little. In 17" a LI 114 LT tyre might be quite adequate but I suspect there can be significant differences between brands particularly considering different plies and materials.

Vehicle manufactures will also look at cost,and often an LT tyre will not handle on bitumen anywhere near as well as a p rated tyre.

I recon a 17' LT on say a D4 would probably be more comfortable than a 19' OEM p rated tyre(on an identicle D4)
But this has a lot of variables in it,such as tyre brand,pressures,etc,as said.

Interesting also the pirelli OEM 18' on my D4 were 112 load rated,which must be at the top of P rated tyres,where the Bridgestones on Tombies thread are LT rated at 114.

My 2 cents worth,if i wanted LT's i would go to a higher load rating,then adjust pressures accordingly,i wouldn't risk a lower rated (or for that matter) a cheap tyre.I appreciate this would not suit everyone.

Yes, I'd overlooked the handling aspect for those who use it.

Originally Posted by Gords

Hey all,

I'm currently on a 4 week road trip through the Simpson, flinders, high country etc in the D3 (report to follow!!!) and have had a few problems with my brand new set of cooper AT3's. Recently, from 6 new AT3's I have had;
- 1 sidewall cut & written off on bitumen (probably metal so hard to avoid);
- 3 punctures on gravel with two punctures writing off the tyre (one was my fault as didn't hear the puncture on rocky roads till it was too late and consequently chewed out the sidewall)

The 3 punctures were all on gravel roads with my pressures at 30psi. After approx 2500km of use since new. The worst puncture which wrote the tyre off was in the flinders on gravel when doing 40km/h where sedans were going! Also, the rears are chewed up with fractures appearing- not impressed to say the least!

As a result I'm in need of 2 fairly urgent replacements and am obviously hesitant to go with the AT3's again after their poor performance.*

I'm not too fussed about the Mickey Thompsons either as they're effectively a rebranded, cooper.

I just found out that Bridgestone recently (6 months back) brought out a 'dueler 697' 265/60/18 in a light truck construction with a load rating of 114, this replaces the older dueler 694 I think I was. Anyone had any experience with this tyre? Not cheap though - $485 a throw!*

I understand the other size tyres out there however would like to stick with the same size to match my other Tyres and multiple spares (which really paid off taking!)

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

On a positive note- the D3 absolutely killed the Simpson desert, traveling solo, east to west. See the report in a few weeks

Cheers!
Rob

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”??

The Dueller is definitely LT construction and far stronger than the Coops.

I've taken the D697 everywhere and no chipping, tearing or cracking...
Japanese rubber compounds are so much better than the American made gear.

D697 made in Indonesia.
Had them on the Prado. Was v happy with them.

Originally Posted by RHS58

D697 made in Indonesia.

Had them on the Prado. Was v happy with them.

Sorry, yes, I wasn't very clear..

Japanese formulated compounds are far superior to those used by the USA manufacturers.

Less prone to tearing, chipping, block damage etc.