Thread: New Tyres

Originally Posted by Timj

I have just had fitted today a set of Bridgestone D697 265/60/18. I wanted an LT construction without going larger. The initial impressions are good, they appear to be almost as quiet as the Wranglers and handle fine. As they wear I will get a better idea but so far so good .

I have had bad experiences with both the standard Goodyears and with GG AT2. The sidewalls of either of those are so soft that I consider it dangerous just to drive on a dirt road. Just on Saturday the last straw was a rock punching right through the middle of the tread of one of the Goodyears leaving me with only three of them, it was a sharp rock but I have never seen anything through the tread and belts quite like this before, all my problems in the past have been slashed sidewalls. I think I have now managed to destroy 5 GGs and two Wranglers in ways that they can't be repaired. Certainly would have to be crazy to drop pressures as it exposes the sidewall even more. Conversely I have had good experience with Cooper STT in the 245/70/17 on Dynamic steel rims. Have done a fair bit of serious offroad with them and also a trip to Tassie and back towing the camper and they have only recently got too noisy for touring and that could partly be a matter of alignment and balancing. No more damage to tread or blocks than I would expect given what I have done with them.

This is the rock that went right through the Wrangler and the hole it made.



Cheers,

TimJ.

Same, I punctured three in a week (two in one weekend) on gravel roads. I had two new Wranglers that seemed to be OK but the others were about 50 % wear. Rocks went straight through the tread.

The whole reason we got the KM2s, was the experience we had with them on our D2, maybe they were noisey on the D2 and we didn't notice it as much because the D4 is so quiet, I think the vibration is a balance issue.

One thing I will say about them, they are brilliant offroad.

Baz.

Yep I agree with Baz (Redback)! The KM2s are a great tyre. I have used them on a couple of trips, Corner Country and Flinders ranges. Absolutely no chipping and great grip. Only really noisy when slowing down on sealed roads at around 40kph and slower.
On the other hand I have seen many destroyed Coopers. On our Flinders trip a Cooper on our mates offroad van lost the whole tread from the carcas . Looked like a crocodile on the road when I came across it!

I gave my Cooper LTZ's a nightmare time on my recent trip and they performed excellently. I would not have been as well off with my GG's I'm sure.

The KM is a good tyre...

Only issues with BFG is balancing problems... They are prone to causing vibration... Many 'in the know' tyre stores wont recommend fitting them to Patrols due to Patrols inherent vibration problems - these tyres can amplify that issue..

Recent test in the USA (where a mate was present to drive, test, evaluate) had several brands of tyre on identical spec vehicles...

Each driver got to drive each of the vehicles in Mud, Rock, Sand..

Best performer of all the brands on test.... MTZs...

Originally Posted by ~Rich~

I gave my Cooper LTZ's a nightmare time on my recent trip and they performed excellently. I would not have been as well off with my GG's I'm sure.

Keep an eye for cracks... Base of tread blocks, etc...

Originally Posted by Tombie

Keep an eye for cracks... Base of tread blocks, etc...

This is my second set!
No issues with the first one.

Originally Posted by Tombie

The KM is a good tyre...

Only issues with BFG is balancing problems... They are prone to causing vibration... Many 'in the know' tyre stores wont recommend fitting them to Patrols due to Patrols inherent vibration problems - these tyres can amplify that issue..

Recent test in the USA (where a mate was present to drive, test, evaluate) had several brands of tyre on identical spec vehicles...

Each driver got to drive each of the vehicles in Mud, Rock, Sand..

Best performer of all the brands on test.... MTZs...

Two problems with MTZs 1. No sizes for D3 unless you go oversize 2. Made in same factory as Coopers using same carcass (as told by Cooper/MT reseller)