Thread: Mud Tyres 18"

Originally Posted by ~Rich~

Mind you mine is a early D3, for some reason latter models get more rubbing particularly on the front end on full lock.

I think that is because the D4's have an added 'horn' to the end of the chassis rail which is not present on the D3 chassis. This is the main point of rubbing on mine which I have not yet resolved.

Originally Posted by TuffRR

I think that is because the D4's have an added 'horn' to the end of the chassis rail which is not present on the D3 chassis. This is the main point of rubbing on mine which I have not yet resolved.

Yep that's the spot. I'll probably take a file to the upper control arm too. It's nice and sharp at the moment looks like it would slice a sidewall in one tap.

dforfun - i finally bought a set of spare tyres..

i got the 265/60/18 archiles desert hawke muddies today - a guy was selling 5 of them for $100 on gumtree (one brand new, 4 at 50% tread - bargain!)

I'll be hitting the trails/beaches next weekend so I will report back and let you all know if i get bogged on the beach with MT's.

well, and why not when they are such a bargain!?

Yes Lukeis, I would be quite interested in your feedback on these Achilles. Gordon (from GOE) reckons they're pretty good, so that is an opinion well worth taking note of.

Ultimately it comes down to whether I can be bothered with swapping over rims (query how often?) from day-to-day 19s with ordinary ATs and the second set of 18s with much more aggressive holiday tyres on (and the joys of stuffing about with the LR winch for the 5th one each time!), or to just have a compromise set of semi-aggressive ATs on my 18s all the time and sell the 19s to someone...

Decisions, decisions.

Dfourfun..

I have the tyres fitted to my 18" and took them away for the weekend for some initial off roading..

First thoughts - they look amazing, I blacked out the rims so with my fuji white D4 and aggressive tread pattern i was in love at first sight and was quickly contemplating making this my everyday look.

This love affair ended pretty fast after I started driving the car, they are loud and when i say loud I mean LOUD!!! Horrible, to the point where any thoughts of permeant fitment to the car are a distant memory. Its embarrassing to drive around in, not to mention the radio and phone calls need to be turned up even with the windows closed.

Finally, after listening to them howl up the freeway I pulled offroad - again I was in love, they give me so much confidence in the bush, no longer trying desperately to avoid rocks instead you can plow over them, and with the hill climbs i did it killed it - i put a couple of short videos here if you want to see them in action



All up? Get these tyres only if you find yourself committed to the idea of having a city set and an off road set of tyres like I do. If that is not you, then I wouldn't buy them.

Thanx for the report and the vid Lukeis (apols for slow reply). Great look but noise seems to be a real issue. To get to the dirt anywhere to really use muddies invariably means manymany k's on the black top so sounds like this would not be a long term proposition (for me anyway). Unless I got a fantasti bargain like you did. The D697s I had before were certainly not noisy but they did become slicks in clay, hence my desire for something a bit more aggressive (but the Achilles sound like a bridge too far). Will let you know what I end up getting, still procrastinating.... Thanx again. Love the white D4 (biased!).

Smart choice.

They are actually on my car again atm as I was off-road over the weekend, I know for a fact I would never buy the Achilles if I had only one set of tyres due to the noise.

Let me know what you end up with, i still think if I had to spend real
Money I'd get the maxxis 980 at 295ea

I'm loving the Hankooks, I'll post some post trip photos after my long trip.