Tyres - R18's - LT or AT

**AnD3rew** · 29th October 2014, 06:37 AM

I am in my second set of General grabber AT tyres and overall they have been good. My first ones were the AT2 which have a more aggressive looking pattern and I think were a bit tougher but maybe a little noisier. My current set which is about due for replacement now are the AT and they have a number of small cuts in the sidewalls and I think the rubber compound may be a bit softer, having said that no punctures, no failures, they have both been good on bitumen wet and dry, neither excessively noisy and they have performed as well as you can expect any AT tyre to perform offroad.

I am probably getting about 50,000 km life out of them, but I tend to replace a little early probably and don't tend to take them right down to the wear indicators.

I should add though that there are others here who do not share my experience and find them noisy and didn't like them.

I think I will probably choose the Dueler LT next, but not because I am unhappy with the Grabbers but just for a bit of extra peace of mind with the LT construction.

**Redback** · 29th October 2014, 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by CaptAwsm

I've been looking at the General Grabber AT in the 255/60R18 (otherwise stock.) Seems decent bang for buck pricing.

Ben.

Ben don't go with GG AT, if you're doing any sort of offroad where rocks are involved, they have weak sidewalls and are NOT light truck, in my opinion the Bridgestone D697 in LT265/60/18 AT is the best all round AT on the market the 265/60/18 will be more common when in rural areas.

Baz.

**~Rich~** · 29th October 2014, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by Redback

Ben don't go with GG AT, if you're doing any sort of offroad where rocks are involved, they have weak sidewalls and are NOT light truck, in my opinion the Bridgestone D697 in LT265/60/18 AT is the best all round AT on the market the 265/60/18 will be more common when in rural areas.

Baz.

X2 - GG's Ok for Road and Sand - not for either Rocky Terrain or Remote area travel on gibber roads, especially if towing or heavily loaded.

**BMKal** · 29th October 2014, 08:28 AM

I've been running the Mickey Thompson STZ's in 265/60R18 for about a year now.

Haven't been off road a lot with them so far - only a couple of trips on dirt roads with no serious stuff - but very happy with them so far. Performance on the bitumen seems no different to the Continentals that were OEM supplied, though a bit noisier on the smooth surfaces in the city. On high speed dirt, they behave extremely well, and no problems with a bit of mud / slippery surfaces. Also good in soft sand at about 15psi.

They are certainly looking like outlasting the Continentals by a considerable margin. Cost me about the same as a Continental fitted & balanced. When I had them fitted, I also fitted a TPMS that I bought from Landybitz on here with the internal sensors / transmitters - so I have probably been a bit better at keeping the tyre pressures where they should be than I was with the Continentals.

**DiscoWeb** · 29th October 2014, 01:44 PM

Not sure about the other options you are looking at but I have had the 18inch Dueler D697 on my D3 for about 30,000km and have found them great.

They have been good off road with plenty of grip and no cuts or nicks after moderate offroad use.

They provide a solid feel on the road, are quite and being LT just provide a bit more peace of mind.

I have no problem recommending them and can not remember seeing many, if any bad reports on them through the forum.

Good luck in your deliberation.

George

**oldsalt** · 29th October 2014, 02:49 PM

I've got a set of LT 697's on my D3 and they have been very good so far... a lot of highway work (at speed) and a couple of quick trips to the high country - no problems - plenty of grip over wet rocky ground... the LT rating will be tested very soon on a trip to the Flinders Ranges area...
cheers

**stray dingo** · 29th October 2014, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by gghaggis

Be careful following recommendations - the same tyres from the same manufacturer, but in different sizes, are markedly different to each other. For example, the Cooper Zeon LTZ's in the 285/60R18 is amazingly strong, and has a load rating of 120. The same tyre in the 255/55R19 suffers from weak sidewalls and is no where near the same load rating.

Agree - I've had to replace three 255/55R19 zeons in the past 6 months for sidewalls being the failure, all with heaps of tread left. The last one was in Alice and had to get it specially shipped up from Adelaide at extra cost.

So with that in mind, and at risk of hijacking the thread, I've lost confidence in the Zeons.....
I've got an ARB bar; I know if I go with 285/60/18 (once I get some GOE rims) they'll rub. Is there any known rubbing with 265/60/18 or 265/65/18 also? (not fussed about fitting a spare in the well with rear carrier instead)

**DiscoWeb** · 29th October 2014, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by stray dingo

Agree - I've had to replace three 255/55R19 zeons in the past 6 months for sidewalls being the failure, all with heaps of tread left. The last one was in Alice and had to get it specially shipped up from Adelaide at extra cost.

So with that in mind, and at risk of hijacking the thread, I've lost confidence in the Zeons.....
I've got an ARB bar; I know if I go with 285/60/18 (once I get some GOE rims) they'll rub. Is there any known rubbing with 265/60/18 or 265/65/18 also? (not fussed about fitting a spare in the well with rear carrier instead)

Mate,

I have an OL bar and the 265/60/18 and there is no rubbing.

Not sure about the 285.

George

**zilch** · 29th October 2014, 04:44 PM

x 3 on the GG AT's i lost one on the weekend to a rock and it put paid to our weekend.. may have to take the plunge on a set of 18's rims in the new year and some new tougher footwear to match

**BobD** · 29th October 2014, 07:04 PM

The rubbing with 285 60 18 is minor and not an issue at all. Way less than 33's on my GQ Patrol. The only time you hear anything is in reverse when the tread makes a noise rubbing on the front chassis extensions. If you bend the rear seams as recommended by Gordon you won't have any issues at the rear, I have two places at these seams where the plastic liner is worn through but no damage at all to any tyres. I didn't do anything to the seams so that is why the liner is worn. I do a lot of off road driving where full articulation is required and achieved.

My only concern would be using bigger tyres than the 285 60 18's, but Gordon has indicated that even these are not an issue. The 285's are great on sand, which is my main use. However, they do throw up more stones onto the Tupperware along the sides and behind the rear wheels in outback touring, which I also do a lot of. They look great on the car with GOE wheels and the speedo is spot on. The only negative is that the odometer is now reading under the correct km since that was spot on with OEM tyres.

For the record in this thread, I am using D697LT's. No issues with sidewalls but I destroyed one with a chainsaw adjuster through the tread and have had one puncture, which appeared to be a stone pushed through the area between the tread blocks. Easily fixed with a plug. No tread chipping in tens of thousands of km of gravel and stones but the rear tyres get a lot of cuts and nicks in the carcass between the fairly open tread blocks. These have only translated into one puncture as mentioned above. One Coopers tyre seller said the tyres were rubbish because of these cuts and I got rid of the sister to the one that was destroyed because it had some large cuts between the treads. No other issues with the two replacements and the two remaining tyres from the front (now spares) plus the two spares that have been on the rear for a while. Some on here said the cuts were due to running too high pressures, which may be the case. I now drop pressures more on sharp rocky roads.

Bob

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