Off road tyres

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Originally Posted by saljosax

So if I can't get the 18" rims in time, can I drive the Simpson Desert and Hay River Track on 19" rims?

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As has been said already, be very careful about claims regarding any other 18" wheels, both for capacity but also legality, eg offset.

No you won't get GOE wheels at short notice but if you have a read right through some of those threads I posted earlier here for you (post#6), you'll see that people have successfully done that type of trip and bigger on various 19" tyres, including at least one person who posted that he did a long trip on the stock tyres! (I forget exactly which thread).

As has been mentioned, it's all about driving to the conditions and getting the tyre pressure right, which is higher for 19s than 18s or 17s.
It seems people go wrong with 19s when they lower the pressure too much.

Also consider getting an extra spare tyre or even wheel & tyre.
Carrying at least a second spare tyre will see you mobile again sooner compared to waiting for one to be shipped to wherever.

In short, it's been done. It sounds like you're worrying too much.

Cheers,
Scott

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Originally Posted by LRD414

No you won't get GOE wheels at short notice but if you have a read right through some of those threads I posted earlier here for you, you'll see that people have successfully done that type of trip and bigger on various 19" tyres, including at least one person who posted that he did a long trip on the stock tyres! (I forget exactly which thread).

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I did Melbourne to NT on the stock 19" Goodyears including about 100kms of sand driving, Mereenie loop, palm valley and the Finke national park and all through the west macdonald ranges. Not one issue.

Like Tombie says, drive to the conditions :)

Yes I do tend to worry! But some good news, I've been told it's possible to get the GOE 18" rims air freighted to me in time. I'm planning to order them in the morning, am I doing the right thing or just worrying too much? Should I just stick with the 19's and save the cash?

Just my opinion - but I'd be getting the GOE rims and fitting a set of the Bridgestone D697 tyres if you're planning more than one trip. ;)

At least with these, as well as the numerous advantages that come with dropping down to 18" rims and tyres, you have a far greater chance of obtaining a replacement tyre outside of the major metropolitan centres should you ever need one - and a far better chance of finding someone with the gear to actually fit a new tyre to the rim. I know of one group travelling from Esperance to SA along the coast who ended up having to get four new 19" rims with tyres shipped from Adelaide to them at Nullarbor after damaging a number of tyres on the tracks (between two D4's). They could have got new tyres shipped to them, but nobody out that way had the gear to fit them to the rims. A member on here picked up four very cheap near new Land Rover 19" rims (with stuffed tyres on them) as a result of all this.

I've had 18" rims on mine since new (it's the older 2.7 diesel) and, while I have been offered some very nice looking non-genuine 19" rims with tyres for a very attractive price, I wouldn't even consider fitting 19's to mine. I'm getting a good run out of a set of Mickey Thompson STZ's at the moment, and these suit me well for what I use the vehicle for. But for more serious off-roading, especially if intending to travel rocky tracks up north, I'd be looking seriously at the D697's based on the reports from others who I know have used them in pretty harsh conditions.

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Originally Posted by BMKal

I know of one group travelling from Esperance to SA along the coast who ended up having to get four new 19" rims with tyres shipped from Adelaide to them at Nullarbor after damaging a number of tyres on the tracks (between two D4's). They could have got new tyres shipped to them, but nobody out that way had the gear to fit them to the rims. A member on here picked up four very cheap near new Land Rover 19" rims (with stuffed tyres on them) as a result of all this.

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That wasn't the "4x4 Australia's Big Bight Expedition" by any chance? I remember watching it on YouTube thinking they're going to run out of tyres soon...

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Originally Posted by kelvo

That wasn't the "4x4 Australia's Big Bight Expedition" by any chance? I remember watching it on YouTube thinking they're going to run out of tyres soon...

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I'm not sure who it was. I was asked if I was interested in purchasing the rims with damaged tyres when on my way across to Melrose last year. The bloke at the Nullarbor Roadhouse told me how he had come to have them in his possession, but he just said a "group of Land Rover Discovery 4's travelling from West to East along the coast" - no other information on who they were or where they were from.

I passed the information about the rims on to a member of this forum while in Melrose, and stopped in at Nullarbor on the way home to confirm price etc. A couple of forum members then did a "Cannonball Run" out to Nullarbor from Adelaide and collected the rims.

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Originally Posted by BMKal

I'm not sure who it was. I was asked if I was interested in purchasing the rims with damaged tyres when on my way across to Melrose last year. The bloke at the Nullarbor Roadhouse told me how he had come to have them in his possession, but he just said a "group of Land Rover Discovery 4's travelling from West to East along the coast" - no other information on who they were or where they were from.

I passed the information about the rims on to a member of this forum while in Melrose, and stopped in at Nullarbor on the way home to confirm price etc. A couple of forum members then did a "Cannonball Run" out to Nullagine from Adelaide and collected the rims.

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Why did they go to Nullagine Brian:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p
Andrew

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Originally Posted by LandyAndy

Why did they go to Nullagine Brian:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p
Andrew

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Typical bloody South Australians ................. they got lost. :p:p:p

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Originally Posted by BMKal

Typical bloody South Australians ................. they got lost. :p:p:p

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Oi...

Nullarbor is a lovely place to visit.

We thoroughly enjoyed our 20 min visit, before heading home. :D

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Originally Posted by saljosax

Thanks everyone for all your great advice.

I am hearing the 19" wheels are not ideal. This trip we're driving Sydney to Uluru through the Simpson and Hay River Track, so sand is our main off road feature. We will be doing a trip each year though so whatever we get now should suit a variety of terrains.

I'll look into the 18" wheels and tyres for those.

Next decision is a bulbar. Do we need one? Are brands other than LandRover OK?

Thanks again!

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Hi Dave
I have just returned last night from a very similar trip.
We drove from Melb, to Adelaide, Warren Gorge, Maree, Birdsville Track, Simpson Desert to Poppels, Hay River Track, Plenty Hwy to Alice, then spent 5 days in APY lands and wandered home, 6300kms in about 17 days.
I have a new D4, not so new now, towing a 1 tonne trailer.
I have 19" Goodyear Duratracs, on a second set of wheels including 2 spares.
We had no problems, no flats at all and we flogged them.
My only comment would be they seemed to hold the wet sand of the Hay River in the tread at times.
We did the Simpson fairly easily, only needing to have a few goes at dune 2, straight after Big Red, the rest were all straight up and over, until our last dune on Hay River, where I got stuck due to the trailer and the tight left, right at top of dune. A little digging and we were away.
Hay River was lovely and we would like to have spent more time.
The D4 performed brilliantly.
The Llams was fantastic piece of kit.
I used 3 jerry cans from Birdsville to Plenty Hwy onto of standard tank.
We were getting 21L/100ks on Simpson/Hay River.
Next trip I would like to have a bull bar, hit one roo, and a bit more fuel capacity.
Like many others I was waiting for ARB bull bar to be released.
I travelled with a Prado which had a 140L tank but struggled to keep up with D4, especially on open roads. Even with trailer I was doing 130Ks plus.
Happy travels.