Thread: New wheels & tyres ???

Remember that the Overlander drive test had OE rubber whose sidewalls are as soft as a baby's b&m. To get true "bushability" testing, the magazines should put on similar MT type tyres on all vehicles, but I suspect cost and risk of damaging new rims prevents it.

Road bias OE tyres are installed so that manufacturers (a) get the fuel consumption figures down as low as possible, and (b) keep out of trouble for creating too much noise.

I have a set of 19" Goodyear MTRs on my (recently stolen) V8 D3 and the tyres proved to be tougher and provide better sand traction than I would have ever thought possible. There are two "provisios" for the MTRs. First one is cost - try $660/tyre! Second is they need careful thought as to tyre pressure. I used 16psi for softest sand, but go up to 22-28 psi for anything with rock. The key point of the somewhat high pressures is to prevent anything hard from ever compresing the tyre flat against the rim and cracking the rim. A few people have had this unfortunate fracture occur. Pity there aren't any steel 19" wheels available so the crushing/fracture problem would be less of a concern.

I am sufficiently comfortable with the utility of the MTRs (but get hemorrhoids when having to buy one ) that I decided to replace my stolen D3 with the 3.0 litre D4. I sometimes work on rather remote and rugged pipeline rights-of-way so will eventually report back on how the D4 works on sharp limestone and ironstone (alas, delivery is April/May).

One of the guys in the GCLRO club has a 2008 D3 with 17" Dynamics with BFG KM2's on it. Very impressive bit of kit.

The rims cost $127 ea from Perth 4X4 ( W.A. ), the chromed centre cap's were $13 and the steel nuts are Holden part No. GM-09595174 at $4.70 ea.
You don't need a Physics Degree to see a 18 or 19" rim alongside the 17" with their respective rubber and know which one you would rather be driving on over corrugations for days.
I've broken my back twice and have many compressed vertebrae and even after a full day of corrugations I get out with no pain from the track, plus I don't like to stir up the quality bottled Shiraz from McLaren Vale I carry !.

Dingmark Jim,

Just a question re the Wrangler MTR's
How do you find them on bitumen re noise/ on wet bitumen re traction and wear?

Gordon at Green Oval Experience has mentioned the use of Staun Beadlocks to allow lower pressures and to protect the rim, however I am attempting to find out from Opposite Lock Gold Coast as to whether available for 19" rims

Steffo

I have found the MTR's to have adequate grip on road in both wet & dry.
They are a bit firmer however I prefer this especially after coming out of a D2.
They are noisy on smooth bitumen not so bad on the course stuff.
They are good on gravel with no additional noise & good off road.
I did managed to break a bead seal when down at 18lb so in hindsight for normal off road I would probably not go below 25lb.
this could be lower in sand or snow where you are not likely to break beads.
I managed to get them thru Goodyear's Family & friends discount which made them more reasonable in price.
Even fluked 2 matching 19's on Ebay for $100.00

I prefer this set up as it allows impromptu drives without worring about changing rims.

Regards

Chuck

Apologies for keeping this thread slightly off track, but a little more on the D4 / 19" issue: I nearly bought MTR's for mine, despite the quoted price of around $650 each, but was scared off by the near-certainty that they would be noticeably noisier on the coarse bitumen used so much here in WA. Went for Pirelli ATR's instead, and am (so far) really happy - though I have not really pushed them hard off-road yet. Having said that, I look forward to some early reports from D4 owners with MTR's here in Oz, as it strikes me the D4 is seriously quiet anyway - mine seems to be appreciably quieter than I recall the demo D3 I drove (on the same piece of highway).

Also read the Overlander 4wdoty story with interest, and some disgust. Sometimes the guys who write for those mags seem kind of obsessed with serious off-road stuff, perhaps beyond what most buyers would be into? But maybe I'm just a cranky D4 owner who is peeved that we didn't win yet another gong!!

Did those who watched Pat Callinan's part 1 of the Canning Stock route episode note that all vehicles were shod with LT Pirelli ATRs (presumably sponsered by Pirelli) and were given a good report? I wonder how close the 18" and 19" XL versions for the D3/4 are to LT spec?

Originally Posted by Steffo

Dingmark Jim,

Just a question re the Wrangler MTR's
How do you find them on bitumen re noise/ on wet bitumen re traction and wear?

Gordon at Green Oval Experience has mentioned the use of Staun Beadlocks to allow lower pressures and to protect the rim, however I am attempting to find out from Opposite Lock Gold Coast as to whether available for 19" rims

My local tyre dealer ( starts with B, ends with s ) had these fitted to his own Patrol ute. Thought they were awesome off road, particularly on rocks. Sticky on wet bitumen, noisy and slippery on hot bitumen. Was not impressed by their wear rate either. You can debate the merits etc of different tyres forever !