Thread: Tyre Choices: Bar Treads versus Hi-Milers

Hi Mark,
I very seldom ran the 600x16 with all the 88's I had in the early days. I suggest you go for the 7.50's - better gearing for on road and better clearange for off road.
I recall towing a caravan up to Cairns and back with a Series III 88 with 750x16's and had no trouble at all.
7.50's are more readily available also.

Do a bulk order and get some new tyres for the 110 as well

6.00x16 bar treads on the 110?
I'll have tyres for that one soon enough, don't you worry...

Roger, I have 7.50R16s on the Series at the moment, and as you say the gearing is great, probably an advantage more now with today's faster cars and motorways and hostile drivers than in the early days.

In recollection there is a big difference in how the braking ability feels with 6.00,s as opposed to 7.50's, not sure about the actual braking distance though. I recall years ago changing an 88 from 6.00's to 7.50's and it felt like the brake lines had been cut.

Cheers, Mick.

Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

G'day all,
I am after some off-roadable tyres for my IIa, I have a set of second hand Custom Xtra-Grip Hi-Milers in 7.50x16, the five of them range from brand new nice and grippy to positively ancient hard as nails garden accessories.
As a result I need to get some newies, or alternatively, buy some of the 6.00x16 bar treads on ebay.
The Landy is used occasionally for nice weather drives for the sake of driving, wet-weather is avoided, a bit of dirt and gravel, and hopefully once I replace the 7.50R16 Michelin road tyres some mildly adventurous trips, obviously not as difficult as what I use the County for. off-road terrain is generally sandy fire trails, scrabbly dirt, loam, rocks and small amounts of mud.
I'm not worried about speedo accuracy, its in MPH so just adjust the KPH conversion slightly.
Neither bar treads nor Hi-Milers were original fitment, Road Track Majors were.

If price wasn't a factor, would you choose smaller Bar Treads or larger Hi-Milers?

EDIT: I'm asking because I can't make up my mind...I figure they'll both be dreadful on road and probably fairly useful off-road

Should you fit 6.00's on the standard SII rims ?

Bar treads look & sound the part on a military vehicle. Also look good on a Series I

RTM's were still available a couple of years back, I put a set of 7.00 x 16's on my Series I. Worth a call to a Dunlop dealer. Don't ask for Road Track Major's, they tell you they're not available but they have RTM's
Thing is do you want to run crossplys ?

Just fitted secondhand 7.50 x 16 Dunlop SP Road Grippers to a Series III. Lots of part worns available off Troopies and new ones often come up on Epay as people upgrade their Troopy wheels/tyres.

Cannot comment on the Hi Milers.


Colin

Bar Treads for me, As Dad was in the Forests Commission , all the new Landies & Early FJ40's that ever got delivered were fitted with 750-16 Olympic Trojan Bar Treads, as a result I used to get 1/2 worn hand me down Bar Treads from Toolangi, then the sad day came when they changed to Steeltreks , I found a source of new 2nds bar treads (Blems), when that dried up after a few years I had to go to radials.

but you can now get Bar Treads again from, Firestone, Avon Veteran, Vintage & Classic Military Tyres | Antique Tyres

btw compared to Bar Treads, Road Track Majors are absolutelly useless off road. I also never used Hi Milers so cant comment on them.

Originally Posted by gromit

Should you fit 6.00's on the standard SII rims ?

Bar treads look & sound the part on a military vehicle. Also look good on a Series I

RTM's were still available a couple of years back, I put a set of 7.00 x 16's on my Series I. Worth a call to a Dunlop dealer. Don't ask for Road Track Major's, they tell you they're not available but they have RTM's
Thing is do you want to run crossplys ?

Just fitted secondhand 7.50 x 16 Dunlop SP Road Grippers to a Series III. Lots of part worns available off Troopies and new ones often come up on Epay as people upgrade their Troopy wheels/tyres.

Cannot comment on the Hi Milers.

Colin

Series II SWB rims are 5" wide, so fitting a 6.00x16 is a better option than 7.50x16s I think.
I don't really want RTMs even if they are available.
I have never had crossplys fitted to a vehicle before so have no real idea what the difference will be. The Hi Milers have nylon belts which apparently have different characteristics than the steel ply tyres I am used to.

I do want something that looks somewhat '1960s' but has some semblance of performance as well.

How do bar treads go on slippery side slopes? After a recent experience, I dont want to slide sideways too easily...

Xtra Grip HiMilers


Juddy was going to import some 7.50 16 bar tread in the next couple of months. But neither bar treads or Xtra grip are good on wet roads.

Have you considered 7.50 16 Michelin XZL? It is current spec for Au Army tyres.

Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

Series II SWB rims are 5" wide, so fitting a 6.00x16 is a better option than 7.50x16s I think. ....

You can fit up to 7.00 16 on 5" rims. This is 185/100 R16 equivalent.

XZL are made in 7.00 R16 but I have no idea if they are brought into Au. Perhaps Juddy would add them to his container coming from the UK for you.