Low Profile Tyre Issues

[Bobka]

Hi

I traveled the Gibb River Road and Great Central Road last year in my 2016 D4. The only problem I had was tyre punctures. All occurred in the rocky sections of each road, with three punctures on the Gibb and one on the Central Road near Docker Creek. It was a bit frustrating because I never encountered that sort of problem on rocky roads with the landcruiser I had before getting the D4. Tyres on my D4 are Cooper Zeon LTZ 255/55 on 19" rims.

Speed along the rocky sections of road was about 60 to 70 kph. I maintained tyres at pressures as per the label on the car door rather than let them down to provide a bit of give. A tyre outlet in Brisbane and another in Kununurra had recommended against running tyres at reduced pressure levels.

I am putting the problem down to having low profile tyres. I would appreciate hearing if anyone using 265/60 or 265/65 AT tyres on 18" rims such as those from Tuffant have found that the small rim combined with increased volume of rubber reduces puncture problems.

It would be nice to sort this problem out before the next adventure into the beautiful remote areas of this great land.

Thank you
Bob

Discovery 4 SDV6

[ATH]

Hi Bob. I've got a D4 same year and had no probs. even with the standard tyres on which Cook and I did a good few kays of dirt. Only real probs. were in sand.... very embarrassing.
I changed them for Maxxis 980s LT at about 38K and again have had no trouble and have done the Skull Springs Road which had plenty of rough stuff on it and we towed the van as well.
Next weekend we'll be on the beaches down south and I'm hoping to get a bit more experience of driving on it.
Never had a prob. before in the Defenders or even the Prado.......
AlanH.

[jon3950]

In my opinion the advice you have been given is not quite right. You still need to reduce pressures on low profile tyres, just not as much as you would a higher profile tyre.

I ran the Coopers on my D4 and to be honest I don’t think they were very good, although probably the best choice I had at the time. I think their carcass is a little on the weak side. I also think the tread design is a problem. The grooves are relatively wide compared to the depth of the tread meaning the weak carcass is vulnerable to sharp rocks getting between the tread blocks and penetrating it.

That said I never had problems with punctures in the bit of outback touring I did in the D4, or when off-road. All my punctures (and there were a few) occurred at highway pressures - both on dirt and bitumen.

The trick with the tyre pressures was to reduce them enough to enable the tread to flex over rocks but no so much that the sidewalls became exposed. My rule of thumb was to reduce pressures by 4-6psi when hitting the dirt and keeping the speeds down to something sensible, like you were doing.

This seemed to work well for me, but changing to 18”s is a much better idea.

Cheers,
Jon

[discomatt69]

Last year we did Melbourne to Broom, GRR to Katherine, Kakadu, Darwin, Lytchfield, Materanka, Lorrella Springs, Alice Springs, West Donald Rangers and home. 15000 km, about 5000 on dirt, 18 inch Tuff Ant with 265 65 BFG AT2 . Reduced tire pressures as needed not one puncture not even a scratch in the side walls. Well worth the investment
19's are OK but not ideal and Coopers are a crap tire IMO anyway, I have them on my 19's and don't rate them well. Go into a tire shop and give the side walls a pock with your finger, very soft and not much in them compared to a good AT

[DiscoJeffster]

I have switched my fronts to the Maxxis 980 LT in the 19” size. The tears are still the Coopers but waiting for them to wear down enough to replace with Maxxis. The Maxxis seem far more robust in the sidewall, which is kind of the point of the LT rating.

I don’t do enough to warrant 18” at this stage.

[Bobka]

Hi Bob. I've got a D4 same year and had no probs. even with the standard tyres on which Cook and I did a good few kays of dirt. Only real probs. were in sand.... very embarrassing.
I changed them for Maxxis 980s LT at about 38K and again have had no trouble and have done the Skull Springs Road which had plenty of rough stuff on it and we towed the van as well.
Next weekend we'll be on the beaches down south and I'm hoping to get a bit more experience of driving on it.
Never had a prob. before in the Defenders or even the Prado.......
AlanH.

Hi Alan

Thank you for replying. I am encouraged by hearing that you had no problems in the rough stuff. I note your comment about being happy with the Maxxis 980s. I had seen them on a Discovery 5 and its owner also recommended to me. I have tagged the Maxxis as a good option to test.

Cheers
Bob

[Bobka]

In my opinion the advice you have been given is not quite right. You still need to reduce pressures on low profile tyres, just not as much as you would a higher profile tyre.

I ran the Coopers on my D4 and to be honest I don’t think they were very good, although probably the best choice I had at the time. I think their carcass is a little on the weak side. I also think the tread design is a problem. The grooves are relatively wide compared to the depth of the tread meaning the weak carcass is vulnerable to sharp rocks getting between the tread blocks and penetrating it.

That said I never had problems with punctures in the bit of outback touring I did in the D4, or when off-road. All my punctures (and there were a few) occurred at highway pressures - both on dirt and bitumen.

The trick with the tyre pressures was to reduce them enough to enable the tread to flex over rocks but no so much that the sidewalls became exposed. My rule of thumb was to reduce pressures by 4-6psi when hitting the dirt and keeping the speeds down to something sensible, like you were doing.

This seemed to work well for me, but changing to 18”s is a much better idea.

Cheers,
Jon

Hi Jon

Thank you for your comments. What you said about the sidewalls makes sense. When I was told not to reduce pressures, the reason given was that it increases the risk of side walls being pieced by sharp rocks.

Cheers
Bob

[Bobka]

Last year we did Melbourne to Broom, GRR to Katherine, Kakadu, Darwin, Lytchfield, Materanka, Lorrella Springs, Alice Springs, West Donald Rangers and home. 15000 km, about 5000 on dirt, 18 inch Tuff Ant with 265 65 BFG AT2 . Reduced tire pressures as needed not one puncture not even a scratch in the side walls. Well worth the investment
19's are OK but not ideal and Coopers are a crap tire IMO anyway, I have them on my 19's and don't rate them well. Go into a tire shop and give the side walls a pock with your finger, very soft and not much in them compared to a good AT

Hi Discomatt69

I think the country you saw last year is spectacular.

It is interesting to see that you have Tuff Ant rims with 265 65 tyres and good to see that they have not let you down. It is an attractive option and am I grateful for your comments.

Does a 18" spare with the 265 65 BFG AT2 fit into the area underneath the car for the spare wheel? I saw that you carry spares on the back and am wondering if you get sick of swinging the wheels out of the way to get access to stuff in the back of the car?

I assume that when the 18" rims are on, your actual speed when the speedo reports 100kph is different to what it would be with the 19" rims and 255 55 tyres. If this is the case, do you have a feel for the size of the variation?

Cheers
Bob

[Bobka]

I have switched my fronts to the Maxxis 980 LT in the 19” size. The tears are still the Coopers but waiting for them to wear down enough to replace with Maxxis. The Maxxis seem far more robust in the sidewall, which is kind of the point of the LT rating.

I don’t do enough to warrant 18” at this stage.

Hi DiscoJeffster

Your positive comments about the Maxxis 980 LT is very helpful.

Cheers
Bob

[Konradical]

Our D4 has 20" rims as standard and we have destroyed two tyres off road. BOTH of these tyres were under pressure leading up to the incident.

The first picked up a Tek screw out front of my dad's place and during the Land Rover Experience day it slowly deflated. Whilst traversing some rocky terrain it caught the outside tread block and tore it enough to go flat and this unrepairable. There were 15 cars on this experience day most with 20" or bigger tyres and we were the only ones to have an issue.

The second, about four days later happened on the dirt between Arkoroola and Leigh Creek. We had completed the "extreme" track at the Arkoroola Village that morning and I went against my gut and lowered the tyre pressures. After completion, while airing up the compressor gave up on the RHR tyre. I think it was about 30-32PSi. The LHR was at 42 or so. We were also towing our Dove OB. The RHR lost multiple lugs and cracked between parts of the tread. The other three showed zero signs of this.

On the dirt from Leigh Creek to Roxby via Marree, again no signs of damage.

Those tyres were the standard Pirelli Scorpion Zeros which ended up lasting just over 40k KMs. Easily 7k KMs of that was off-road and at no point were the pressures dropped.

We have Nitto Terra Grapplers in a 265/50R20 and have nearly done 30k KMs and they are about 50% worn. 90% of that is highway Kay's. But, same rules apply, keep the pressures up.

We do have a set of six TuffAnts that we have used for the Canning Stock Route and all of Kakadu. I chose to use this size due to tyre size availability. It's easier to get an 18" tyre because of 200 series Land Cruisers. They were also only dropped in pressure during the corregations and sand dunes of the Canning and we're full tilt for everything else.

This is my experience and opinion.