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when l had to do my 4wd driving course to et a certificate to show the mine manager that l was competent to drive a 4wd around his gravel roads on the mining lease in WA l raised the issue of deflating tyres on outback roads.
The consensus of the instructors is don't deflate your tyres until you have to and then deflate only enough to get going again.
Whereas every 4wd club outing l go on as soon as they leave the bitumen they stop on the gravel road and deflate tyres to at least 24 lbs
All Im saying is that some of these problems with BFG's can be attributed to un nessesary deflation.
Chipping I dont really think is an issue that would turn me away from using 1 brand from another even though I was P*ssed that the coopers chipped on a road that the carolla with cheap ass tyres on it wouldnt chip.
I Had BFG AT's on my Disco, I never deflated them to go off road (Disco recommended tyre pressures are low enough as it is!) & never had a problem with them. Although I was concerned how easily the sidewalls marked and cut the first layer of side wall in a couple of spots. I Now have a fender 130 with Cooper's on it (can't remember which sort without going out to the shed to look! Similair tread to BFG's). They seem to be quieter on the road. I haven't tried them off road yet but a lot of people seem to be getting them here and I see a lot of Disco's with them fitted.
I was pretty impressed with the standard Michelin 4x4 tyre that was standard on the disco. They seemed to go better than you would think. My Old man still gets them for his Disco. He had a 110 county years ago that he put Michelins (BFG AT style) on. They were also a great tyre.
The owner of the Pink Roadhouse at Oodnadatta swears that the major cause of tyre failure on the Track is overinflation. He has a little leaflet with recommended pressures. Around 24-28lbs for most vehicles.Quote:
Originally Posted by cartm58
I don't now how true this is but I was told by a tyre dealer that coopers and mickey thompsons are from the same factory and mt's are cheaper.I had a cooper come apart on me,first time ever. Pat
According to a Q I asked on a US based board once, Cooper make quite a few off brand tyres including some of the Mickeys and Pro Comp.Quote:
Originally Posted by PAT303
Exactly opposite experience here :DQuote:
Originally Posted by dm_td5
The Cooper ST's chipped (not badly) and developed micro cracks all around the sidewalls a week after they were fitted. It never eventuated to anything, but it was disconcerting as they were on SWMBO's Patrol and she travels some pretty long miles alone on crappy country roads.
The second set of BFG AT's are on there now and we easily exceeded the milage of the Coopers with zero punctures thus far.
The ST's are better in mud, the self cleaning for such a closed tread tyre when you get a bit of wheel spin going was pretty good, and I feel the ST's hung on better and were more drivable in gravel, but for what she does the AT's have been a better tyre so far, and they are cheaper.
I'm surprised jaspers Michelins had the steel belt sidewalls as my old XZL's only had a polyester/nylon sidewall. I thought that the first size in the XZL range to have a steel belt was the 8.25/R16 ??
Anyway, that tyre can't be compared to a BFG AT, as the BFG whilst rated an LT tyre is pretty soft compared to an XZL.