Big Tyres: Pros and cons

Not Landrover , but big tyres.

I have Hankook 37x12.5R17 MT on my truck, these have done 45,000 km , I reckon I'll easily get another 35 out of them, at least half of that on dirt outback roads. The previous Federals lasted 35k.

These have changed my opinion of big tyres, the ground pressure is very low, its by far the most off road capable 4x4 Ive ever owned & they tyres are a hugely contributing factor to that.

Fuel economy suffered drastically running them at 25 psi on sealed roads, 22L/100km instead of 17L/100km at 35psi .

Have only rotated them once & wearing even, have to be happy about that.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...017/01/923.jpg

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Originally Posted by goingbush

Not Landrover , but big tyres.

I have Hankook 37x12.5R17 MT on my truck, these have done 45,000 km , I reckon I'll easily get another 35 out of them, at least half of that on dirt outback roads. The previous Federals lasted 35k.

These have changed my opinion of big tyres, the ground pressure is very low, its by far the most off road capable 4x4 Ive ever owned & they tyres are a hugely contributing factor to that.

Fuel economy suffered drastically running them at 25 psi on sealed roads, 22L/100km instead of 17L/100km at 35psi .

Have only rotated them once & wearing even, have to be happy about that.



https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...017/01/923.jpg

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That looks suspiciously like the underneath of a Iveco daily 4x4

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Originally Posted by blitz

That looks suspiciously like the underneath of a Iveco daily 4x4

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Your suspicions are correct. However I have ditched the 'sump guard', stabiliser bar & rotated the track rod for more GC so it looks a little different & slightly less busy under there than most.

Not wanting to highjack the post but got a photo? I'm really interested in getting one

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Originally Posted by blitz

Not wanting to highjack the post but got a photo? I'm really interested in getting one

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Don't get me wrong, its probably the most capable 4x4 you will ever drive, (modified or not) roomy , very quiet & comfortable. Capable of sitting way over the speed limit all day too . But they do have serious problems.

No1 Brakes , No2 Transfer case , No3 Iveco Dealers are useless,
- but with $10,000 you can upgrade the Brakes and I can fix the transfer Case , (Iveco don't care. )
plenty photos on my website
Iveco 4x4 55S17W Going Bush

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Originally Posted by goingbush

Your suspicions are correct. However I have ditched the 'sump guard', stabiliser bar & rotated the track rod for more GC so it looks a little different & slightly less busy under there than most.

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Why no sump protection?

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Originally Posted by Tombie

Why no sump protection?

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The sump is 600mm off the ground, but the 'sump guard' was about 300mm , Turning the track rod around, which was the lowest part at the front effectively raised it by about 100mm putting it in the way of the sump guard mounts, so off it came.

I can't see myself being blind enough running over anything that high but the sump does sit about 50mm below the level of the bottom of the bumper, it could be an issue if I ran into the back of a small car ( with the brakes being what they are)

Putting a cow catcher on the bottom of the bar is on my list of things to do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by goingbush

Don't get me wrong, its probably the most capable 4x4 you will ever drive, (modified or not) roomy , very quiet & comfortable. Capable of sitting way over the speed limit all day too . But they do have serious problems.

No1 Brakes , No2 Transfer case , No3 Iveco Dealers are useless,
- but with $10,000 you can upgrade the Brakes and I can fix the transfer Case , (Iveco don't care. )
plenty photos on my website
Iveco 4x4 55S17W Going Bush

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Yes I have been following several people with them, you included now that I know you write going bush.

I really like constant 4wd, I did read someone considering putting in the landrover LT330 which is certainly strong enough for it and turns it into a constant 4x4.

I have seen the replacement brake upgrades which look good, but I find it amazing that Iveco don't care.

Yep its true, Iveco don't care, they prefer to pay for recovery and replace $15,000 TC.s under warranty, than implement a simple fix , dosen't have to be a recall , can be done at service and without removing TC. I can do with the TC still in truck in about 4 hours. No wonder they turned over $ 380,000,000 last year but were in the list of 100 Australian companies to make zero taxable income.

BTW they are constant 4WD , with a 68-32 torque split & locking centre diff. 68% torque to rear 32% to front diff during normal driving.

Several Oka owners including myself gave serious thought to replacing our ageing vehicles with the Iveco Daily when Iveco in Dandenong bought two prototypes in a couple of years ago.

At first glance they seemed the goods, similar in size and capacity to the Oka but more 'refined'. The hard part was trying to get any sense out of the Iveco sales team but eventually several of us managed to get to actually see the vehicles, a single cab and a dual cab.

Whilst they were comfortable, quiet and mechanically impressive the general impression I got was of an overly computer controlled vehicle of adequate power but from a tiny 3 litre engine with its neck being rung. There were other annoying issues like the inability to effectively transfer fuel from tank to tank due to poor vehicle software and totally unsuitable wheel/tyre options being offered. The gear box/transfer setup seemed very impressive. A shame that production versions ended up with such a poor version of what is probably a very good gearbox/TC design.

Another negative for me was the parabolic springs. Whilst they should provide good suspension in most applications they have no natural dampening when compared to leaf springs and I thought they just wouldn't cut the mustard in fully loaded serious off road driving. I preferred the lower tech very long semi elliptical leaves of the Oka, not as refined but rock solid reliable and easily re configurable if need be.

Ultimately there were too many negatives in it for me and I decided not to go ahead but re furbish the Oka instead. With the inevitable TC failure problems and Iveco's uncaring attitude I reckon I dodged a bullet here.

One Oka owner sold off his immaculate LT Oka and bought an Iveco daily but has just recently on sold the Iveco and replaced it with a NT Oka. Whilst he enjoyed the comfort of the Iveco Daily he preferred the handling and sure footedness of the Oka. The 'sword of Damocles' transfer case hanging over his head was also an issue that led to this decision.


Deano :)