Tyre options and recommendations

[jhiace Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jhiace]

Hey guys,

The time has come for me to put some new shoes on the Prado and I'm a little torn.

I don't do a lot of off road work with the Prado but i do own a horse and where my horse is does involve driving off the beaten track to a certain extent and when it's wet it is extremely slippery and boggy. On my old Hilux i was running 31" Maxxis Bighorn 764 mud tyres, I loved the tyres and they performed really well off road and until the Lux became a pancake they were wearing extremely well.. Though they were a little noisy.

So I'm unsure what to do on the Prado, I don't know if the limited off roading i do warrants muddies or whether i should just get A/T but I'm yet to find a decent looking (grippy) A/T that I'd rely on off road. I mainly use the Prado for touring and am planning a trip to the Alice in about 13 months so I am preparing it for that. The Hilux had a winch and was off road a lot but in the Prado there is no winch and i am going to buy a set of TREDS (going these over maxtrax as they come in the length i need to fit in my rear drawers) so what i want to be sure is that when i go off road that i can still pretty much get through/out of most things with decent tyres and the TREDS.

I am unsure of whether to go with the Maxxis Bighorns again or the Kumho KL71 muddies, Both have a good pattern and I have only heard good things about them. I am not interested in going with Coopers or Mickey Thompson as they are a little over rated in my opinion. I have been quoted for both of these tyres $295 each fitted in balanced in a 265/70/R17 but I am also unsure about going the 265/70 or 265/65 which is the standard. Has anyone with the V6 petrol put the 265/70 series tyres on and found much difference in fuel economy and performance?

So the bottom line is what would you guys recommend in both a tyre size/type and brand?

(Hope this made sense)

[jhiace Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jhiace]

No one has bought tyres for their prado?

[diesel69em Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close diesel69em]

Hi jhiace

You will probably get a better response if you post in Tyres/Wheels in the appropriate model threads (http://www.pradopoint.com/forumdispl...s-(120-Series) or http://www.pradopoint.com/forumdispl...s-(150-Series) )

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

No one has bought tyres for their prado?

Loads of people have, there are dozens of threads of almost every convievable brand and size of tyre. The reeality of what size and brand to get is that 20 different people will give you 20 different opinions, which wont help you much.

From your description it sounds like you fall right into the AT style of tyre.

Personally I run 265/70/17 BFG AT's and am about to replace them with exactly the same thing as I can not find a reason to change.

265/65/17
275/65/17
265/70/17 are all pretty common options with little of no issues other than possible legal issues depending on you state.

Less common and could present more issues are

275/70/17
285/70/17

Legality, gearing, scrubbing are all possible problems with those sizes.

Any of the good AT tyres should suit your needs, just pick the one that you like the most and go for it.

Cheers Andrew

[baggs71 Inactive member. Find all posts View Profile Close baggs71]

Ive got kumho K61......Awesome offroad tyre and dead set quiet...great for beach...been up the OOD and Strez tracks now and Gammon ranges without too much damage to the trye...as for mud i regulary have fun down here in dairy paddocks and mud pans and never come to stop....maybe in the most muddiest rutted conditions then a muddie will still falter but is a better choice.....for your driving...(i tow a horse float too) ...i would be happy to get K61 or MT STZ....both are aggressive AT tyres but the Kumho has a centre line for hwy travel etc....if your after 60-80,000 klm from a set of tyres your limited to a possible tread depth of around 14mm-16mm....as for MT STZ they are around 14mm...
the kumho is around 9mm.....

[Guest Close Guest]

The ATZ 4 rib and S/T Maxx is a cross between an AT and muddie. Might be useful when you need it with the horse. Won't be as noisy as the muddie. It'll be more expensive than the Bighorns though. I think the Federal Couragia is equivalent in pricing with the Bighorns.

[mackayvx Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close mackayvx]

I remember something about the BFG AT being the most popular tyre on the last GTG...
I can't fault mine.
After having Max is bighorns before... All I can say is never again.
Too noisy, too unbalanced, too uncomfortable.
I doubt you would find anyone that's not happy with BFG AT's.

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Another vote for BFG AT

[Heath74 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Heath74]

I've got mates that have had both the Kuhmo and the Maxxis, both very happy. If you were happy with the maxxis on your lux, then why not go again?

Based on you description, I would have thought an AT would suit? The BFG is tried and tested here.

As cheaper option another relatively aggressive AT is the Maxxis, really deep tread pattern, I've got them on my camper, cant think of the name?

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Briefly:
I had kl71. I won't buy them again. You don't want to be driving on these all the time.
Sounds like you need 265/70-17 MT atz4ribs. If it wasn't so muddy I would have reccomended STZ's instead.
If you don't want MT or Coopers then Bfg a/t. But then if it that muddy boggy you need muddies so get bfg km2.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

I ran BFG A/Ts on both the 90 and 120 as well as the things I had before that. No complaints other than they get slippery in the wet when they get near the end of their lives and well worn and in my experience you throw them out before you wear them out. I went with Pirelli Scorpian ATRs for the 150 (which wont be any use to you) just for a change and also because the BFGs weren't available at a decent price (pretty much no stock at the time). I also looked at the Bridgestone 697s and Yokohama ATRs but went with the Pirellis because I fitted them to the ute last year and they performed well last Christmas and that is the sort of driving we normally do. I also got 5 Pirellis for less than $800 changeover when I picked up the 150 which was way less than the other options.

In muddy conditions the BFG A/Ts are pretty good for an all terrain tyre but if you deal with mud on a regular basis you really need a mud tyre. I ahve heard complaints about the KM2s being too soft in the sidewall and prone to staking and BFG are working on a revised ply set up. No idea if this is correct or not just tyre talk from a guy who punched a big hole through the side of one of his KM2s.

It is all a compromise. Highway tyres are good for that and sand and maybe the odd fire trail. Start to get harder terrain and you need to go for an All Terrain tyre which is usually heavier and noisier. And then if you are doing harder terrain and deep mud then the next step is a dedicated mud tyre which again is less comfortable on the road, can wear badly on hard surfaces but is invaluable in the slop.

Work out how much of each you do. I will say though that the modern muddies are a much better compromise that those of years ago which really noisy and tore to pieces if you did extended travelling at 100kph.

I am actually thinking about getting some tougher tyres for the 150 as play tyres given the road orientation of the Pirellis though as I said they did fine on the ute which has very limited articulation so they are probably a more capable tyre than they look.

Oh and for the record I have Maxxis (not muddies) on another ute (fitted when I bought it) and they are lethal in the wet so I wouldn't go there again. And I had micro cracking in some early Cooper ATRs so likewise wouldn't use them but lots have had good experiences with more recent Coopers.

[CaLLaN 52 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close CaLLaN 52]

Hi,

I have had 4 sets of Cooper ST's & now have the ST Maxx on my 120 D4D, deepest tread & most aggressive of the AT type tyres, 1st ST's use to suffer from chipping, but now sorted, IMO best all terrain you can buy.

Cheers

Steve J

[caffeine Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close caffeine]

I've had the ST Maxx on my 120 for almost a year now and they are very good on and off road. Great traction on wet road and as long as you are not in thick clay they do very well. Strong side walls too but the bag out nicely. Very happy with them. By the way I've had BFG Muddies and Allterains on my previous vehicles.
The only thing I would have liked was a 65 profile tyre.
Cheers
Evan.

[bundyk Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bundyk]

I have a set of Maxxis AT-771's on my Pajero. They are a great tyre, they grip well in wet and dry on road conditions, have a fairly deep and aggressive tread pattern and are quiet. They also perform quite well off road as well. I dont actively go seeking mud, but the bits I have come across they have done alright for themselves. I normally go bush on fire trails etc and they handle the tracks well.

I had Bridgestone 694's before them and the Maxxis perform better than the Bridgies. Cost $220 a corner, so cheaper as well.

[jhiace Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jhiace]

I have narrowed my search down to two... Mickey Thompson ATZ 4 rib and Maxxis Bighorn 764 MT.

I am going to go with the 265/70/17 size,

I can get the Maxxis for $275 each and the Mickey for $316 each. I'm leaning towards the Mickey because of the smallish amount of off road I am currently doing and with the Atz 4 still being aggressive I think it will be my more suited option.

However, when you look at the price difference it's hard to go past the Maxxis knowing they are a good tyre on and off road, they are just noisy on road!