Western 4WDriver tyre comparison

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

Just got the latest Western 4WDriver magazine and it contains a story about a trip to the Ernest Giles Range, north of the Great Central Road near Cosmo Newberry. It’s written by Phil Bianchi, a well known local 4wdriver and historian.

At the end of the article he discusses tyre performance during the trip to this remote area. The five vehicles involved all had different brands, including BFG ATs, Cooper STTs, Mickey Thompson ATZs, Bridgestone’s and Goodyear Wrangler Kevlar MTRs. All vehicles had two spares.

The lead vehicle with Goodyear’s suffered flats in two tyres, the Mickey Thompsons had fifteen punctures and ran out of serviceable wheels, the BFGs had no flats and the Coopers had “many”, with one tyre needing six plugs. The Bridgestone’s also suffered many flats but were able to be driven back to Perth without any problems.

One of the Mickey Thompsons had to have a tube inserted and all were amazed at how thin the sidewall was. They joked about it being the thickness of a bicycle tyre.

At the end of the article the editor has his say, stating that anyone who ventured into this type of country on standard all terrains is guilty of “absolute folly”. His solution, “rock hard rag tyres or radials between 12 and 16 ply with smooth sidewalls on split rims and heavy duty tubes”.

Not sure how practical is would be to be using splits on a Prado, but makes me feel a little more confident about my BFGs and thought others may find it interesting.

[Trekrider Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Trekrider]

Is that the Autumn 2013 issue (86th Edition)?

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

Is that the Autumn 2013 issue (86th Edition)?

Thats the one, havent read the associated article, just found the discussion about tyres at the end interesting.

[Trekrider Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Trekrider]

Thats the one, havent read the associated article, just found the discussion about tyres at the end interesting.

OK, thanks - I will have to keep a look out for it in the newsagents.

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

Did a few trips in my 80 series cruiser, every state but not W.A., over some years.

Had a few punctures with non-tubed tyres and rims, then tried with the split rims and narrower tyres, Dunlop Roadgrippers, with tubes.

The Korean brand tubes, supplied with the tyres, actually bonded onto the inside of the tyres and all eventually split, would assume the heat was too much for them. The tubes stuck on the tyres as if they would glued on.

I had 4 Bridgestone spare tubes, and eventually replaced each split Korean tube with a Bridgestone tube. Never had a problem after that.

Found that it was much easier to remove a tyre from a split rim on the side of the road and replace a tube, than having to remove and replace a non-tubed tyre on a standard rim, use the tyre pliers, etc, etc.

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

That area is in my stomping grounds. Our work troopies run the Mickey Ts and suffer many punctures. The main reason is that they are too lazy to deflate the tyres for the longer runs on the major roads. When they venture into the rough the tyres don't last long at all. I have covered much of this area on my own BFGs without a single problem. My work car runs the Bridgey 697s and we get the occasional flat mostly due to rocks puncturing the sidewall. When you drive through these big deserts the sandy tracks are covered in sharp spikey vegetation that will easily puncture those soft sidewalls or those tyres with high pressures. We had a search mission where we did 12 tyres on 3 troopies in less than 10km. The guys were pushing through the desert to a dry salt lake, there were no roads or tracks. Of course you will do tyres in this scenario regardless of brand.