jono replied:

G'day John...I also have a 4.8 Patrol and did Cape York via Birdsville and Strez return this year fron Adelaide,doing 13,000k on the origonal rubber. Wear does seem to be a problem however did not have a single puncture and did plenty of gibber driving with a full load. I think(or hope ) the reason for that was dropping the tyre pressure and speed 20%.
Apart from wear the tyres were excellent on and off bitumen..I will get about 60 thou out of them by rotating 6..which is not good.
I will be looking at BFG's or Coopers next. Can't help you with the 265 vs 275 query.
By the way how are you finding the big brute??

regards JR

Truckster replied:

Read a few other posts on the new BFG and problems with softer walls and compounds... Not lasting anywhere near as long as the pre-KO's..

Coopers are probably a better solution.

Kelly Green replied:

Go the Cooper ST a no contest

Michael replied:

Hi there John

I did trip up through the middle and out through Isa and back to sydney, I blew the sidewalls out of 2 tyres(i took 2 spares) not a good feeling out there with no spare. I Didn't know until after the first tyre went that i should have reduced the pressures, but the second one went with 22psi in it. The Duelers are really only a set of comfy slippers only good for the road. My first 275 BF All Terrain were fantastic, got 120,000 kms out of them with more to go but were getting a bit out of round. I tried to get another set of pre 'ko's' but missed out,
some people were saying that the new compounds were too soft and wore prematurely.Ihave covered 80,000 kms so far and i'm sure that they will achieve the same as the last set. The slightly taller tyres should be better for fuel comsumption and no problems with slightly taller gears as you have plenty of power from that big engine. I run a gu 4.2 turbo with no probs. Hope this is helpful . Regards Michael.

Member - Ray replied:

Same old Bridgestone Dueller problem.Complete rubbish product and Nissan should be ashamed of themselves regarding this and all their other after sales service.Go for the Cooper ST and you will not be sorry.

kezza replied:

Yeah woodsy,
Try this link it will give you enough info re heights width and comparative rotations so you can work out your gearing and speedo - with a standard gu both tyres are fine
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/assets/pdf/all_terrain_ta_kd.pdf


This debate seems to drag on and stuff gets repeated 'ad infinitum'.
Personally Ive had bridgestones and goodyears go belly up literally and had em sliding all over the place in the wet especially once worn.
I think the new compounds in the bfg have some good points re wear and grip Im about 26,000 ks into some M/T km's and 75,000 into some A/T ko's will get past 80,000 with both and still have servicable tread.
We actually live and work in the bush and use them for what they were intended and then some, price wise and versatility I like em but Im always open to suggestion. Coopers dont always have the sizes you want, aggressive tread pattern matters only a small percentage of your life (but we are in a drought) so do your homework and listen to the people who actually are seriously running and using the tyres - usually they are too busy or having too much fun to bother on the net.

have fun
kezza

Goodsy replied:

Are the "new" bfg ot's the same as the old bfg in tyre wear. Got 90000Km's out my last set of bfg m/t 33's. will but coopers if not.

Member - John replied:

Hi again!

Thank you for the replies and suggestions.
I previously had BFG All Terrain T/A on my GQ and was happy. The Dueler AT's came with the new GU and I decided to leave them on and replace them when worn out. I didn't realise how bad an offroad tyre they were. Tales from the tyre people who repaired tyres for me on this last trip confirmed my opinion that the Duelers are not a tyre for harsh conditions. I will take this up with Nissan but expect no joy (typical Nissan attitude).

Jono, I am generally happy with the 4.8P auto GU, plenty of guts and comfy. On this trip 9000+ km I averaged 19l/100km. This was well laden inside and also with a 4' pack rack containing 2 tables, 3 chairs, barbeque pole, pan etc, and 4 swags. Stuck up from the roof about 700mm so was quite an effective wind anchor. Best consumption on highway at 100k/hr was about 17l/100k with up to 25l/100k in bulldust section between Urandangi and Tobermorey. Happy with that but will look into improving with maybe extractors and 'chip' in the future.

1 problem that need attention
Cruise control surges. Will drop down to 4th when a slight hill arrives (that is normal) but will then slam down to 3rd and heavily accelarate back up to set speed. This is also quite disconcerting when you are into a corner on the highway. FTG Nissan claim no knowledge of this until I advised that Kittle Nissan in Alice Springs told me that it was a gazetted? notification from Nissan and that the fix was a cruise control ECU chip change (I think). Suddenly FTG Nissan 'remembered' something about this. Have asked for rectification at next service next week.

Again, thank you all for your help.

Happy 4 wheeling.

Woodsy

Rick replied:

Tyres.......punctures.......it always happens to me .........blew the sidewalls.....a bloke I know reckons that.......Fella in the tyre joint said.........I had no flatties in 50,000 km........I bought brand XYZ and they are rubbish.....Nissan out to be ashamed.......

It's kinda repetitive isn't it?

The only solution I know is to stay at home!

I won't go through all my experiences, but suffice it to say that I am trying Toyo A/T Open Country 8 ply (Opats) in 165/75 R 16 on the GU Patrol. They have performed fine on the black top, Goog's track & the Flinders Ranges, including some rough track work. Will see how they go at Robe at Xmas, but the tread pattern looks that it will be fine on sand. This is the third set of tyres in 70,000 km. But I only get punctures when driving on rough tracks etc. Last year going up the old Ghan line between Finke & the Alice, our two vehicles had punctures in the tread area from the old railway dogs lying everywhere. Funny that we didn't get any punctures on the black top going back south, trying to avoid being the Peter Falconnio murderer's 2nd victim.


Cheers

Rick

PS Truckster - good luck with the Vic 4wd election campaign . Call on us South Aussies if you need support.