Bridgestone D694 and D 693 tyres

There is a report on the new D694 in last months issue of 4WD Action monthly

Gone Bush, I am currently running D694 in 265/75 on LC100, came of my GU III, now done 100 000km+ with about 20 000km to go. Noisy as ....... but who can complain. Lots of bitumen travel and towing our camper, equally heaps of dirt as well. Very happy and trust them in wet, dry and dirt still. Made in OZ as they are LT (an issue back then and still will be), next tyre choice will be exactly the same, so far damn good value.

Hagar

I will put nothing but 693s on my car as they are the stronger Oz made tyre, I would not put a 694 near my car ever.

Cheers Steve.

gone bush

There have been some informative posts on this subject in the past - would be worth checking those too, because I am doubtful about some of the info here (with respect). I am certain 693 no longer made now (chap in our club works at the Oz factory and talked about it). Similarly I am pretty sure 694 now made here.

My 694 LT's are Japanese made - initially I was worried about that knowing the jap 693's were rubbish. Remember also you could only get 693 LT's from Oz so again the comparisons being made here are suspect. You havent mentioned whether tyres you are looking at are LT's so be sure you're comparing apples with apples.

In terms of wear, performance, and no problems out bush (only use my 694's for trips) I can only be complimentary of mine. The one thing I dont like about them is that they 'bag' a lot, which clearly exposes side walls.

best wishes
JD

My understanding was that there were Australian made 694s available!

We have the on the Family Jeep Cherokee and have been very happy with them.

The company car has Dueler 673s

OK I'm learning all the time.

The Bridgestone website has the letters LT after some tyres and not others.

It's not after any of the 17" tyres whether D693 or 4.

Can anyone explain the significance of LT (I know it stands for Light Truck)?

cheers

Gone Bush,

I had D694's on my 100 series and had plenty of issues. Ran correct pressures for the road conditions. My conclusion was that the cruiser was too heavy for them.

I have used D693's on a Pajero and they were OK.

I had 693s on my old NK Pajero (235/15") and found that they wore out very quickly and were prone to punctures unless you were very careful. To get the best life out of them I had to constantly rotate them.

I have 694s on my NP and apart from getting a bit noisy as they get older, they have performed particularly well in sand and dirt and are wearing well at the moment. I've done about 30k on the current set without any really noticeable decrease in tyre depth. Only one puncture in nearly 90,000 kms of driving over some quite extreme roads. I have to agree about the bagging though.

I don't know where either tyre was made.

Hi Gone Bush
The D694 on my Prado are Australian Made 265/65R17 and have a rating of 112S. Our local Bridgestone dealer said they are having very good feedback in our area with people using these tyres.

Cheers

Stephen

Had the 694s on the 80series in 31"x10.5x15" ,,definitely NOT a LT construction tyre ,, great on road and sand and in the wet when new to 1/2 worn, pretty useless in mud ,, quiet / road noise is subjective [ my new Maxxis Bighorn are actually quieter in my opinion] got 45,000 out of the 694s with about 1/3 tread left.

I had a set of D694's (made in Japan) which gave me a lifespan of 75,000 k's.

When I chose to replace them, I liked the look of the D693 pattern better. I booked in to get the tyres done at a local Bridgestone Dealer and when I arrived, they told me the BS warehouse would not release any more of the 245/70R16's as they were being "kept" for emergency vehicles. (Rodeo's I assume).

I politely told the manager I would take my business elsewhere as I wanted the 693 pattern. After some ringing around, he found another dealer with a set and they were eventually installed a couple of days later.

Now, the information I was told by the dealer, was that the 693 pattern tyres (at least in the 245/70R16 size) were now only made in Japan and would no longer be imported to Oz.

The D694 pattern tyres were made in Australia for the Australian market and while they were supposed to be a good tyre, they had not been "proven in the field" at the time and thus the Emergency services that used that size tyre wished to continue with the D693 pattern while it was available and until the D694 had been in use for a while longer.

I am getting a good run out of the D693's (like I did with the original D694's) but I just liked the look of the more "aggressive" tread pattern on the D693's.

This is about as accurate a report as I can give, as explained to me by the Bridgestone dealership and from my own experience.

The D693's are made in Japan and were to be no longer imported to Australia (again, at least in the 245/70R16 size)

The D694's are made in Australia for Australian use. I am unaware if they are also exported, or whether BS Japan also produce the 694 in the 245/70R16 size for use in other countries.

Oh and I was also advised that the tyre carcase is identical for both the 693 and 694. Only the tread compound and pattern differs.

As far as other tyre sizes go in both the 693 and 694 pattern, I have absolutely no idea at all:-))

From what I can ascertain..The Aussie 693 are a better compound than the Jap..
and in the 694 the Jap compound is better than the Aussie..
Go figure ???
When I wanted a set of Aussie 693s a couple of years back- they had to get them in from Japan !!!!!

Sorry, should have been a reply..............


Have 694 LTs on the 100 Series. Done approximately 35000 kms.

No punctures, wear well, very quiet on the road, good in the wet, driven on a number of surfaces from sand to rocky bush tracks. Run 40 psi on the bitumen (as per Bridgestone recommendations) and vary pressures according to track conditions when off the bitumen.

I would definitely consider another set in the future.

Regards,

Paul

5 years of D693s and got my first flat last week - very happy :-)

Local bloke as D694's and while wearing well get lots of "chips"

D693's can be Aussie or jap made - check the sidewall

Not sure on the D694's yet

I have a set of D693 ( aussie made) on my bravo and have done 35000 ks with no problems. No great wear at this stage and should get eighty thousand plus out of them.
I would certainly recommend them as a all round on road off road tyre.

Have been running Bridgestones sinse day one mate and never ever had a problem with them as much as any other brand. I live inthe Kimberleys and we would have to have the worst bitumen roads in Australia and the Gibb River Road is my favourite road, (not the entire thing just the fishing and camping spots close to home) and i have only ever seen one flat tyre (due to following the Grader doing its first cut through some pretty rough and demanding country and with over inflated tyres) which was on a mates car not mine. All my mates have them and we easily get 80,000 - 90,000kms out of them and thats with regular bush driving. I dont like Coopers at all as i punctured 3 tyres in one day (Father in Laws Prado, whoops) on another dirt road which was as smooth as bitumen. And also in one weekend some other friends did 3 Goodyear Wranglers in one day and then another the next day on two seperate vehicles. Never ever have i ever been so happy with a certain brand of anything. Dont believe anything that Coopers say it cause believe me they are shocking tyres.