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Mike O on TOYO Tyres

I ran the TOYO OPAT LT for many years and was very happy with them. Now running Mickey Thompson ATZ 4 lug version, better grip than my OPATS had and 82000k

BF Goodrich M/T's. KM2's. Quiet on the bitumen, aggresive in the mud, very capable even in sand, good puncture resistance and balance up with minimal weight.

I've run mine as low as 6psi and still hung onto the rim really well. (No bead lockers).

I wouldn't buy anything but these ever.
Fab.

Out our way, station vehicles & " going into town 4x4s" ,= 50/50 shod with Toyo open country or Bridgestone duelers ,,, depends more on which of the two tyre outlets in "town" can fit you in / has current stock when you need them rather than brand bias ,,

Have a look at Kelly Safari TSR, their vehicles here are getting excellent results from them.

OBJ, there's probably not much difference between all available tyres, But you can bet your boots that people will swear by the tyres they presently have are marvelous and that all the rest are rubbish. This is part of a natural tendency by people to validate their personal choice. Part of that process is to put down opposing brands. The bigger the threat the opposing brand to their choice the greater the vehemence of the criticism. cf the irrational hatred of fandroids to anything Apple, or the passionate hatred of Cooper tyres by the BFGoodrich fan club. A sensible consumer will ignore the fanatics and make a reasoned choice based on experience.

Perhaps it's time to go back to the basics.

Remember when this was the standard in 4WD tyres,

The tyre we grew up with

You mention the word "outback" in both your name and your question. I'll assume you mean outback SA and WA gravel roads and tracks.

I travel SA outback roads several times a year - if you're looking at brands, the most common tyre I see out there are Bridgestone. Their D693, D694 and D697 A/T tyres have a good reputation for not chipping and decent tread puncture resistance and they float over sand OK. The Goodyear Silent Armour is pretty common too. The Cooper / Mickey T / Dick Septics etc are pretty much all on city vehicles with wild lifts that are setup for rockcrawling in the eastern states - While they will do the job, they sometimes chip out badly on SA outback roads and will cost you in extra fuel.

The muddies are great if you want a vehicle to look mean and "tuff"..... but realistically they are a waste of tread in outback SA. I've been on lots of trips that have been affected by rain, and in the end we all get through no matter what tyres are on the vehicle. And when the roads get muddy, they get shut and you shouldn't be on them. The people with muddies say how good they were while the people on grandtreks will just say "yeah".

And there are a lot of "cheap" tyres that do fine outback. The Federal Couragia A/T is a typical example - about 30% cheaper than the usual A/T... made in Taiwan... 3-ply sidewall on many sizes...quiet on the bitumen with good grip...and everything has a downside - you'll struggle to get more than 40k out of them. See plenty of the Nankang, Hercules and whatever else out there too.

And finally don't ever read a 4wd magazine - many of the big adverts are from tyres that seem to have a higher than normal puncture rate on outback tracks.

Phew.... that's another tyre thread....:-)