Tyres for Little Sandy Desert

Mick All tyres are hard to get on and off rims what I did is take the wheel of my truck and get the tyre plyer set and practice taking the tyre of and then put it back on again.
The first time I did it it took 2.5 hours from go to wo. I know thats a long time but now I can do it in about 45mins from go to wo.
Dont try practicing on the same tyre each time because the bead will have then de cracked and thats cheating.
Another thing I found was read the instructions that come with the kit as my wife said thats why they put them in the kit.

All the best
Eric

www.capeyorkconnections.com.auCape York Connections

Mike

A friend of mine tried a set of Coppers only lasted about 1800 klm that was only one trip.( across Australia and back) He had above average puntures compared to the rest of the convoy. He has now gone back to BFG, I am sure he is running 16x8 rims and has no problem obtaining a tyre to fit. If you are not running split rims tubes are not required. I have crossed the Simpson a few times now and have had no problems running 32x11.5x15 at about 20psi.

Wayne

Did the Simpson 2 years ago on 30x9.5's with fairly light sidewalls on about 20psi fairly lightly laden, via the French Line. Not a nick for the whole trip.
Think your tour leader is a bit picky or trying to cover every thing that could happen but you can NEVER be 100%.

Hi Mike... Sounds like your trip leader needs to settle down a bit....He sounds a little picky....I run 6ply tyres and in 60,000kms have only had one flat because i wasnt watching a branch in a creek bed.....
10-ply tyres are harder to work with whilst changing...... I am sure one complete normal spare and 2 casings would see any trip out....
What tyres are you running?............___________________________________
Simpson trip 05/04 then turn left at Birdsville to Darwin via Lawn Hill etc
___________________________________

Mike,

I agrre with all your replies so far - particularly Eric's about practicing. Only thing I have to say different is to suggest "Beadbreaker" instead of"Tyrepliers" as it is much easier, simpler and quicker to use.

After only one or two practices you can have a tubeless tyre completely off a solid rim in about 20 mins.

Good luck and enjoy your trip.Cheers, Jim

"Lead, Follow.....or get out of the way!!"

funny aint it, some people SWEAR by Coopers and have 80,000+ klms fault free...
funny aint it, some people SWEAR by BFGs and have 80,000+ klms fault free...

then there are some that have 1800klms with squillion flats with Coopers.. Worst of the convoy
then there are some that have 1800klms with squillion flats with BFGs.. Worst of the convoy

Ive heard nothing good about BFG KM/KO's
Ive heard lots good about Coopers...
Ive heard little at all about Bridgestones

Do a search of the archives, there should only be 2093402389402940293402394 matches to this one...

Then there was the 4 cars in our club that did a trip with tires GIVEN to them by coopers to test on a remote trip, He had least flats of all of them. Theres another thread on it elsewhere.

Good Luck

Truckster,
Thanks for the reply . Actually I have never been on the forum before and am a bit overwhelmed by the response . It' great .
Mike

mike ...I run Toyo "open country".... have tried and beaten them on all sorts of terrain..........on a hilux with a load... just can't beat em. I think people get sort hung up over tyres... I've spoken to people who have been across simpsom desert, gibb river , anne bedall , etc and never even had a problem with tyres. I think a little touch of reality is needed. Even the worst tyre today is still "stacks" better than one made 20yrs ago....if ya know what I mean. Don,t let this bloke spook you...Uther

Mike,

Don't worry about getting new tyres unless they are worn out get a new trip leader!

Most tyres are OK for the desert out of the well known brands and as you will read everyone swears by their favorite and hate the others with a passion. Ther is no reason why a properly inflated tyre for the use it is getting should not get through pretty well unscathed.

The BFG's with a spare or two should have no problems with a safety seal kit should be plenty enough to get through most obstacles you will encounter plus care! lokk what you are driving on and avoid stakes etc.We have so little time to enjoy our land

Interesting.

There are a couple of people on this thread advocating practice with beadbreaker/tyre pliers while on another nearby thread (10437) people are talking about the damaging effect of tyre tools on the bead wire leading to safety issues and saying that tyres that are changed with tryepliers are now stuffed and only good for getting to the tyre dealer for a replacement.

StevenLPlaydoe GXL TD Manual
It's on order, Delivery in April '04.
This pic will have to do till then. Can't wait!!!

Hi mike
as David said get a new trip leader
Important to know where your wheels are as any tyre can be staked if you are not carefull.
Have used BFG A/T through Hattah, Sunset, Big Desert, Little Desert, Wyperfield, Nyngat & all the Border track, some of which have lots of stakes & mallee roots.
Yes we did have punctures myself 1 & a F250 TC had 2 it was much wider than anything else on the trip so only ever had 1 wheel on the track proper, most of the (12) vehicles had BFG A/T or M/T.
Run the apporiate (spelling) tyre pressure to suit the conditions and keep the weight down.

I wonder is this one of those tag alongs that goes flat out & uses 50PSI in tyres ?

Cheers
Prado TD Auto