Tyres

Well Terry, you just might start WWIII but I can give nothing but praise for the 697 LT AT's fitted to my Colorado and Camper.
Have recently completed 10,500 kilometres from Adelaide to the Kimberley and including both the Gibb River Road and the Cape Leveque Road and no problems at all.
Not one puncture. The LT's have a stronger sidewall and performed faultlessly on the bitumen (36psi) and offroad (28psi front, 30psi rear),towing the Campomatic Camper virtually everywhere I went.

Have previously had 693's, then 694's but the 697's look good with a reasonably aggressive pattern that does not give a lot of unfavourable road noise. I guess you could say I am definitely a Bridgestone fan.

I cannot personally comment on the Coopers, but there have been knockers over time on this forum, with missing lugs and a warranty that doesn't give the owner full replacement for damaged tyres, just a reduction on the replacements.

You need to weigh up the cost difference on a full set which puts the Coopers at $130 extra.

I can't tell you yet how much life I will get out of my Dueler LT's but I have had them for 12 months or so and they still have plenty of tread depth on them.

Coopers advertise an 80,000k lifespan but does anyone really get this out of a set?

Over to the Cooper Owners!

Can of worms time.....

Tyre ratings are fickle... and not always as obvious as they may seem.

I have 2 sets of tyres, a set of Bridgestone 695's which are very good tyres, I run them at 32psi on a Toyota 100 series. I have had in the recent past Coopers STT's and had a good run out of them and currently run BFGoodrich KM2'S for off road work.

I have been informed that a higher load rating (like my 695's) may be 10 ply rating and 1500kgs, but that is at its maximum working pressure 80psi. Driving at a reasonable tyre pressure 32psi the load rating is a lot less.
A lower rated tyre may have 8 ply and 1360kgs, at its maximum working pressure of 60psi, but driven at 32psi.

But both tyres at 32psi the actual load rating will be close, leaning towards the Coopers for better strength at normal road pressures. Both are excellent tyres either way you will be happy.

As I said ... A can of worms....

Probably can't go too wrong either way but what may influence your decision is to check if either would be under warranty here in Australia should you need to call on it
Most likely they won't but worth checking

Check that your prices are for the same construction tyres, the Cooper price may be for passenger tyres not LT. Last time I checked they were $80 dearer.

I had Cooper LT/ST on the Prado for 90,000km with no flats and changed them for Bridgestone 697 AT/LT last year before going around OZ.

The tyres performed well with no flats and have 30,000km on them, I towed a 2 tonne offroad van across The Savanah Way, Lorrella Springs, GRR and Mitchell Falls, Cape Leveque etc.

I still have the Cooper tyres in the garage, and they have more tread left on them than the Bridgestones. I admit that the Bridgestones have had a harder life than the Coopers, but if I could get the Coopers for that price, I would buy them.

I think you should get a good run out of either tyre as long as you alter your tyre pressures and drive to the conditions.

check this link out and make your own mind up

bridgestone 697