Tyres for around Australia trip

Go for AT tyres. On most dirt roads HT will be ok until you get into loose gravel edges and corners where they tend to skate a bit, no matter what speed you are doing.

I go with MT tyres, for the odd times, like the cape last year when they come into their own, and the times on our 6 month trip when we had rain on dirt roads.

If you can run the same tyres on van and vehicle, gives you more spares.

You could walk around Australia in business shoes, but walking boots would be a better choice. Highway tyres are great for tar roads and ok on most decent gravel roads. Some poorer dirt roads have sharp rocks that will cut them good. The garages out in the centre do well out of tyres and tyre repairs, plus most of the main dirt tracks are quite littered with old tyres off to the side. It depends on what actual roads you are going to travel.

Hi Sanantone

We are just back from our round Australia trip including Cape York and Bungle Bungles using ATR tyres and never had a flat, but did change tyre pressure regularly.

Cheers and enjoy your trip.

Rob.

Hi Tony,
As others have suggested, I'd also recommend AT's. They'll be better for the dirt road conditions, and more resistant to punctures by sharp rocks and stones. The extra tread depth of new tyres will also help resist punctures. Adjust your speed and tyre pressures for the conditions and you'll be fine. Hope you have a great trip.

AT tyres are the first pre-requisite, but I would also add Light Truck to that definition. Stiffer side walls and generally better tread depth.

Hi Tony

30000km no matter what you choose I recommend a TPMS, it will be a fuel saver and tyre saver on the trip.



Regards

Derek from ABR

We put a new set of BFG A/T's on when doing the big lap.

Did 51,000k and never had a puncture even Did some sand tracks and a bit of offroad and tread was still legal when I sold vehicle after 65000k on them.

Tony
I've not done "the big lap" but do 40 000km pa, that pleasure awaits me but I do travel predominantly rural highways with dirt roads.
Assuming you are going to be towing that caravan, I think it would be wise to shoe everything with some LT (Light Truck) AT tyres. Travelling 30 000km on bitumen in a vehicle lightly loaded is one thing, doing it with a decent load and some dirt/ gravel is another.
I find that some HT tyres (eg the Yokos which Mitsubishi put on our last 3 Pajeros) are absolute nightmares on dirt/gravel roads, soft compound suffers numerous punctures through stones/sharp gravel.
Store your current HT tyres, they will still be there when you get back. AT tyres have more tread depth, you get more kms out of them.

The only downside will be the cost of the double fitting and the firmer slightly noiser ride.

Mark

Definitely upgrade to at least A/T tyres for peace of mine I've had BFG A/T on 2 vehicles they give good grip on and off road and will last a long time. I've also had Kumho KL78 A/T on 2 different vehicles and I'm running them on my twin cab Nissan Patrol at the moment which weighs around 2.6 ton empty. They have 83,000 km on them and they have about 6 mm of tread left so they also will last a long time and are good for general driving on and off road. But in comparing the 2 the BFG''s are a bit better off road in mud and rocky terrain because they have a more aggressive grip pattern in saying that I would recommend either one of these brands for the type of driving you'll be doing.