re:post ID13494 BFG A/T KO splits

Interesting.

My patrol tyre placard says to put 30psi in the front of my 10R15 (31x10.5x15) tyres (which I suppose in that case you would consider 'low') - makes you wonder whose pressure recommendations you should follow then - the car or tyre manufacturers... but then the tyre manufacturers dont really put out anything but maximum pressure warnings - and the guys at the tyre shop always pump my fronts right up (55psi) because I dont have power steering...

If only there were auto road-sensing, load, inflating, deflating tyres!

Dave.

I wouldn't take that. Everytime I get a wheel alignment, service or any other bugger touchs my car, they insist on lowering my trye pressures to 32psi!! It's what the pacard says, but it's still annoying. If the placard says it's ok then it's ok!
(even if we all know it's not) am I confusing anyone yet??
But what a load of garbage. I know a well experienced tourer, 4wder who quite frequently runs his BFG AT's at 10psi on beachs and dunes with a loaded up 79sereis cruiser, if he aint having problems, either should you!
I run my Bridgstones (which are very long in the tooth I might add) at 12psi all the time, and no problems like you have described...
I'm keep changing my mind regarding what tryes to go to next after storey after storey about coopesr BFG's?? Looks like I might be getting another set of Bridgstone DD's. LOL

Hi Stephen,

I too had problems with my BFG A/T KO's, hence my decision to try the Cooper ST's when i got my Patrol. Anyway, where are your tyres made? I have found the non-USA made BFG's are normally the culprit.

I had BFG's on my 80 series for many years (USA made) and was happy until I changed to the KO's. The issue I had was the steel belts protruding from the tread on the carcass. By that I mean it looked like the tyre had been spiked from the inside and a few steel wires were sticking out between the tread blocks near the edge.

These tyres rarely saw anything below 30 PSI and only once at 20 PSI for a very short distance. Was told by the tyre rep I was running on low pressures for too long and that the stiff sidewall had caused the steel belts to fail and pierce the tread !!! Tread was about 60-70% remaining (~20,000km old) and was very disappointed with the KO's.

But for every bad story about the BFG's, there are plenty of good stories. Same as for Coopers. I have now tired them both (only 17,000km on Coopers though) and so far prefer the Coopers IMHO. But every man and his dog has a different opinion on tyres and so much depends on where you go and what you do.

Cheers

Captain

Evening Stephen.

I had a set of BFG A/T's that after 30000kms' developed numerous side wall splits on the inside walls.

They ran from the bead to the tread at right angles to the bead.

They occurred in not one tyre but all four which ultimately caused a major blowout of a rear inside wall.

I had no punctures prior to this and they were flogged over some of the roughest roads to be found in SA and NSW.

They were on my Troopy (3.5Tonne) and I always ran them at 45psi rear and 36psi front, except for a trip along the QAA and K1 lines of the Simpson desert prior to the said blowout. I lowered them to 18psi on the QAA line only.

I was at that time running the original split rims and tubes and I am now of the opinion that the low presure and split rims were the root cause of the degradation of the sidewalls. I can't remember if they were KO's or not.

Anyway I am now running COOPER ST's and have just done the Simpson West to East where the presure only went below 30psi once (Little Red) and I maintain around the 40psi mark on the bitumen. There has ben no sidewall splits or splitting anywhere. on these tyres to date.

So it remains to be seen how they go in the future. So far so good.

Regards

Ken Robinson

I mentioned to the tyre rep about the Jackaroo tyre pressure plackard and he said these pressures are too low and are meant for comfort.How do do you know the correct pressures.You can have a guess,maybe look at the tyre bag or the wear pattern and when the tyre wears uneven you know the pressures not right.For dirt track travel the opinion is to lower the pressures to enable the tyres to travel over small boulders without any damage and to cushion some of the corregations but over time these lower pressures,according to the tyre rep will cause the case problems I have.Whats the answer.Use any tires bar BFG.I hav'nt had these problems with other tyres like this in 30 years of off roading.

SK,

Have been running BFG AT's since buying our 80 series, 2nd hand, nearly 6 years ago. Now using KO's which don't seem too diferent to me, except for the rim protector.

Have been running at 32 front & rear all that time, with no dramas. Might kick the rear up to 36 when loaded. Normally we are running 166L rear tank, plus Black Widow _Affordable_Storage_Drawers.aspx, so it's no light weight.

Reside in west Qld, so don't have luxury of a lot of bitumen. Have NEVER had a blowout, and only a couple of punctures. Only problem is they don't like rock, and tread gets chewed up a bit on road to town. No sidewall cracks either.

Just checked the tyres, they are made in USA.

Hooroo...

This is directed to good old Bob Y in Qld.

Firstly Bob I have say no! I am not one one of those stuffing up the sand dunes for guys like you, by not lowering my pressures beneath 30psi when there is no reason to.

The common line of thought from all tyre reps and people who actually get out and 4WD all different types of roads in different conditions, is that you set your pressures to suit the conditions of the day.

Now thats what I do Bob and have done all my life on a variance of bush roads from where I grew up in the goldfields of WA to the super highways and desert tracks of today.

My first trip over the QAA line saw me lower the pressures to 18psi on the advice of locals, this forum and others. The vehicles we travelled with thought it was excessive in the least and were running 25 -30psi themselves. Everybody cruised the dunes no dramas. The only problem was me with sidewall splits.

So guess what Bob, this time it was 25psi front and 30psi rear until little red at an average of 10-15kph across the French line, no dramas with the tyres or dune chopping and no side wall splitting either.

Oh! must reiterate - I was on COOPER ST's this time.

It seems to me Stephen, that if you question BFG'S on this forum, the BFG-ites who forgot to take their pills in the morning come from nowhere.

Yes Bob I had a set of BFG'S the first time on the QAA

Yes! they were excellent until the sidewall splitting issue.

Yes! it scared the sh$t out of me when one had a blowout at a 100kph on bitumen near Renmark.

No! I don't want it to happen again

So for the time being the COOPERS are getting a go.

Who knows, next time it could be Hankooks, Goodyears etc etc.

One thing I do know is that tyres with LT on them mean they are light truck tyres which are designed to carry heavy loads at higher than usual pressures.

Try and operate them like passenger car tyres and you are in for an interesting time.

Have a nice weekend

Ken Robinson

I have BFG KO 225/75 16 on my standard Rodeo rims. Only ever had one flat at Double Island in Qld which was caused by having 20psi and making a sharp RH turn. No actual puncture just broke the bead.

50 000kms and no trouble.

Utemad.