Tyres for my PRADO

I asked the same question on 13-1-01 - have a look at the replies I got. I havent needed to replace tyres yet but I wasnt impressed with the sidewall damage on a virtually brand new Grandtrek after some not so rough off roading. Ill be keen to hear what you choose.

Gday John. I own a 96 Prado and run Hankook Dynamic A/T 265/75/R16. I have been off road quite bit since i put these on and have had no problems at all. There great on the bitumen as well. This is a good all round tyre.
Pete Rae

I have just replaced the original Grandtreks on my 100 series cruiser at 70000km. Like yours they had some tread left but were starting to slide in the wet. Theyd done a lot of off road kms with absolutely no puntures or problems so I spent a lot of time investigating whether I should fit something else. Eventually after much contradictory advice from probaly a dozen or so tyre "experts" I went against most of them and chose Pirelli Scorpion S/T. What a difference! No noise, superb steering response and 110Km/h through standing water without even feeling it. They have turned my diesel into a sports car, well nearly. But if Id known this earlier I would have binned the Grandtreks long ago. Best of Luck. Let me know how you go.

John

THE tyre manufacturer that many seasoned 4WD owners go back to is BF Goodrich. I have 2 sets of their tyres, BFG All Terrain KOs in a 265/75R16 size, fitted to a 16x8 rim. These tyres are great on road and I have seen them in my club off road, good unless muddy (they clog up) or very loose stone, dirt etc (cannot dig through like a mud terrain).

I also have for serious off road, BFG Mud Terrain tyres in a 285/75R16 size (1" greater in diameter) which do make some noise on road, but great off road traction.

As for wear, I think the All Terrains could suit you well, and there is a good variety of sizes available.

I have had other tyres, some worse than BFG, but none better, including Yokohama Roadies, Cooper LTs (not as good as BFG A/Ts IMO), Dunlops (crap) and Centennial M/T (noisy as).

Any qs email me.

All the best

Ian

John,
I have a 99 Prado GXL Auto and have recently gone through the process of changing the original
standard 265/70 x 16's to the larger 265/76 x 16's. My debate was not so much the brand or weather
it was an all terrain or mud tyre, but more so the size of the tyre. After advise from several people,
including tyre experts, the consensus was that increased size would be suitable for the Prado.
I went ahead and purchased BFG A/T 265/76 x 16's.
This was good choice as these were cheaper than the 265/70's and gave me about an extra 15cm
in clearance. With the taller tread I noticed that the some of the vehicles driving characteristics
changed dramatically. On the road the engine had to work much harder (at low speeds) to get
to it's optimal speed, then once at coasting speed the engine worked effortlessly due to the engine
running at slightly lower revs.………on the downside it had much less engine braking. The lack of
engine braking was really noticeable when I tried the larger treads off road on some steep tracks.
With the original 265/70 treads, the Prado had relatively good engine braking (for an Auto petrol),
but with the 265/75's the engine braking was very poor. On some moderately steep downhill slopes
I felt the car "running away" therefore having to apply the breaks far too often. Since experiencing
this I went back to the tyre dealer who were very accommodating and swapped the 265/75 AT's
for 265/70 BFG A/T's. As soon as drove off with the 265/70's I could notice the difference straight
away. Getting back to your question, I'd highly recommend the BFG A/T's, just be wary of the
impact of your vehicle when changing sizes !! I'd like to hear from anyone else who has experienced
this.