Bestest reason yet

31x10.5R15 are the most popular size in general, this will no doubt change but all the older 70 series utes in the bush plus a lot of hilux's are running that size, so I don't think it would be a problem. I found the same price diff when I was getting my Goodyear MTR's, $235 vs $300!!

A -ell of a lot easier to find than 16" or heaven forbid 17+" ,,

Not that good Rosco I enquired about 15 inch tyres at Drysdale river as I was down to 1 spare and was lookead at a bit funny and told everyone runs 16 inch these days ( I had lost my eftpos card anyway - but thats another story)

My suspisions exactly Davoe ... hence my query.

From my research 16 are most common by far .. esp 235/85 jobbies

Cheers

That's interesting when I traded my Desert Duallers in (about 2 months ago or so) they said that they would have no problem on selling them as they were the most popular size...?? They were 31's.

Surprised me to as I reckon they are pretty popular. i thought the main reason for price difference was the construction as all the 15 inches I have seen have been 6 ply with farly low load ratings and max pressure of 50psi. They werent really suitable on my camper for this reason as I needed about 55 psi in the rears to give them the same appearence as a normal vehicle with 28 psi and as a result i blew 3 of them out

Hmm, fair enough, I just went and had a look at my MTR's. They are a 31"10.5xR15LT, the maximum load per tyre is 1030kg, Load Rating C. I can't see the surf geting over 4 tonne so I'll be alright, but I can see how you may have had dramas with the Camper...

The specs say 5 ply, 3 ply sidewall. I wonder what the 16" are? Anyone got some MTR's? in 16"?

No consideration have you Jeff. You have made me leave work and drive into camp to find the surveyers ute who has 235x16 Goodyear mtr fitted.
They have a load range of 1380kg with max tyre pressure of 80 psi and have 7 ply tread and 3 sidewall not sure what the load rating was - there was a p marked on them

LMAO! Well there you go! That's very interesting... So the 16" is stronger... You know after all the hours I speant researching tyres before buying these ones I NEVER saw that written anywhere that the Ply numbers change depending on the size of the tyre! I figured an LT tyre would be the same weather 15" or 16" as far as Ply's go. Of course they talk about the wonderous 3 ply sidewall but that's not where 90% of punctures are...

Well I spose it wouldn't have changed my decision on these ones as I just couldn't afford 5 new rims as well as the tyres, and the surf wouldn't have looked too good with sunny's on it! LOL

Load rating is actually higher on the 15" and is an LT with 2x extra plies compared to the 16" ,definitly more tyre for the lesser $$$$$

Yup - in my experience its always been the 15" that are called "LT" in comparison to their metric cousins.....

Still like my 235/85/16s. LT 10 ply 116/120 load rating.

1" bigger OD.

Same OD as 7.5/16 so easy to get replacement out west if I need to.

And just paid $145.00 each for Simex roadtrekker.

I'm happy with that :-)

I found the load index to be higher on 16 inch tyres.

The 31x10.5R15 usually have a load index of 109. Closest 16 inch tyre equivalent is the 265/70R16 with load index of 112+, and slightly taller, the 265/75R16 is usually 119/122. The 245/75R16 are usually 120.

In my experience the 15 inch rubber was more likely to puncture in the desert country.

alloy what are the specs of these tyres? I have been unable to find them on the net, Most 15 inches I have seen are 6 ply 2 sidewall and 4 in the tread with much lower load rating

no problems but i dunno about the 235s. I was quoted $140 each for 7.5x16 s and that included the tube as well (thats country prices)

When I got my 225/75 16 BFG KO A/Ts I paid $199ea and they were the most expensive A/T in the shops (4yrs ago but still the same price now). There were plenty of tyres in that size for under $180ea. I would have thought 205s to be even cheaper.

Just got them locally in Brisbane.
Local as in the local garage/workshop who is a Simex rep.
If you want something cheaper than $145.00 try Triangle.
Was quoted $113.00 eas for the 235/85/16 AT, but felt Simex a more well known 4wd tyre maker:-)