Considering Tyres to Purchase

Steve, my first recommendation is that you get LT rated tyres. Secondly, for the Kimberley the width, size, tread pattern etc is not going to make much difference, but I prefer at least AT tread for better grip on the dirt eg BFG AT, Cooper ST, but highway tyres will give you better economy.

If you're going to drive about in the Victorian forests before/after however it'll be a big advantage to get the biggest legal size tyres of decent width, preferably mud terrains or similar eg BFG MT, Cooper STT, Goodyear MTR.

Have a good trip, Casper

Steve,

Ran all over the NW this time last year in a 2000 NM Exceed towing a CT.
The recommendation that you consider LTs is a good one for the rough rocky roads once you get to the Kimberleys but as the man says there is many a mile to be travelled afore you get there and the LTs are just a little 'stiffer' on the bitumn.
I ran Yokohama ATs on the Pajero and Trail Cutter R/Ts (Cooprs) on the CT.
The only problems were two tyres on the CT destroyed by stones new Lawn Hill - Riversleigh and a nail through the wall of a Yokohama whilst driving down a main road in Darwin.
The one thing about the rocks in the Kimberley is that they do not discriminate by brand. One fellow traveller did in two Coopers on his CT on the Gibb. Slashed walls. Two reasons. !. I believe he had reduced his pressure too much to handle the corrugations and 2. These were tyres he had thrown off the HiLux so they had reduced rubber.
In my opinion pick a tread pattern which will handle both highway and gravel. Mud is not generally much of a problem during the 'dry' season but the more rubber you can put on the road the better. Yes up your size to the maximum. I was running 275s knowing that this was not quite in order but it certainly helped with the terrain.
Watch your pressures. Summer temperatures on the bitumn can increase your tyre pressure dramatically. On the Gibb I found it was better to put up with a bit of corrugation pounding than to run the pressures too low on the rocky bits. You have to compromise as the conditions can change every ten or so K's.
The NM had alloys. The CT was steels.
Enjoy yourselves. It is a wonder world.
Kevin J

A frequent topic of conversation when I was up the Gibb River area was tyre pressure rather than tyre make. There seem to be two schools of thought. The Low Pressure people argue that you are less likely to get punctures with softer tyres as there is more give so the stake/nail doesn't go through - like a soft balloon. Also soft tyres are more comfortable on the corrugations.

The High Pressure people feel that on the corrugations cause an enormous amount of side wall flexing and heat build up and most tyre damage up there is side wall failure. Apparently, according to my nephew who lives in Broome, the Police and Prison Service run on very hard tyres.

As for me - I haven't a clue. The first few dead tyres I saw were indeed side wall damage, but I ran on high pressure and totally wiped out the side wall of one tyre. I then managed three more 'normal' punctures in the next 20km and that was the only problem in 3500kms.

It seems to me that as long as you have half decent tyres everything else comes down to luck - try hanging one of those fat smiling buddas from your mirror, give him a sprig of heather to hold and hang a St Christopher round his neck - that should fix it.

goodday steve from steve
i am having fitted this sat a set of goodyear wrangler silent armour AT,s which are a 50%road and 50% offroad tyre
they are being fitted at beaurepaires bridge rd richmond a very good price on the recomendation of another eo member who had muddies fitted at the same place
ps neither of us are involved with the tyre place

steve

I haven't got a clue which tyres are best,

BUT!!!!

I can recommend you fit a tyre that will be readily available in any larger town. I run Pro Comps Muddys..... love 'em.... think they're brilliant tyres!!!!! but last year I staked one and had to get one from Melbourne 'cos no-one local had 'em.... and it cost me almost another $100 in freight. Thankfully I wasn't getting it freighted to Weipa or somewhere!!!!!!
So my next tyres will be something that I can buy anywhere.

Just my opinion

Cheers

Brian

Hi Scoops, I have Toyo AT open country on my vehicle, they are great on the open road, very little noise, good ride, perform quite well in the twisty stuff and in the braking department, they cope well in off road situations.
The big BUT to all of this is that they are woeful in clay, I hit a very small patch of clay at the base of a water control mound and struggled for traction up the hill, I even considered engaging 4wd but as there was a Ford Territory tagging along and I would never be allowed to forget the incident, particularly after bagging the gent for being too cheap to buy a real 4wd, I kept my foot into it and made it through.
Very disapointing performance to an otherwise terrific set of tyres.
BF Goodrich AT....?

I have Toyo OPATS ATs too. Have owned desert duelers and goodyear wranglers before, but these are a class above. Taken them all over the Cape, excellent wear and traction - havent hit the clay yet though

I'll back up Old Scaley.

I paid $70 PER TIRE less than anywhere else on my 285 MTR's

John
Beaurepaires
Bridge rd
Richmond

Scoops, we did this trip last year in a 95 3.5L pajero. I choose Cooper ST 31x10.5x15LT and they worked like a charm. Tyres came back looking brilliant, no tears in the lugs, no cuts on the sidewalls and no punctures, absolutely mint!

We ran 28psi (cold) f&r on dirt/gravel roads, and 38psi (cold) f&r on bitumen. Tyre wear for the 9000+km trip was 3mm on the rear, and 2mm on the front. A year later the tyres are now down to about 10mm tread depth from the original 14mm. Tyres have done roughly 20,000kms in that time.

If I were you, I'd go for 265/75/16 for the extra clearance, although with that said, the rear diff never came close to bottoming out in the rocky areas. Obviously the front being IFS, the diff is tucked up nice and high.