<span class="highlight">cooper</span> st's

go with the norm - BF's go good

David

I bet if you asked everyone who had lost tyres to side wall damage you would get a diverse list of tyres.

Yes, I lost a 300 km old Cooper ST to a side wall puncture, but then I have lost other tyres as well to the same fate.

I don't believe any of the common brands are more resistant to side wall damage. I would have to say though that 34 psi sounds very low for a rear tyre on a laden vehicle. They must get very hot with all that side wall flexing. I run mine at about 45 psi on gravel/bitumen.

On dirt and gravel i run at 28 psi and travel a bit slower about 80kmh. The lower speed prevents heat buildup in the sidewall.
The lower pressure allows the tyre to mould around rocks rather than have them punch through it. I have seen this proven in demonstrations and it does work. Apart from that it also gives a softer ride over the rough stuff which is easier on the vehicle and passengers.

I have just today had my 3rd set of Cooper S/T's fitted, the set i just replaced had 104,000k's on them. Intalled 4 years ago at 237,000ks now have 341,000 k's on the clock.

I have never staked a sidewall. In fact the only puncture i had was when i ran over a woodscrew which i assume i picked up in my carport after doing some work in there.

These tyres have taken me to The Darling River Run and up to White Cliffs. Innamincka via the Strzelecki and Bore tracks. Numerous bush tracks on the NSW south coast. Stockton Beach and many more offroad destinations and is also the daily driver.

This is not an inane comment but my real world experience with coopers. I was thinking of going BFG this time just so i could say i have tried both, but i couldn't bring myself to do it after the great runs i have had with coopers. Its a lot of money to throw into an experiment, i already know what to expect from the coopers.

Two sets of ST's on the NM and as soon as I can I will put them on the NS.
And not kid gloved. Vic high country, Tanami Track, Canning etc.
Never a flat, never a sidewall puncture. Doing the Canning over the "breakaways" we were down to 5 kms/hr so taking it easy.
To my mind still the best option but that is just for us and what we do.
Rusty

Had S/T's on my Hilux for a trip out through White Cliffs, Innamincka, Gammon and Flinder's Ranges. Dropped pressures and speeds to suit. Never had a puncture with that set. Running S/T's on the GU now. Had them on for about 50,000. Some minor lug damage on two of them (both replaced under warranty without any hassles) and a couple of punctures due to wood screws.

Would I go Coopers again. Most probably. Am happy with the way they are wearing and happy with my experiences on two vehicles.

But if you treat your tyres with respect (ie correct pressures and speed according to terrain) then any brand should last except in absolute extreme conditions.

Well did you expect anything else from a seriously expensive tyre thats not up to the punishment? Dont you read the comments by other users on this site ? Have you not seen the Coopers tyres in the outback all over the place shredded and stuffed ? or maybe you just a novice ? Pay mega bucks for a 'tyre' and they will give you all sorts of guarantees ..dont forget the wheel alignment one !!.. and if a few here and there wise up to the fact they are being had ...well give them a pro rata set and they will be happy !! YOU WERE HAD !!! Just move on ..

I have done 3 Sts also but in the space of 2 days. All at around 34psi on 2003 Prado. All on the first 50km section of the Gibb Road at the El Questro end. Never got them replaced, straight to Bridgestone Duelers 693. Never been let down by them yet, and have never even adjusted pressures, they stay at 40psi cold. Was travelling with another car at the time and he didnt experience any flats with the Bridgestones. Tyre issues really are a touchy subject, everyone is different and all tyres are better at some things then others. Coopers get good mileage i know that.

Hi
I too was sucked in with the cooper BS, i ran them for 30 000km and was wrapped, i said i would never buy any other tyre as they handled well and still looked like new. Then 10 000km trip on some gibber and they were stuffed, 2 were totaled, left one behind with serious cracks right through the tyre on the tread, another that was cracked also but did get a waratee claim woopy, the other 2 were missing lugs every where, some down to wire!
NEVER again.
Put a set of Goodyear MTR's on, have done similar trip over worse gibber and more miles with a little chipping, no lugs missing, no cracks, no stuffed tyres and much less side wall bulge.
These are real tyre and many station blokes running them when mustering through scrub etc swear by them.
I guess many will carry on and say jksvbkwevbkwe but where do they take them?
If i had stuck to the bitchi, sand or clay country i would still say coopers are ok i guess,
MTR's are a bit noisy but so what, turn up the music or enjoy the noise.
GN

David
I don't suppose your tyres are passenger construction instead of light truck? STs come in both types. There was a case on another site recently of someone fitting the wrong type and loosing most of them.

Can you give us a bit more information? What type of Land Rover is it? What is the tyre size, what load is it carrying and what speed do you travel at?

Brian

I had Cooper STs, they failed on the vehicle, I put the remaining tyres on the camper trailer, & they failed there too.
NEVER AGAIN!

Hi David,

I'm on my third set of Coopers STs.

2 sets on the ute and I've just fitted a set on the GU I bought.

Oh and a set of Coopers SLE's on the Forester. My mechanic runs ST's after many years of BFG problems and uses his Patrol pretty much only on trips. He reckons this is the first set of tyres he's actually worn out rather than replaced prematurely.

Most of my mates at work and others I go off road with use either ST's, ATR's or STT's.

I know of a few who have had no problems getting tyres replaced under Coopers warranty including myself even after I agreed it was probable that the tread block damage was due to the rocky track's I'd recently been scrabbling up.

I always run light truck construction. I always drop pressures off road and return to highway pressure on bitumen. The LT's don't bag much and you get your traction advantage in longer tread exposure.

I've never (touch wood) had a puncture though I have discarded one after a side wall got gashed somewhere, it was still up, god knows how long it had been like that as I only found it when it was up on the hoist.

We had one on my mates when a tyre wore a 1/8" bit of mulga in the side wall on the Canning. It was fire hardened from a scrub fire and would have gone through anything, it was like a 1/8" drill bit! That said it was plugged in 5 minutes and was still on the front when we got to Perth 2500km later.

I'll still be buying Coopers for my next set for both our vehicles and I've factored two sets into the lease on the Patrol.

I tend to take mine off at about 40%-50% tread and keep them as extra spares for running on campers or taking on trips. I can't see the point of running off road tyres off road until they are near bald. I have swapped both sets out at about 40,000km with that sort of tread left to go. The worst of the collection in the garage corner get chucked or given to someone who needs one as they accumulate.

Stick with them, but go the LT. Much better tyre for not much more $.

Dave

If the road is too rough with hard corrugations, root, rocks.... I don't really let the tyres down much.

I lost three tyres in the weeks following a visit to Fraser Island. Sidewall damage....

I have 12.5 inch tyres.. so wide and nice on sand etc..... but to the disapproval of many 4wd experts.... I don't deflate unless I'm in really had going.

Hi David

Land Rover recommended tire pressure is for the factory fitted tires or any passenger tire , Cooper ST's are a light truck tire and should be run at a higher tire pressure at around 40 psi. By running your tires at 34 psi you are overheating your tires and so the first place the tires will fail is in the side wall. 40 psi is a firmer ride but you will not just get cooler tire temperatures but also less drag which will increase fuel economy.

See you in the bush, Rob

Blow up a balloon tight and push a stick into it and it will burst.....
Half deflate it and do the same and the stick will not pop the balloon...
Tyres are the same theory...
At 34psi on dirt rocky roads you will have punctures....
Its a no brainer....
22psi and drive to the conditions...
Slow down for dips especially as that is where most of the flats come from on dirt roads because of the downforce onto rocks with a compressed suspension...
Even 4x4's with airbags have a higher rate of punctures because the bags dampen the compression...
Drive to the conditions and prepare your tyres to the right pressures and then if you get repeated flat tyres then have a whinge...

David

Tyres are expendable items. You just have to live with that fact.
Pumped 50psi or pumped 30psi you are bound to find a sharp object on the track or road surface just at the wrong moment. There are pros and cons, for and against, tubeless tyres and the same applies to tubed tyres

My journey with Cooper Tyres is well documented in the Archives here. But I did take them into Extreme Country and they are not designed for that application.

I have reverted back to 'low mileage' crossply tyres on split rims for half the cost of tubeless tyres and the result is good.


Cheers

I think Visitor's comments are spot on and the example he gives illustrates the point prefectly. The key factor is the amount of pressure that is applied to the point of impact. Higher tyre pressures concentrate all that weight onto a very small point = much greater chance of penetration. Push your foot down onto one pointed up nail=ouch. Spread this over a wide area like the fakirs bed of nails trick. No problem. For a detailed discussion of the high pressure V low pressure debate check Joel Flemings website. The tyre is not the problem. Any tyre run at high pressure is more likely to be damaged off road. Yes, heat build up is an issue but this is a factor of speed and low pressure. Simply reduce your speed as you reduce pressure. And save fuel and increase safety at the same time.

G'day David
This post was bound to bring out the anti Cooper brigade in droves and a few have appeared. Amazing how biased some can be.
It appears that the problem has been identified - passenger tyre construction instead of LT. So unless you're willing to change to LT then the problem will persist irrespective of the pressures you run. Simply because the passenger construction is not really meant for off tar use.
Incidentally I had Coopers for yonks and never had any side wall dramas over many kms of offroad stuff - but they were LTs. And to make full disclosure I only switched to Goodyears due to a price difference of around $50 per tyre. Goodyears not wearing as well to date so may prove to be a false economy after all.
Cheers from the Moose

David,

Have never run Coopers on our current vehicles, so won't shoot them down here.

Did run BFG AT's on Wife's 80 series for 200K clicks, and while they had some wear issues on our roads to Winton, only had punctures from wayward nails, screws or welding roads, never from rock/sidewall damage.

Only stopped using BFG's because of the expense for a vehicle now doing <10K clicks/annum. Went to Terra Trac, and they are wearing well. Less than $200/tyre.

Re tyre pressures on the above 80 series, we only ever run the tyres @ 32 psi. Whether bitumen, gravel or black soil. The only change to this was to increase rear pressures for extra load, back when the kids were at boarding school.

Someone else quoted on EO once, from advice gained @ William Ck, "Under 40, & under 90" Believe there's a lot of wisdom in this simple sentence.

Good luck with new tyres,

Hooroo,
Bob.

"This tire is made specifically for a 4 wheel drive that is by it's nature is intended to go off road?? "

David

Your passenger construction tyres are a 4WD tyre but they are designed for light use on cars that rarely, if ever, see a dirt road. A light truck tyre on cars used in those circumstances would give too harsh a ride. On the other hand, passenger construction tyres used in the conditions light truck tyres are designed for will get torn to pieces.

Check your tyre sidewall for the maximum pressure it can be inflated to. The person on the other site who was having trouble with passenger construction Coopers said his was 35 psi if my memory is correct. If yours are the same then your 34 psi is near maximum pressure and it is a wonder you have not had more punctures.

I have 235/70/16 Kumho passenger tyres on a 2 wd car. They will support up to 925 kg at a maximim of 51 psi. The little 205/16 light truck tyres on my Hilux 4wd are 1120 kg at 65 psi. That shows the difference between the two different constructions.

If Cooper don't make a stock size LT tyre for your car then you will have to go to another brand. I don't think Land Rover intended the Disco to be a city only 4b so someone must have a LT tyre for it.

Brian

David,
If you want a bit of a chuckle, the video that came with this months 4WDAction Magazine has Roothy driving over some mild tracks in the Snowy Mountains and put a huge split in a sidewall of his Cooper STC.

Then he came out with all the usual excuses.

At least they were honest enough to include the footage, seeing that Cooper must throw a truckload of sponsorship their way.