AT Tyres

Hi Bobjg
I have a 2008 Pajero 3.2diesel which came from the factory with 265/65R17 Bridgestone desert duelers HT (Highway Terrains) I have replaced them with Bridgtone Desert Dueler AT (All terrains) for no other reason except they seemed good value.
You say yours are 18 inch rims, I'm not sure if Bridgestones make them but if they do they are a good tyre(In my humble opinion not as good as Coopers but you pay for what you get).

Hope this helps

Mike

I understand that Goodyear Silent Armours come in an appropriate size, I asked ATS in Geelong about a good AT tyre for that size when I was looking at a 2nd hand VRX Pajero recently and that was what was recommended, Rhys.

Hi Bobjg

I have BFG ATs on my NS Exceed (diesel also) which I absolutely love. They are great off road and despite the aggressive tread appearance are only a tiny bit noisier than the factory HTs on bitumen. On road they are AT LEAST as good as the HTs on greasy wet winding bitumen. I have just come back from my first trip with the BFGs (Sydney - Dig Tree - Broken Hill - Sydney) and very impressed, especially as I was initially skeptical of the glowing reports (like this one!) that you read about them.

There is no 265 60 18 BFG but a slightly taller size - I think 275 60 18 (I'll check my tyres later & post a follow up) - is available, although not shown on BFG's website. This slightly larger size is legal (at least in NSW) as it is within the permitted % increase in size (under the road regs) over the tyre size specified on the manufacturers tyre placard. Also, according to my GPS and the speed of traffic around me, my speedo now reads correctly rather than reading faster than I am actually going!!

The Coopers get a good review and the Cooper ATR is substantially less expensive in 18 than the BFG AT (~$200 / tyre). Similarly to the BFG there is a legally available Cooper for the Paj 18' rim, but it is a slightly different size. It is a less aggressive tyre however. BUT it seems people who don't strictly follow Coopers guidelines re constantly changing pressures for different conditions and rotating tyres have trouble. Another vehicle on my recent trip (an NP) destroyed a Cooper ATR (rock went through a tread and tore a number of belts) on a gibber road because the driver hadn't checked and adjusted tyre pressures before leaving the bitumen. My BFGs were at the same pressure, but I drive a lot slower than the other car so was comfortable with the higher pressure.

The Goodyear silent armors have too low of a load rating to legally fit to the LWB NS. People I know who have fitted them anyway say they are great on-road. Given you towing needs this probably rules them out completely.

My experience was that going to a couple of different tyre places in person until I found someone helpful who knew what they were talking about (thank you Jax Bondi Junction) was better than web searching or even phoning the shop.

GOOD LUCK!

Ben

Sadly Bridegestone don't do a 694 on 18 at the moment but it is in the mill for 2010 for the new Prado which will have 18 rims on the two high end models

For now you have plenty of choice but consider the Mickey Thompson range along with Goodyear, Toyo and Kumho along with the usual suspects

Cooper has released a rather interesting HT recently which was tested on the Rubicon Trail allegedly so may be of interest as well

Regards

RobA

Hi Bobjg,

I've fitted GoodYear Wrangler SilentArmor's in 265/60R18 to my Disco 3 about 10,000kms ago after a lot of research and are very happy with them. The Tyre Rack website is a good source of information with user ratings
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=ORAT

Regards,
Africampers