Tyres resistant to sidewall damage?

Submitted: Sunday, Oct 12, 2003 at 22:51

ThreadID: 7766 Views:2627 Replies:11 FollowUps:3

This Thread has been Archived

Paul

Hi,
I live in Mt Isa and have a HJ47 trayback. The country up here is dry and the vegetation dries out leaving stakes over much of the land surfaces without well worn 4wd tracks. Any of the usual radial type tyres are useless if one wants to go of the beaten track as these stakes are usually out of site behind spinifex etc. I've ripped out numerous sidewalls often on pieces no thicker than a pencil.
I have an idea that the tyres that I think were called "lugs" would be more likely to withstand puncturing in this kind of country. I need to be able to go of the beaten track as I enjoy fossicking as a hobby.
Can someone please let me know the for and against these types of tyres and and if they are still available.
Thankyou, Paul

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator Share

Reply By: Coops (Pilbara) - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 01:29

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 01:29

Goodyear Wrangler MTR's have an excellent sidewall. I have just completed an arduous 4WD trek in Great Sandy Desert similar to what you've described and while I did get two stakes it was only a matter of removing the stake, putting a plug in and topping up the air. No tears in sidewalls and all in all about 2 mins work.
4 vehicles did 9 or 10 tyres that trip so don't be too alarmed by me staking mine and if you have a look at an MTR sidewall in the store you'll be impressed. Running the right pressures will make a difference too and I think I might have been marginally too high at 28 psi although I'm still not too sure about that.
Hope this helpsAllyn
Where to next ?

AnswerID: 33535

Reply By: ross - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 08:30

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 08:30

Paul "lugs" are just an old style offroad tyre.I think they are really a truck tyre with an aggressive tread.Usually they are not rated as a high speed tyre.Custom hi milers are still available I think ..If you want something thicker,try Coopers Tyres .

AnswerID: 33541

Reply By: Alex H - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 11:52

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 11:52

Hi,
old-fashioned cross-ply or bias-ply tyres are said to be better against staking. Th downside is the don't track as well on the road. Another alternative are full steel radials (as opposed to steel belted radials) they have steel plys in the sidewall as well as under the tread. I think the Olympic steeltrek is one, the ones I use are Michelin X4x4's - I've had them in a lot of stake country such as the Canning Stock Route and I've never had a puncture. However at $320+ each I may be looking to change when they wear out.
Hope this helps.
Alex.

AnswerID: 33566

Reply By: JohnH - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 12:36

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 12:36

Paul, I have done quite a bit of bull catching around Alice in my younger day. We would always fight over the light truck hiway tyre's for a vehicles, in particular the one's that had the least amount of tread on them. We always claimed that the baldish surface of the tyre caused the stake to glance off more than be grabbed by the tread and pulled into the tyre. I don't know if you are in a position to put bald tyres on your car and then go bush so it may not be practical. There is an option of buying second hand tyres and using the 'spaghetti' in them for on the spot punctures. They obviousy don't offer a great deal of traction in the wet but over the hard stuff are fine.

Food for thought.

Happy hunting.

John H.

AnswerID: 33574

Follow Up By: Paul - Wednesday, Oct 15, 2003 at 14:18

Wednesday, Oct 15, 2003 at 14:18

Hi,
I ended up buying a couple of MRF 750-16 they were only $168 a piece and they are 12 ply. I just had a drive on them and apart from being noisy they steer OK. I'll order another two today. I reckon with 12 ply sidewalls they'd have to be close to bulletproof! Will have to be a big improvement on 2 or 3 ply sidewalls.
Paul

FollowupID: 24356

Follow Up By: sean - Sunday, Nov 02, 2003 at 23:37

Sunday, Nov 02, 2003 at 23:37

Paul

a mate of mine, also a prospector, has them on his hilux and he has driven all over the place, in NT areas where there are no tracks, and in 2 years has not had a puncture on his MFR 12 plys. My last try went 30 metres off the road in the same country before I staked and destroyed a tyre.

I reckon you have made a good choice.

sean

FollowupID: 25978

Follow Up By: Paul - Saturday, Nov 08, 2003 at 01:31

Saturday, Nov 08, 2003 at 01:31

Sean,
Yeah, I'll never get sucked into using radials again, I've had these MRFs a while now and no problems, been over some rough ground full of stakes and jagged rocks and nothing seems even to have come close to puncturing them. Another plus is that if I do puncture a tyre it isn't destroyed as is the go with radials.
The MRFs are noiser on the bitumen and not as stable on loose dirt when in 2wd but become almost indistinguishable from radials if doing a fair speed on loose dirt in 4wd.

Paul

FollowupID: 26411

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 12:55

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 12:55

Interco Swampers.

AnswerID: 33580

Reply By: Moose - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 13:16

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 13:16

Have a look at Baja Claws. Expensive but sidewalls sit up nice and straight and out of harms way.

AnswerID: 33584

Reply By: Tony - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 14:36

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 14:36

Spending a lot of years up in the Gulf and the Cape, the Bar treads were the best tyre for rocks and steaks encounted in cross country driving, but we always carried 3 spares.

AnswerID: 33603

Reply By: Tim - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 16:00

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 16:00

Do not even look at trailmark APRs, I have had 3 sidewalls fail on me.

AnswerID: 33616

Reply By: Willie - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 19:15

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 19:15

Jeep Service Bar treads ( I think they were made by Firestone) or just plain 'rag' (cross-ply)tyres. Trouble with rags is they do not rack very well but your are only going out into the rough country so it should not be a problem.
Cheers
Willie
Never a dull moment

AnswerID: 33638

Reply By: Paul - Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 23:02

Monday, Oct 13, 2003 at 23:02

Thanks for all the replies.
I doubt if anything with a two ot three ply sidewall is going to stand up to the stakes up here. I spoke to a tyre fitter in town today and his opinion drawn from experience was that any radial irregardless of maker or design was not made for "off track" at all and that the only tyres that would reliably last were the rag tyres with 8 or 10 plies.
I took some notice this morning also of some 4wd's in town that looked as if they were serious work vehicles and they all had these rag tyres , so this looks as if it is the only way to go.
Paul

AnswerID: 33673