Time to bite the bullet with tyres

Submitted: Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 19:27
ThreadID: 89211 Views:2864 Replies:11 FollowUps:12
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Well.... where do I start.

I have used Cooper tyres twice and received great mileage in return.

They have been used over a variety of surfaces and have always served me well with great wear and little chipping. They are St's and were good on sand and hard rock.

That changed recently on a 10000k trip with about 4000k of dirt.

The tyres have done approximately 65000k and still had about 8mm of thread left. They were getting a tad old and I considered getting new tyres before the trip. This is a big outlay so I decided against it.

Here is what happened. The outside edges of the tyres started to chip badly and when I destroyed one north of Marree the unused spare went on. it did 2500k of dirt and didn't chip. It was the same age and batch as the others tyres so I expected it to do the same. I can't fathom why but I do know I will change tyres.

Am getting BFG KM2 MT's fitted Monday for $375 a tyre.

RA.



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Reply By: Paul and Mel - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 19:33

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 19:33
yeah i will use the KM2s next myself. i however have no complaints about my procomps apart from the price, they have served me very well.
AnswerID: 465929

Reply By: Member - Neville D (VIC) - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 19:37

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 19:37
Hello Rockape,
Can't comment on the Coopers as I have never used them, But Iv'e got Bridgestone 694 LT's fitted to the Prado. I have done a lot of outback trips on these in the last 3 years and have not had a problem as yet, touch wood. The BFG's are supposed to be a good tyre and at that price you can't go wrong.


cheers Nev
AnswerID: 465930

Reply By: member - mazcan - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 20:08

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 20:08
hi rockape
have had cooper st's one set did what your have done and the other set separated from the casings what annoyed me was that coopers didnt want to know about my tyre problems
i am a very happy bfg user
in fairness i have read lately where coopers have now changed their rubber compound to some great stuff bla bla
but i'll leave everyone else to proove that lol
cheers go the bfg's
barry
AnswerID: 465935

Reply By: Member - Krakka - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 20:27

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 20:27
All too often see this type of thread: 65K and still about 8mm of tread left. So why would you change to a different tyre??
I have had KM2 on for 2yrs now, definately wont have 8mm of tread left at 65K, if they even last that long. Anyway any MT tyre is useless as a MT after about 2/3 of the tread depth has been used anyway. MT as in Mud Terrain, not Maximum Traction.

Regards
AnswerID: 465939

Follow Up By: Member - Andrew L (QLD) - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 20:42

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 20:42
yep..spot on Krakka..I usually ditch my muds ( 3 sets of G/Y MTR's) at 2/3rd's wear, around the 50-55k.They are not much use and become puncture prone, regardless of brand. Get a few bucks for them.

I just did 17,000km in 50 days across the centre, up to the Pilbara and back to Brisbane towing a Tvan. Busted 3 of the tyres, 2 on some hard gibber country,and 3rd on dirt/rock road west NSW, but was to be expected as they were over 2/3rd's worn. I am rolling 5 tonne.
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Follow Up By: Rockape - Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 05:42

Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 05:42
Peter,

Yes they do punture easily when they become 2/3 rd's worn but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the lugs on the outside edge chipped or were torn right off. As I said I was about to replace them due to their age rather than the amount of wear.

It seems the tyres have hardened over the years but the fact that the spare that had never been used didn't chip. Same batch and same age.

I have found all 4X4 tyres, "not just MT's" that are used off road have reached there used by date when they are 2/3rd's worn.

Have a god on,
RA.
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FollowupID: 739990

Reply By: Will 76 Series - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 20:47

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 20:47
AAAHHHH the great tyre comment debate. Still reckon the Bridgestones 694LT are the most under-rated tyre out there. On my third set.

Will
AnswerID: 465940

Follow Up By: Member - Krakka - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 21:43

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 21:43
Yep, horses for courses Will, stick with whatever tyre suits your needs and you're happy with. It really doesn't have to be rocket science.
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FollowupID: 739972

Reply By: equinox - Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 21:48

Saturday, Sep 24, 2011 at 21:48
Hi RA,

65000kms. You have done well and it doesn't matter what brand they are. I'd be lucky to get 20000kms out of any of mine, and am happy with that.

Cheers
Alan


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AnswerID: 465947

Follow Up By: Rockape - Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 05:58

Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 05:58
Alan,
The tyre dealer had a look at them before I went away as they all had fine radial cracks just outside the beads for around 25mm. He said they were fine and it was nothing to be concerned about.

He then commented on the condition of the tyres and the kilometres they had travelled. His quote was whatever you are doing to those tyres you are doing it right.

They had the odd cut and chip in the tread but no more than the average 4X4 tyre.

We get around 5000k out of our work tyres before they are destroyed and the best one's have been Goodyear kevlar mt's.The price I was quoted for these was way to high.

Enjoyed your video you posted recently.

All the best,
RA.
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FollowupID: 739991

Reply By: racinrob - Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 08:28

Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 08:28
I have had nothing but poor results from three sets of Cooper tyres. THREE SETS I hear you say, well the distributors did come to the party twice and replaced them on a pro-rata basis.
I've had several blow-outs, delaminating where the tread and casing parted company, sipping, that's cracks around edge of the tread and wall and now I notice cracking and a couple of small splits on the inside of my current tyres around the rim.
On top of all this I have had an out of balance problem, I've rotated my tyres several times, had two "fingertip balances" had the rims checked for out of round and even replaced the front shockers, eventually I put two old BFGs spares I had on the front, end of problem.
The tyres in question were Cooper 265/75R16 S/Ts.
NOT a happy customer.

racinrob.
AnswerID: 465973

Follow Up By: Shaker - Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 20:00

Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 20:00
I have to be careful because I seem to upset a certain member when I criticise Cooper tyres!
However, I am with you, you also have to worry when they advertise that the most important thing with 4wd tyres is the tread depth, & we always thought sidewalls were important!
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Follow Up By: eighty matey - Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 23:03

Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 23:03
One of my mates had a fairly new Cooper ST delaminate on the F3 Freeway, near Sydney. It did $3000 damage to the Landcruiser and Cooper are paying the bill.

I have been using Wrangler Duratracs and I'm really impressed with them. Cape York, Western NSW, Western Qld, NE South Australia, rock, beach, mud, highway, I really reckon they're a great tyre. On and off road traction and they aren't noisy at all.

About $325 a tyre and I'm getting another set soon.

eighty matey.
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Reply By: AlanTH - Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 18:53

Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 18:53
The BFGs we have on the Prado have done 70K and are down to around 5mm. Considering some of the road/tracks we've been on I reckon it's very fair wear and will get them replaced soon.
Only 1 small sidewall split and that was done on a local trip, not on the rougher roads we've travelled.
Such is life I suppose but well satisfied with the BFGs.
AlanTH.
AnswerID: 466028

Follow Up By: Rockape - Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 19:19

Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 at 19:19
Alan,
are they At's or Mt's

Thanks
RA.
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Reply By: Echucan Bob - Tuesday, Sep 27, 2011 at 10:04

Tuesday, Sep 27, 2011 at 10:04
Rockape

It sounds to me like you are a pretty harsh judge. The tyres lasted 65,000 and 'served you well'. Against your better judgement you try and get one more big trip out of them. Naturally, they start to wear more rapidly and one fails. You blame the brand of tyre and change brands.

When I last tried to eke a last trip out of a set of worn tyres I ended up fitting a complete new set in Birdsville. I blamed myself, not the tyres.

Bob

AnswerID: 466139

Follow Up By: Rockape - Tuesday, Sep 27, 2011 at 17:02

Tuesday, Sep 27, 2011 at 17:02
Bob,
I will put the record straight. I never intended to bag the tyres. I was more giving a real life account of them, 65000k road test if you like.

They were well mannered in both dry and wet conditions, great on sand, not so hot in clay, in their later life not good on gibber and good value when I purchased them at about $280 a tyre.

You will notice I did not bag the tyre's when I shredded one, because I don't know what caused it and if I had my tyre monitor turned on I may have saved it.

Size wise I am restricted to a few brands as the 285/75/16's aren't available in many of them. The reason I use this size is it suits my gearing.

Now to the nitty gritty. The tyres still had 8mm of tread left, this is only about half worn, but they tore lugs off and chipped badly. Also the spare that had never been used was fine and I still have the case if ever I need it. Something is amiss as it should have chipped and destroyed lugs as well. It say's to me there is a problem with them when they have been used over many K's or due to age.

To the part about changing to another brand. The BFG muds ended up costing me $365 a tyre they quoted me $375 but only charged me this). On the other hand the price quoted for Cooper ST's or whatever they are called now was $416 and the disposal price was $2.50 more per tyre. I was quoted $350 for BFG AT's which makes the Coopers $66 dearer. No thanks.

Also horses for courses, Mick O uses Toyos for what he does and I believe they are great for his application. Bridgestone 694's I understand a great but they don't suit my application either and I don't think you can get them in 285/75/16.

RA.







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Follow Up By: Echucan Bob - Thursday, Sep 29, 2011 at 12:24

Thursday, Sep 29, 2011 at 12:24
RA

I paid $370 all up for STTs last month. $416 sounds a bit rich.

Bob
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Follow Up By: Rockape - Thursday, Sep 29, 2011 at 19:57

Thursday, Sep 29, 2011 at 19:57
Bob,
Yep..... that is what I thought. Next town that does Coopers is 400K. Captive market. If you want them, we sell them and this is the price and that is their right. I just said thanks but no thanks.

Have a good on,
RA.
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FollowupID: 740449

Reply By: Iain M - Tuesday, Sep 27, 2011 at 18:47

Tuesday, Sep 27, 2011 at 18:47
That spare may well have behaved differently as it had not gone through heat cycles like the roaded tyres.
65k klm is a good result and 8mm tread seems to be plenty for another trip, or so you would think.
AnswerID: 466181

Follow Up By: Rockape - Thursday, Sep 29, 2011 at 20:11

Thursday, Sep 29, 2011 at 20:11
Iain,
yes I believe you are right about the heat cycles and the wear was really good. If I was running around on tar or sand I am sure I would have ended up with great K's out of them. I could have let them go down too a couple of ml if I wasn't worried about punctures or case problems due to age.

The tyres have done about 40% of their life on dirt.

I was speaking to my neighbour this afternoon and he had a problem with them as they got older. Two of his started to delaminate.

RA.
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FollowupID: 740451

Reply By: BrownyGU - Wednesday, Sep 28, 2011 at 19:11

Wednesday, Sep 28, 2011 at 19:11
Rock,

I must admit to being a little confused by your post, 65,000k and happy with there performance, until one chucks it in, then you fit the "unused" spare and after 2500k of dirt, it doesn't chip so now your gonna change tyres? I would of thought you'd be happy with that? If it did chip would you have been happier? Mate I'm not being a smart a$$, but surely because you fitted an unused spare, you would also expect 65,000k from it before it you got issues?

Cheers....Browny
AnswerID: 466285

Follow Up By: Rockape - Wednesday, Sep 28, 2011 at 19:33

Wednesday, Sep 28, 2011 at 19:33
Browny,
two reasons for changing tyres are firstly I didn't change because the spare didn't chip and rip lugs off. I changed because all the others did chip and rip lugs off. The tyre that was destroyed didn't worry me because that could have been caused by anything.

Secondly the price difference between the tyres. I ended up paying $365 for the BFG's muds and they wanted $416 for the Coopers.

The reason I spoke about the spare was because it was the same age and batch and it didn't chip or rip lugs off. That says to me that after they have been on a vehicle for many K's some sort of problem develops and they are rendered unserviceable (belting was showing where the lugs were missing. I am sure they would have gone on to log up some huge K's if they were driven on blacktop for the rest of their serviceable life but that is not what I use them for. These tyres were only about half worn although they were getting a little old.

Have a good one,
RA.
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FollowupID: 740363

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