tyres

Same preicament different timeperiod though and your answer is:

Cooper ST's

they beat the BFG's and Bridgeys at the moment IMHO, and Jemima reckons they're a good thingLaterally Literal
Seriously Cerebral

Hrm..

Did you take the truck to ENZED? That would be fun.. I did the North Island in a Safari (a Patrol import) and found it to be much fun!

10 Para,

This will probably only confuse you more.

I have just gone down the what tyre roller coaster.

Years ago I had a bad experience with Cooper Mud Terrains and it burnt me towards Cooper pretty badly. My GU was up fopr new tyres and I started asking around. Mostly because of what I had heard here I ws considering having a look at the Coopers again. In Sept/Oct I was travelling through the NT and the Simpson so took the opportunity to ask anyone and everyone, particularly independant tyre outlets. Coopers kept coming up with the recomendation. But there were a couple of travellers who swore they would never buy them again. Including aone guy who reconned they cost him about 50km out of every tank of fuel.

Back home and seriously shopping I asked at a few of the local (Broken Hill) tyre outlets. The recommendation from most of the local guys was BFG AT. I have used these extensively in the past and whilst nothing is indestructable I was pretty happy with the performance I had got rom them. The Bidgestone 693 Light truck did come up with a pretty good wrap as well. The Cooper ST's were not bagged but no dealer recommended them, including the local distributor who does not keep them in stock. I bought the BFG's. I have not had them working hard since I put them on just a few weeks ago.

Just after I put them on and while still wondering if I had done the right thing a guy from work rolled his Hilux because of a tyre failure. On the highway at 110km/h. The left rear tyre split from bead to bead across the tread. Police investigators blame the tyre for the crash. The tyres had about 25 to 30 thousand k's on them and had been well maintained, pressures, rotation and balance. It was a Cooper ST and failed at about the distance where I started to have probs with the Coopers I had on years ago.

Are the BFG's any better? I'll let you know in about 12 months.

A lot of people locally are buying the cheaper brands because they are dissatisfied with the so called top range 4wd tyre.

Like I said, it probably only ads to the confusion but I thought you should know. In the end tyre selection comes down to an educated guess. I decided to stick with what I knew. Hope I was right.

Duncs

Hi 10 Para
BFG A/T KO ( Japan) on the Prado 50,000K heaps of tread left should do 80K easy,
similar pressures to Dunc's post above, never been rotated, only ever had to add air after dropping air to suit the tracks, done all the Vic Deserts and some rough High Country & all the Border track .
I did stake 1 rear(side wall) in the desert country (stakes & mallee roots every where) it could have happened with any brand of tyre.
All tyres bulge or they are proberly over inflated.
Using the 4psi increase when hot method 34psi (265/70/R16) suits me fine around town with a heavy load of tools & the tyre wear is also very even.
Cannot say for sure but have heard the USA made tyre is better,
another thing to consider is there availability Australia wide.

CheersPrado TD Auto

Hi again
I think you will find most tyres ( semi's run radials) are radial now days.
Dont know about Bridgestone 693 were they OME ? they may be a highway tyre like the Dunlop Grandtrek, OME on the Prado from memory ran at 28psi with a max I think of 36psi & they did not bulge much. The BFG A/T is LT 3 ply sides max pressure is 65psi , I started at 40psi and I thought it way to hard & did not like the steering , after going down to 34 ride & steering was much better.
I would think at 65psi they would be like having no rubber at all.

Also check your tyre plackard or your manual.

On the trip when I staked the tyre (12 vehicles most had BFG A/T or M/T
some were skinny & some wide & in if necessary that makes for a lot of spares ) only other to puncture x 2 was a huge Ford 350 Duel cab running BFG A/t,
offroad we did 1500klm x 12vehicles x 4wheels = 72000klm .

"Diamond" is the tyre Guru he may be on holidays or had a name change.

Cheers

Prado TD Auto