Mud Terrain Tyres

We ran Mickey Thompson MTZ on our cruiser and camper trailer on our 3 yr trip around oz. They are the only tyre I would use now. They were fantasic. Wore really well. Great on road, even better off road. Cheaper than coopers and I wouldn't use BF's again after having trouble with some seperating.

Josh

I recently went through the same exercise.

In the past I had Cooper STT. They were good, no punctures, performed very well off road. I only got 40000kms but that included a lot of off road work.

Was going to get the same again, but asking price was $400 per tyre. They are a good tyre, but they are not that good.

I looked at all the other options you mentioned. Mickeys were cheaper. About $360 per tyre, BFG were around $400

Long story short. I went with Toyo MT's. 2 reasons. 1) Tyrepower had them on special for $355 per tyre and 2) compared to the other tyres you are comparing with the Toyo MT's have a much thicker sidewall. Check them out, you'll see what I mean. They are much thicker

My tyres are 265/75/16 (for price comparison)

Regards

Geoff

I would recommend Toyo Open Country M/T's, one of the strongest and best performing on/off road tyre around.... but you pay a premium.

We have Mickey Thompson MTZ's fitted at the moment and hate em, noisy, they wander and lugs get ripped off.

Have used Coopers and found they had soft side walls.

Will end up going back to Toyo's when the MTZ's wear out.

The down side of the Toyo's is they weigh about 20% more then the rest..... that extra rubber and belting has to do something.



Do a Google search for .....
Toyo Open Country M/T vs Mickey Thompson MTZ
Toyo Open Country M/T vs Cooper STT
Toyo Open Country M/T vs BFG KM2

And have a read.

G'day Jay

Your question is fairly though provoking and all the replies to the tyre question testify to that.

We all have a horror story when it comes to one or more of the tyre brands mentioned in the replies.

My personal experience(s) with tyres cannot be regarded as proof positive to any brand of tyre being the best or the worst on the tyre market, but when you need to purchase a full set of new tyres, these days its going to cost you the proverbial "Kings ransom".

Like you, I happen to live in the Pilbara and possibly have the same opportunity as far as choice in who or where I can purchase tyres from, small town with one or two tyre retailers all charging like a wounded Bull for a tyre of your choice, that can be killed dead in less time than it takes to punch you Visa Card pin number in, when your paying for them.

I have over the years fallen for the advertizing hype in all the Off Road magazies and DVD's and bought the ~ must have's ~ and to be very truthful.

None of the big brand tyres excelled or met the tyre brands claims.

Nor did the tyre manufacturer live up to their warranty claims.

Mickey Thompson MTZ = Severe inner tyre seperation @ 38000 Km's
serious enough for me to have to replace all six tyres, simply because my life depends on the tyres being reliable. I carried inner tubes just incase, for a further 3000 Km's.

The tyre retailer and Mickey Thompson Aus, accused me of running the tyres at extremely low pressures over a long period of time. NOT TRUE.

I had used and still use Tyre Pressure Monitoring sensor systems on all my wheels/tyres.

BF Goodrich All Terrain = side wall fractures and hard tread compound caused the tread rubber to delaminate towards the end of tyre life @ 56000 Km's.

Nail and Tek screw magnets on the dirty streets of Newman.

Bridgestone Desert Dueller 694's = still going strong on the wifes Troopy, but these days the vehicle is purely a town car, I would have to check the log book to see when and at how many K's they went on at ~ but its been six or more years now.

These tyres were used on road and off road with only one puncture over their life on the vehicle so far ~ a good tyre but useless in the Pilbara mud.

BF Goodrich Mud Terrain KM'2 = long lasting, very good off road, excellent in the mud but they get very noisy and tear tread blocks off towards the end of useful tyre life @ 47000 Km's. Puncture prone at these K's.

A BFG KM'2 in Newman costs $410 ~ ballanced and fitted.

They may not be the best, they may even not be the cheapest or the quietest ~ but they were available at the time.

Anything COOPER = Not owned one and going by what I have seen with them throughout the Pilbara, I would be very reluctant to do so.

Jay, as I said my tyre experiences account for zip in regards to your choice of tyre brand, but they are real experiences.

Safe travels :

have a look at tires from the states just bought a set of Dick Cepec mud terrain,s you cant buy in Oz . about half the price but even with shipping still works out a fraction cheaper , go to a web site called the tire rack and see what yoyu can get

If cost of goods alone is over $1000 (landed price) you will have to pay GST on goods and shipping and then there will a couple of hundred for Customs Processing fees. Then take into account fitting costs locally.

If cost of goods (landed price) is under $1000 then no GST is payable on anything and there is no processing fee.

Garry

Some thing to consider:

When (it's only a matter of time and distance, not 'if' ) you ruin a tyre, does it matter what the brand was & how much you paid???

Yep - it does for me. I'm very reluctant - nay, refusing is a better word - to pay $400 for a tyre that is rooted just as quickly as a $ 280 tyre.

I'm not suggesting one buys a cheapie at $ 180 for highway + off road use, but a practical solution is available without perjuring one's self.

In other words, like Joe, I trust experience & miles, not marketing hype. For the record, I am a life long, professional salesman and am not sledging the tyre retailer here.

Station blokes often buy the $150-180 cheapies and my rhetorical question is even more pertinent for them.

Tyres - an over discussed topic, IMHO, but it is grist to the mill for some of us. I'm happy if I get over 30,000 km out of anything...............I drive GU's.

As for a quick tip on how to make a tyre last - constantly adjust pressure & vehicle speed. Get tyre dogs or a central tyre monitoring & pumping system.

Cheers