4x4 tyres

[bones1]

I am baffled by the different makes and types of tyres available , can anyone shed any light for me.

I have a 4x4 measurments are 215 75 R15.

Should I go for an all terrain tyre when most of the use the car gets is on the road towing and not much off road apart from when we arrive on site.

Should I get a road tyre better in wet conditions, also are there good reasons for buying a more expensive tyre, rather than a cheaper tyre.

Decisions decisions...........

 

[sparkes]

if you are not using it off road then use road tyres. AT's and off road tyres add noise.

However

General Grabber AT2's are very good on and off road, fairly quiet and warrantied for a tread wear of 60,000 miles

I paid

 

[bones1]

if you are not using it off road then use road tyres. AT's and off road tyres add noise.

However

General Grabber AT2's are very good on and off road, fairly quiet and warrantied for a tread wear of 60,000 miles

I paid

 

[CliveV]

I had a set of BF Goodrich Long Trails on my old Range Rover that were superb on tarmac - over 70K miles (Oh the benefit of AWD and large diameter tyres!!!!) and still tread on them and pretty good off road as well. Only beaten by the most extreme conditions.

I was offered them as "Blems" - and after checking them out bought them at

 

[LMH]

Clive

Can you explain to me why big chunky tyres for 4x4's are significantly cheaper and get more 'mileage' out of them than low profiles (R18 225's, think that's what they are from memory).?

Thanks.

Lisa

 

[sparkes]

Hi Steve many thanks I will trawl the internet to see what sort of tread they have.

http://www.apneu.cz/images/general_tire_grabber_at2.gif

 

[sparkes]

Lisa I cannot help with the question you asked Clive. But the supplier of my ATs said he was surprised people paid 2x the amount for tyres that last 30% of the AT's

What also amazes me is that the speed rating is the same and they have good protection against rips and damage compared to a normal road tyre. All I can think is they are not a quiet, but modern 4x4's are well sound proofed so the change in noise is almost non existent

 

[BrianStAlbans]

I've run my Maverick on road tyres for the last 2 years as it is much quieter on the road but at Longleat in October the car slid when on very wet grass slope in the safari park. A lot of cars were stuck but thankfully I crawled up the slope in 4wd.As we are greenlaning at easter the car will be fitted with A/T tyres.Luckily I get them at trade price. Brian (",)

 

[DavidW1]

Hi Bones,

Landrover International Mag recently published the "Ultimate Tyre Guide" which tested tyres in all the catagories, All terrain,Mud terrain, Road and Extreme. They awarded BF Goodrich's AT KP and Mud Terrain the best in the first two cats and Goodyear Wrangler best for road. I have BF AT's on my Trooper and they are superb, not noisy on road bags of grip off and seem to last for ever.

I get my tyres on line and have used E-Tyres a couple of times - they come to you with a fully equipped van and change and balance on site - most importantly they are about 20% cheaper than any other supplier I could find!

Kind Regards

Dave W

PS. In case Clive reads this, Just because I have eclectic taste in mags doesn't mean I have been converted to Landrover!

 

[clivea]

Hi,

there are several very good tyre review websites, so if you put 'tyre reviews' into Google you will get the links. I find www.tyretest.com, one of the best. There is also 'tyrespec.co.uk. For buying tyres try 'mytyres.co.uk' they will despactch anywhere in UK and provide vouchers for fitting at their agents.

 

[CliveV]

For Lisa

Sorry - only just picked this up.

Several reasons - overall will be a combination of all.

Low profile tyres scrub more. Nothing more hideous than a Range Rover on 22" wheels with "Rubber Band" tyres - RIDICULOUS BLING!

If you think about it the reason why low profile tyres are better for handling than a tall tyre that I remember on my old Ford Anglia is that as you turn the steering wheel you turn the metal bit of the road wheel but a tall tyre will flex at this point and so steering will not be so precise.

Increase the diameter of the metal wheel part and reduce the "height" of the tyre and more precision is the result. The disadvantage is that with less "give" in the tyre the more it wears.

Also as these low profile tyres take far more strain - they have to be made to a higher standard.

Grip

Because of the lack of give, these tyres are of a softer compound - hence more wear.

AWD

Two wheel drive cars are very hard on the drive wheels - AWD cars spread the strain and the effect is synergistic.

Side Wall strength

Modern tyres use modern materials - therefore a modern 4x4 tyre can be selected for use. All Terrain, Road or Mud Terrain, and all things in between. Mud Terrain as well as having more knobbly tread also have softer side walls - this makes them awful on the road but their ability to get you out of the sticky stuff is awesome.

The hardest car on tyres I ever came across was a high spec Carlton Turbo Diesel my friend had. He was lucky to get 12,000 miles from the front tyres. He had the tracking and everything checked but Vauxhall reckoned that sort of mileage was about right.

At over