Tyres for off road

[johns]

Hi
I have a D22 2006 need to change tyres on it as at moment has the normal road tyre fitted, need something that will be better for driving off road to check sheep,
Tyre size at moment is 255/70/R16
How much wider could I go with the original alloys that were fitted, could I go to 265 275? Or even more
Also any makes recommended
I will try to attach a picture
Thanks
John

 

[Horatius]

The STR's have 265/70/r16 as standard, so that should be ok. Will be wider and slightly taller. Think if you want wider than that you'll need different rims.

Muddies are a better tyre for dirt as they have better traction and are generally much stronger all round. Though you might have to trade some internal organs as down payment for brand name ones. Especially if you need the all important white writing lol. They don't last that long either.

I did have a very cheap set of Chinese brand muddies at one stage. They ended up being the best ute tyres I have ever had. Extremely strong and surprisingly they were also better on the highway than any AT's I have ever tried (if noisier). Unfortunately haven't been able to find them in the right size since.

Apart from that an aggressive AT tyre (a lot of them are only highway tyres with lots of marketing IMO) would probably do. The fair dinkum ones will at least have a genuine LT construction.

 

[OldManBeard]

Given that you currently have road tyres I'm going to assume you mainly do road driving but want something that will work decently off-road as well. If that's the case I suggest you get all-terrain tyres. There are a number of good brands around, although I recommend you stay away from Hankook, as they are an appalling tyre with poor grip on bitumen and extremely weak sidewalls that are prone to blow-outs. I always used Bridgestone tyres in the past but they have deteriorated a great deal in design and quality in recent years, so I'll no longer use them but have not yet decided on a suitable alternative.

If you decide to use muddies, as per Haratius' suggestion, you'll need to take into consideration that they're made specifically for off-road use and even then they are optimised for soft terrain (but are nearly useless on sand). On bitumen, they are prone to let go very suddenly in wet or otherwise slippery conditions. They will also wear very much faster than A/Ts or road tyres. On the other hand, if this vehicle is just for farm use then muddies would be a great choice.

I'll make no comment on tyre sizes because I don't even know what size rims are on your D22.

 

[Cowboy550]

Hello J
always been a Mickey Thompson man, recently I switched to Monsta mud warrior… before fitting I compared the two off the rim and you can see where all the extra money goes, I went with the Monsta because I was lead to believe it was a Australian turns out it made in China, they are ok needed heaps of weight to balance, I will going back to Mickey
all said and done bob jane throw a set of j trac’s on our troopy just to keeps us out of trouble cheap as cheap and Wow they have been totally fantastic, best money for tyres I ever spent just like Horatius said.
Oldmanbeard is on the money also once apon a time bridgestone desert duellers where the great tyre ever.
good luck J let us know

 

[ben85]

265 70 16 or 265 75 16 are a good size.

bfg all terrains are a nice tyre, not a cheap tyre but a good tyre.

if you want a cheap mud tyre a mate of mine had achilies mud tyres, a copy of the pro comp xteme muddies that seemed pretty good value for money.

 

[johns]

Hi Thanks for all your help
Does any one know what the Cooper Discovery stt pro would be like
Road and off road use is probably 50/50

 

[Skourias]

My navara has the michelin latitude on 17 inches wheels. Its 50/50. Great tyre and very comfort. You don't hear any noises from it during cruising...

 

[Horatius]

Generally for off roading you're better off not going to larger diameter wheels. You usually travel at lower speeds with less tyre pressure off road. You want the higher profile, so the sidewall deforms to an extent (generally speaking) to get a longer track. A lot more comfortable also, especially on rutted out roads.

It depends how much off roading you do I suppose, also how you want the car to look.

I gave a set of these a go a while back after the "brand name" AT's I had got bad sidewall gouges and one got staked through the tread with a shard of basalt on one track. Ended up they were exceptionally good all round tyres, great grip and super strong never got so much as a scratch or nick in them over some rough terrain, slightly noisy on the highway though (were $600 a set fitted).

Used to run them about 25psi on dirt roads (or on tar in the snow) but had them down to about 13psi on wetter tracks. Seemed to be fine. No way I'd be doing that with the tyres they generally sell as "All Terrains".

Not really a full on mud tyre, more like what a proper "all terrain" should be IMO. Not sure of quality control or whether I fluked a good batch though. Would of got them again but no one had any in stock unfortunately.

 

[Skourias]

So what is the alternative solution? What do you think?

 

[Horatius]

It's whatever works best for you.

Really aggressive AT's and muddies are very heavy, strong tyres with strong side walls that can be run at lower pressures. They usually have a higher load rating too (though sometimes lower speed rating) and are excellent off road or even on back country roads. If performance and reliability is important in these conditions they're worthwhile. If you travel to really remote areas they're even more worthwhile.

They're no fun at all around town or if you drive in city traffic regularly though. They're noisy, can feel noticeably slower to take off and can even affect fuel consumption. They also usually don't last very long (comparitively).

At the very minimum AT's should be genuine LT construction IMO and there are some good ones that are a good compromise. A lot of them aren't though, and seem to be just glorified highway tyres.

 

[KevinE]

I'd say 265/70/R16 is a good choice for a YD25 D22. Which brand of tyre is up to you. I'd go with the cheapest brand of AT tyre that your ego can cope with. We've had two YD25 D22's over 11 years. The current one is 8.5 years old & spends its week days towing a dual axle work trailer full of tools & cut down trees around the suburbs. We like outback touring & both of our D22's have done a fair bit of that. In 2015 we needed new tyres on the Ute & I realised that the camper we were towing had since 2012 had gone through some very rough roads with Chinese tyres on it & we hadn't had any dramas. So I took a punt and bought some cheap & cheerful Sailun AT's for the Ute. We were towing a camper trailer & went up from Adelaide To Mataranka in the NT & then out to Roper Bar, Nathan River Road, Lorella Springs, Borroloola, Hells Gate, Doomadgee, then home via Burketown/Cloncurry/Longreach/Tambo/Broken Hill. No dramas with the tyres. I drove it around for the next 9 months or so towing the work trailer in all weather & no problems, so when my wife's Pajero needed new tyres, we put the same tyres on it. We towed a caravan with the Pajero from Adelaide up to Camooweal via Gemtree & then back down to Alice & both the West & East MacDonnell ranges, Arltunga/N'dala & then Andamooka on the way home - still no dramas with the tyres! We didn't do much travel the next year, just a Flinder's Ranges trip & an separate Arkaroola trip, both with the Ute towing the caravan, with the Chinese tyres on it. The following year, we did a big trip in the Pajero, towing a camper trailer up through from Wilcannia to White Cliffs/Wanaaring/Hamilton Gate/Thargo/Quilpie/Windorah/Hamilton Corner/Betoota/Birdsville/Boulia/Plenty Hwy/Alice/home, still with those pesky Chinese tyres on it lol. In 2019 we did yet another Flinder's trip, then did another trip up the Oodnadatta Track/Eringa/Mt Dare/Old Andado/Santa Teresa/Alice/Kingoonya on the way home, in the D22. Last year we took the Pajero out onto the Nullarbor Regional Reserve, towing our camper, with the Chinese tyres on it. This was a massive step up in rough roads, as they were literally just heavily lime stoned wheel ruts. It was as remote as I've ever been. On the way back, we went up through the Gawler Ranges NP & onto Mt Ive, then up to Kingoonya via Lake Gairdner & then out to Tarcoola. On the same trip, we went out to Lake Torrens from Andamooka & then up the Stuart Creek track from there to the Borefield road/Oodnadatta track again & then home via Parachilna Gorge & Rawnsley Park. Those roads around Andamooka are the roughest I've been on yet. Early this year, we were due for a trip up the Silver City Hwy from Broken Hill, as we hadn't been up there since it was sealed, but the rain put paid to that trip (we were planning on going home via Walkers Crossing), so we thought about out around the talc mine between the Strzlecki Track & Arkaroola (Moolawatana Station) The rain got us again & we already had time off booked, so we went to Uluru. Before we went, I had new tyres put on the Ute. They didn't have Sailun, so I took their advice & bought Revolo LT tyres. They're OK. The trip was the 1st time in a very long time that we'd stayed on sealed roads on a long trip & I quite enjoyed it TBH. Just recently, we went up through the Gammon Ranges with the Ute towing our camper; Adelaide/Copley/Nepabunna/Balcanoona/Lake Frome/Weetootla/Arkaroola/Moolawatana/Montecollina Bore/Lyndhurst/Leigh Creek/Nepabunna/Mt Chambers Gorge/Blinman/Parachilna Gorge/Home. Like I said, buy the cheapest tyres that your ego can cope with.

 

[Horatius]

Hi Thanks for all your help
Does any one know what the Cooper Discovery stt pro would be like
Road and off road use is probably 50/50

They look like fairly aggressive AT's. Can't say what they're like, haven't used them. A lot depends on where you're going to be off roading. As Kevin says, if you're going to be touring in the outback you just need good reliable tyres that you're confident in, tread pattern isn't that important. You might need to drop pressures for desert sand hills but a reasonable AT will be fine.

I ran around off road on a set of road tyres for a couple of years and didn't find much difference to the AT's I have had.

If you're travelling in the (generally wetter and steeper) eastern mountain ranges though, nothing beats muddies. A lot of the valleys can be wet especially near rivers/crossings and something with good grip and strong sidewalls that you can drop way down in pressure will be very helpful for traction.

Some of the descents/ascents can be ordinary too, and you really don't want to be changing a tyre half way up/down some of them. Generally muddies not only perform better but are just a stronger all round tyre for this type of off roading.

I climbed out of a steep valley in falling snow on AT's and then a year later out of the very same valley (in the snow again) with muddies. The difference was noticeably in favour of muddies to say the least.

Some people use road/AT's for their normal driving and keep a set of muddies for when they go bush. That would be ideal but not everyone can afford it, if you're going to be doing lot's of different off roading those tyres could be a good compromise.