Tyres, tyres, tyres!

**Mark & Lynda** · #1 24 Jan 2002

Ah yes!, the question that has plagued mankind - TYRES. I currently have a Toyota Landcruiser Troopcarrier and is shod in Goodyear Wranglers. To date we're creeping up to 55000kms and now look like a replacement set in say a few thousand 'K's. Now the question is has anyone got any info re: Pirelli Dakar or Michelin XZY tyres.
Considering that the driving is currently done in Australia with a view for Africa up to Europe.

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Mark & Lynda

**mmaarten** · #2 24 Jan 2002

Hai,

I have always been a Cooper fan. They are very cheap, they have a wide variety of thread's and they last long.
Usualy I used the discoverer stt, a very open mud-tire. It lasts, with 3/4 road and rock, 1/4 sand and mud, for about 50.000 Km. I had one blow-out and one puncture.

Maarten

**Mark & Lynda** · #3 24 Jan 2002

G'day Maarten, I must confess the Goodyear's are doing fine and (touch wood) I haven't (yet) had a punture or blow-out in them, I've rotated the tyres every say 15000 ks. i would recommend these tyres, however, I'm getting reports on either the Pirelli's or Michelin being in the 'Master Class' of 4x4 touring tyres.
Cheers &

s.

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Mark & Lynda

**A.B.** · #4 24 Jan 2002

I would stick to the Wrangler tires. Get the RTS model if possible. It says in the catalog that it’s street biased but I found that that makes it float on the sand rather than dig, which is exactly what we want. On pavement it sticks to the road better than anything I tried before. I use them in my Jeep on the street, sand, gravel and rock and I’m very happy with them. I haven’t tried, but I imagine they wouldn’t be very good in the mud.

The Pirelli Dakar is one of the best tires for off-road travel. But on the street they’re not that good. They are designed to float on sand and unfortunately they float on pavement too and it shows when braking hard. Even in the Pirelli catalog there’ a little chart that shows how good the tire is on different terrain and it says the Dakar suck on pavement. Even if your trip is mostly off-road you’ll still need to drive a lot on the pavement and you’ll need to stop when that donkey jumps in front of you

.

Don’t know much about Michelin tires so I can’t compare.

Hope this helps

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A.B.
www.ShortWheelbase.com

**Mark & Lynda** · #5 25 Jan 2002

Cheers A.B., Actually I spoke to a tyre dealer yesterday (24th Jan) and he spruiked about the Pirelli's being great on 'tarmac', I didn't know any better, only knowing he's a salesman and he had a 'set' of Pirelli's in stock. He went on to say that he sells a lot of the Pirelli's (?), I don't know.

Considering that here in Australia the road network is nealy all tarmac and to really get off into the 'Bundu' you have to travel and then what you travel on is 2nd class roads, which dare I say a majority of 2WD cars could (and have) travelled.

So, to get a real sense of proportion, tyres, predominately in Australia have a 80% tarmac usage and when offroad, are on dirt/gravel/sand mix. For someone to say otherwise is really 'winding up' a story.

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Mark & Lynda
Toyota Landcruiser - 'Troopy'
Life is a journey not a destination.

**ChrisC** · #6 27 Jan 2002

Hi
I did an overland trip - London to Cape Town, via the Mid East in a LR 130 fitted with Michelin XZY's, I purchased them from a friend (used) they lasted very well with a mix of driving on different surfaces. They are probably not the best on tarmac or off road but last well and are very tough.

Cheers
Chris Coombs

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ChrisC

**ana** · #7 27 Jan 2002

On tarmac, in [heavy] snow and rain, as well as [light] off-road driving, my Michelin's XPC 4x4, are doing very/very well under the LR 90, I did 50.000km and they are still in top condition, they come in the sizes 15/16/and 18 inch.
There is a upgrade of that XPC tire, the Michelin A/T 4x4, it is harder and heavier and more suiteble for sand and sharp-stone, but has still the same comfortable qualities on tarmac, this will be my next set.

Tim
If live is a journey, what's the destination.

**Col Campbell** · #8 30 Jan 2002

What about Michelin XZL`s they are not the perfect sand tyre, but as an all rounder they must come close, they can de-deflated as low as 0.6 bar for sand work, have a nice reinforced side wall to protect against cuts, and are aggresive enough for some mud if necessary, for an expedition you are likely to encounter all of these elements, so they have to be worth a thought. The michelin A/T would have to be my other option.
One of my friend at xmas time drove accross the desert from Brisbane to Perth, in 6500 kms he nearly destroyed a new set of BFG A/Ts, the tread was cut to pieces and he suffered 2 side wall punctures, after seeing his tyres when he arrived to perth in his TLC turned me off the BFGs for a serious off road tyre.
Col Campbell

**nickt** · #9 4 Feb 2002

Yeah, XZLs are a great all-rounder, though I did 10,000 miles mostly off-road in NW Africa and they needed replacing; (I bought another set) I reckon another 2-3k max. About a good as a compromise as you'll get. I'm using these tyres on a trans-americas trip planned for 2003.

BFG ATs are also a great tyre, I've used them but prefer the XZLs, though that's probably because the ATs were wider and therefore a higher rolling resistance. Better on-road than the XSLs, and I currently use these as my "runaround" tyres on both my Defender 110 and my NAS D90.

I'm heading back to Libya later in the year and this time I'm going to try Michelin XS-Fs the reinforced version of the XS all round desert tyre. It's gonna cost a few hundred quid so I hope they're worth it!

Nick.

**rclafton** · #10 20 Feb 2002

No usefull information - just looking for sympathy

Got a quote for a set of xzl's for my truck recently

I need 255/100*16 tyres (36" tall) - only a mere 230+vat each - and I want 6 !

Credit card is cringing in corner.......

**eightpot** · #11 13 Feb 2009

I've used XZY in the past, found them good on road and they deflated well off road as well (in 7.50x16). They are very thick and have lots of plys so reistant to punctures. Heavy buggers though.

I'm using Cooper Discoverer STT now as well and am very impressed - very tough and long lasting and grip really well on all surfaces.
Maybe a tad aggressive for lots of dune/sand driving, as you could really feel the tread biting into the sand rather than floating, but they do a less chunky ST version.

**diesel jim** · #12 12 Jul 2009

Just found these michelin 7.50 XZY's on 130" rims in Hampshire, not much time left though (well, 13 hours as of 20:23hrs GMT 12/7/09

)

**freeflyd** · #13 13 Jul 2009

In the latest edition of Australian 4x4 Action magazine there is a great comparison of a bunch of brands of off road tyres. BFG Mud KM2's got the best results....

**rclafton** · #14 13 Jul 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by diesel jim

Just found these michelin 7.50 XZY's on 130" rims in Hampshire, not much time left though (well, 13 hours as of 20:23hrs GMT 12/7/09

)

Not there anymore - I just won them

Anyone want some 'heavy duty' landrover rims ?

Rich

**roamingyak.org** · #15 13 Jul 2009

I have only used Michelin XZL's and XZY's in the last 9 years. Mainly because in the UK it is possible to get them like new from the Military via companies like Vass for about 75 pounds each.

XZL's are an aggressive tread that are great off road (rock/dirt roads etc) but not great on tarmac ( a little noisy) or wet tarmac ( you need to keep your speed down a little and watch cornering carefully).

So they are a great tyre for a trip across Africa.

But after 50,000/60,000km they will need to be replaced. They wear quickly on tarmac, hence only about 55,000km.

I've since replaced them with XZY's which are more like a truck tyre (14 ply though, like the XZY's) and so much smoother on tarmac. Although they are not as good in mud etc - they have the fantastic virtue of lasting at least 100,000km and even then being regroovable.

I've just put on a brand new set and Matt Savage has the old set that he is going to use - he was amazed that I was taking them off as after 40,000km they still look like new.

So both good, but if they are the same price I'd go for the XZY's because they last twice as long, even if you get stuck once or twice more (though the XZL's clog up with mud pretty quickly) - both tyres are as tough as you get, hence changing them in the wild is a challenge.

I've had a few punctures in 100,000km (valves going when I ran tubes, huge metal spike in the side wall) and a few car tyre places have given up trying to get the tyre off the rim (too much effort when you are used to puny car tyres ;-)

If they work out at hundreds of dollars each, then go for the XZY or something cheaper I would recommend.....

Good luck! As long as they go round they are at least ok ;-)