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Light Overland Vehicle Tech Tech issues, tips and hints, prepping for travel
Under 3500kg vehicles, e.g. Land Cruiser, Land Rover, Subaru etc.
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  #1  
Old 2 Mar 2010
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advice on tyres
Hello all,

Im looking at four different tyres for a overlanding expedition to morocco and hoping they will also last a trip to poland and then the cumulation of this all, a trip down east africa to kenya through tunisia, then back through saudi arabia and europe.

is the BFG A/T the undisputed king or will the Cooper A/T give it a run for its money at less cost?

Also what are the respective M/Ts like (KM2 versus STT)? reason being i tyro back here and need mud capability. this is not the be all end all though, i have the insa turbo dakars im currently running which i could put on inbetween the expeditions.

Thanks
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  #2  
Old 2 Mar 2010
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Been using Cooper STT for a few years now, they rock. Have done a couple of big trips on them as well as day to day UK stuff and after 3 years they still have most of thier tread.
I have just bought another set for my new overland truck, and have gone with the chunkier MT tread again as to be honest there doesnt seem to be any trade off - they handle very well on tarmac and don't make much noise. The MT's also look like they have a tougher sidewall - never had any probs after 100's of KM's on very sharp rocky harmada, in fact never had a puncture. I think the BFG MT can howl a bit on tarmac, but I think the tread pattern on the cooper MT's alleviates this (was told this was due to current noise legislation)
So a thumbs up for Cooper from me, and personally I would go STT rather than the AT type tread
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  #3  
Old 3 Mar 2010
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BFG's for me
hi Peter we have used BFG a/t for our african trip and just finishing a years trip round Australia about 46k miles, I drive a six wheel R/Rover the back tyres are well down because they scrub ging round corners but the frount four have about 40% tread left... I would replace them with the new BFG m/t that have just come out.Hope this helps

steve
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  #4  
Old 3 Mar 2010
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Mickey Thompson
Also have a look at Mickey thompson Baja MTZ. I've done 70,000km on a set of 6 and still have about 10,000km left on them. It's a mud tyre, but VERY good in the wet and also good on soft sand. they are also very quiet on the road.

The 265/75/r16 size have a very good load rating and the sidewalls are extremely good. I had a few acacia thorns in the side walls (just left it in there) through Africa, but nothing caused a puncture.
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  #5  
Old 3 Mar 2010
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BFG's
We use BFG MT’s on heavily loaded (usually running at close to maximum weight) LR 110’s and 130’s at work. Spec’ed by myself and a colleague since the early 90’s. Chosen because of their excellent mud performance but also because they last and last, better value over their lifetime.
Because of my preference for BFG’s I’ve had AT’s on my G Wagen for around 30k miles. Still maybe 20k left.
I believe the new pattern BFG MT’s are designed to be quieter on road.


Russ
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Old 4 Mar 2010
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Hi Peter,

Ive used the BFG Muds and All Terrains - both good tyres,

A friend uses Coopers MT and likes them too.

ATs are great until you get into slick mud/clay, however they are good in sand - and snow !!! - with less rolling resistance.

If there is a chance you are going to end up in East Africa during the rainy seasons then think about going with a MT

I think the new BFG MT KM2s look like a good compromise, not so open tread as the original MTs and a better sidewall.

MTs also work suprisingly well in sand -especially when part worn and will last a lot longer.

dont go too wide - go tall.

Either brand will work fine.

Cheers

Grif
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  #7  
Old 4 Mar 2010
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thank you all for your responses,

i think im going to go for bfg m/t km2 all round in 245/75 r16. the width is only 10mm bigger but its bigger diameter. ill have to chop a bit off my wheel arch.

mickey thompson are to big
cooper m/ts i couldnt get without paying the same as bfg, so i thought id go for that.
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Old 11 Mar 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PeterClark View Post
thank you all for your responses,

i think im going to go for bfg m/t km2 all round in 245/75 r16. the width is only 10mm bigger but its bigger diameter. ill have to chop a bit off my wheel arch.

mickey thompson are to big
cooper m/ts i couldnt get without paying the same as bfg, so i thought id go for that.
hi Peter,

let us know how you get on with the KM2's, I just ordered a set of 255/85's for my 90. Fitting on Saturday.

been using the original KMs for a while and they worked really well, even in the sand (Morocco). Hopefully the KM2s will be better again.

G
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Old 5 Oct 2010
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Look into Michelin XZY from:

http://www.vass.co.uk/specials.asp?T...9-18C3EB2BB769}


do the search in this tyre in the internet, and see why it it the Rolls Royce of the overland tyres, 70K miles means nothing to these...when these have 12-14 ply desing!!

other good choise for desert is G90, different militarys are using these on the desert, 10 ply desing.

Personally I have been using general grabber, good US made tyre that has lasted nicely 90 000km, before changing
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Old 30 Oct 2010
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Originally Posted by laplander View Post
Look into Michelin XZY from:

http://www.vass.co.uk/specials.asp?T...9-18C3EB2BB769}


do the search in this tyre in the internet, and see why it it the Rolls Royce of the overland tyres, 70K miles means nothing to these...when these have 12-14 ply desing!!

other good choise for desert is G90, different militarys are using these on the desert, 10 ply desing.

Personally I have been using general grabber, good US made tyre that has lasted nicely 90 000km, before changing

I've used both tyres - XZY will last a very long time, and very puncture resistant but are surprisingly heavy (maybe twice the weight of a G90) and not very good in mud, I also doubt they would run that well aired down in sand due to the thickness of the sidewall.
G90 were ok in sand, not the best, and were awful in everything else and very loud on the road - they also wore down quite quickly. No idea why the military use them, must have got a very good deal??
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Old 30 Oct 2010
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xzy are ok on a heavy truck - not on a LR90 etc.

14 ply sidewalls do take a bit of bending
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  #12  
Old 31 Oct 2010
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BFG All Terrains 3 Ply side walls and quiet drive through France and Spain (and back again) to Morocco.
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Old 1 Nov 2010
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you would expect the ATs to be superior in the sand, however, this would appear to not necessarilly be the case. most of the dakar runners use MTs, principally because they're tougher but also good in sand. I made the mistake of running Michelin Xs in Morocco and they got cut to shreds on the rocks. no punctures but more damage than the MOT man would like!!
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Old 9 Dec 2010
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I know the question I am about to ask has not much to do with this post but I am running BFG AT on a defender 110 fully loaded 235/85R16 and wanted to kno what sort of tyre pressures I should be looking at for:

sand
hard dirt road
tarmac

on various posts I have read on these forums some state as low as 1.7 bar for sand but that looks way too low. I don't seem to be able to find a recomended chart either from BFG!
Thanks
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  #15  
Old 9 Dec 2010
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BFG tyre pressures
I run my BFGs at 2.5bar front and 3-3.5 bar rear on tarmac.

On sand, 1.5 bar all round. Good compromise if you encounter gravel/rocky patches.

1 bar if you're in sand all day.

In emergencies only 0.5 bar will get you moving but then straight back up to 1-1.5 bar.

Check sidewall temperatures regularly.

Happy trails,

Jojo
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Last edited by Peter Girling; 9 Dec 2010 at 11:59. Reason: additional text
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