All terrain tires?

All terrain tires?

Author
Discussion

mt159

Original Poster:

23 posts

172 months

Friday 29th January 2010
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Im looking to get a set of all terrain tires for my defender and just wondered if anyone had any recommendations of what tire to get???

Andy Sargeant

2,371 posts

206 months

Saturday 30th January 2010
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General AT2 without doubt the best value for money, most popular AT tyre we sell.

Andy.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

191 months

Saturday 30th January 2010
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Depends what you from them really. The BFG AT's are quite iconic and proven. I've got a set and while they surprised me off road I think they are bloody awful on the road.

They do wear great and will last forever. But they go hard and in the wet are rubbish.

The AT's look great and will do most things. However I personally opt to run a mud terrain pattern. I do this for several reason. Partly they can be good enough to be acceptable. They look way better and more chunky. And lastly should you need to go off road then you haven't got to worry about changing tyres.

Unless you never plan to go off road and intend to do a lot of motorway miles I think I'd be looking for some BFG MT's or some Kumo's. Even some of the remoulds are ok if just potterimg about. I've been rolling about on an old set of big lug very aggresive 'Dirt Devils' May last year. I've found no problem on the road and that includes quite a few 1000 miles since putting them on. smile

Andy Sargeant

2,371 posts

206 months

Saturday 30th January 2010
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I have the choice of any tyre in our very large choice in 4x4 tyres and it's my choice on all our 4x4's.

Andy.

FamilyGuy

850 posts

191 months

Saturday 30th January 2010
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Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Big dollars and to be cool with the in Crowd:
BF Goodrich AT's

otherwise :
General Grabber AT2's


HTH

Edited by Paddy_N_Murphy on Saturday 30th January 00:36
I did loads of research around the 4x4 forums etc for my 'cruiser and this ^^^^ sums it up succinctly.

Also be aware what some manufacturer's call an AT tyre is really a road tyre made for 4x4s that never leave the black stuff. The Dunlop AT20's I will shortly be replacing couldn't cope with a mildly muddy field. The AT2's seem to come in a better range of sizes - I can't get BFGs in the exact original size. OTOH judging by those we had on our Trooper the BFG's are truly indestructible, enormously capable and last forever but as mentioned they do go hard.

Edited by FamilyGuy on Saturday 30th January 13:31

kiwifraser

4,386 posts

195 months

Tuesday 2nd February 2010
quotequote all
I am picking up some AT2's tomorrow night. 4 tyres about 3 years old with reasonable tread (7-11mm) for £50 total. I figured they are worth a go at that price!

They are slightly oversize 245/75x16 for a Disco 1 300TDi, so should look the business.

Now the important question, do I mount them with the white writing on the inside to be unseen, or visible on the outside scratchchin ???

Arrive Alive

282 posts

172 months

Tuesday 2nd February 2010
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I've always been happy with General AT's and BFG MT's.
As regards the question about white lettering: on a Land Rover (of any kind) always on the inside!

Andy Sargeant

2,371 posts

206 months

Wednesday 3rd February 2010
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You may find you need an inch lift as the 345/75x16 may rub.

Andy.

kiwifraser

4,386 posts

195 months

Wednesday 3rd February 2010
quotequote all
Andy Sargeant said:
You may find you need an inch lift as the 345/75x16 may rub.

Andy.
Thanks Andy, I've been checking out what I can about the size, and the most common suggestion is to camel cut the rear arches first. It's a relatively easy solution, but if it doesn't work I'll go for the lift too.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

191 months

Wednesday 3rd February 2010
quotequote all
kiwifraser said:
Andy Sargeant said:
You may find you need an inch lift as the 345/75x16 may rub.

Andy.
Thanks Andy, I've been checking out what I can about the size, and the most common suggestion is to camel cut the rear arches first. It's a relatively easy solution, but if it doesn't work I'll go for the lift too.
You can def fit them without a lift, so long as you trim enough. Camel cut is a good idea, esp if off roading. And the front lower spoiler on the bumper corners may need trimming or removing.

I used to run 31.10.50R5's which are a 265 width pretty much on a stock non lifted Disco. Only had to remove front bumper corners.



I then swapped to 33.11.50R15's, although they measure more like 34" tall. Think these are like a 290/90R15.

Still no lift and only trimming.


kiwifraser

4,386 posts

195 months

Wednesday 3rd February 2010
quotequote all
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Arrive Alive said:
I've always been happy with General AT's and BFG MT's.
As regards the question about white lettering: on a Land Rover (of any kind) always on the inside!
coffee

should be interesting.....
Green Disco 1, bull bars, Hella Rallye 4000's, Rear double step, roof bars. Hmmm... tyre decisions scratchchin

ETA: Photos/ thread here of the disco, wheels, tyres, and combinations I'm considering - for anyone who wants to have an opinion biggrin
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...



Edited by kiwifraser on Wednesday 3rd February 16:46

pits

6,429 posts

191 months

Wednesday 3rd February 2010
quotequote all
Paddy_N_Murphy said:
Arrive Alive said:
I've always been happy with General AT's and BFG MT's.
As regards the question about white lettering: on a Land Rover (of any kind) always on the inside!
coffee

should be interesting.....
Aesthically speaking on a Landy, I would agree that white lettering should be hidden although I wouldn't fit the tyres on that way, I would just ignore it, on something Jap or American white lettering on the outside, fact of the matter is this, your truck shouldn't be clean enough to see white lettering on it anyways

kiwifraser

4,386 posts

195 months

Wednesday 3rd February 2010
quotequote all
300bhp/ton said:


Brilliant photos!!! biggrin

kiwifraser

4,386 posts

195 months

Thursday 4th February 2010
quotequote all
kiwifraser said:
I am picking up some AT2's tomorrow night. 4 tyres about 3 years old with reasonable tread (7-11mm) for £50 total. I figured they are worth a go at that price!

They are slightly oversize 245/75x16 for a Disco 1 300TDi, so should look the business.

Now the important question, do I mount them with the white writing on the inside to be unseen, or visible on the outside scratchchin ???
Can anyone help on what both the on-road and off-road (greenlaning/ pay n play) tyre pressure should be please?

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

191 months

Thursday 4th February 2010
quotequote all
kiwifraser said:
kiwifraser said:
I am picking up some AT2's tomorrow night. 4 tyres about 3 years old with reasonable tread (7-11mm) for £50 total. I figured they are worth a go at that price!

They are slightly oversize 245/75x16 for a Disco 1 300TDi, so should look the business.

Now the important question, do I mount them with the white writing on the inside to be unseen, or visible on the outside scratchchin ???
Can anyone help on what both the on-road and off-road (greenlaning/ pay n play) tyre pressure should be please?
Tyre pressures are quite a personal thing, so they will be many opinions on it.
 
My take is you can alter how the car drives by quite a lot, yet on the flip side it can at times make no odds what so ever.
 
If unsure, just inflate the recommended guidelines for the vehicle.
 
Personally I often run mine at around 26-28psi. This seems to suit for most conditions. If you want to alter turn in and how lose the back is you can play with the pressures to alter the handling.
 
If you think you’ll do alot of high speed work and/or towing or hauling then higher pressures are often a better bet. They’ll also offer better mpg as a rule.
 
Off road it really is a mine field.
 
I compete in ALRC events, which for RTV trials limit tyre pressure to a minimum of 22psi. In my experience I’ve never really noticed that much if any different running 22psi compared to running 28psi. So nowadays I simple don’t bother lowering them.
 
Of course at a pay and play site you don’t have completion regs to worry about. So 12-15psi I suspect is fairly common.
 
But remember some key points.
 
If you haven’t got a way of inflating the tyre again to drive home, don’t drop it too low.
 
Different tyres work better at lower pressure. Some, and I suspect more road biased and AT treads may only see a marginal gain.
 
Low pressures can put more wear on the sidewall, if the tyre is not designed to run really low pressures off road you could end up damaging the tyre and potentially the rim too.
 
Low tyre pressure means you are at risk of the tyre popping off the rim. Many people who run low pressures a lot will run bead lockers to help keep the bead of the tyre seated. These are must if you want to run as low as the 9psi range.
 
Different terrains respond better to low pressures. Some terrain types will not see such a gain.
 
 
My advice would be to treat each situation on its own. Try driving it without adjusting the type pressures, if you are finding it a real struggle then see if you can find more grip with lower pressures. I suspect on many occasions you’ll find it will be just fine without the need to do anything smile

kiwifraser

4,386 posts

195 months

Thursday 4th February 2010
quotequote all
Great advice thank you. I'll put them all at 28 as a starting point, and see how I go in different situations as I come across them smile

Andy Sargeant

2,371 posts

206 months

Thursday 4th February 2010
quotequote all
Just spotted my mistake, should have read 245/75x16.

Andy.

kiwifraser

4,386 posts

195 months

Thursday 4th February 2010
quotequote all
Andy Sargeant said:
Just spotted my mistake, should have read 245/75x16.

Andy.
hehe I guessed as much. 245 is not so much of a problem, although slightly less cutting I suspect wink