Mudder dilemma......advice please

[chopper]

I ran the Bridgestone 673s for a lot of years and even more kilometers, in the company of every type of tyre you can imagine, and on a wide variety of vehicles in a wide variety of terrains.

I changed to Mickey t because I was made an offer I couldn't refuse.

The mickeys have worn better (not that the bridgestones were bad), but I really don't believe that there was much difference Offroad.

The bridgestones are a damn good tyre, underestimated by many probably due to Bridgestone not marketing the crap out of them.

[4wd26]

I can agree with the above- use the under rated Bridgestones on 2 different vehicles with great results.

The MTZ's were slightly better, but once worn the offroad ability declines quickly, on road manners still great though.

Cannot fault the Goodyear MTR's (apart form price) quieter and better on road then the MTZ's, better wet handling.

better offroad for longer- up to 40,000kms. They have now done 75,000kms so wear very well as well.

just another option that has not been mentioned

[chopper]

Selwyn, are your MTRs the Kevlar ones, or the pre Kevlar ones??

[4wd26]

Kevlar ones- been extremely happy

a little care required keeping the alignment up to the tyres as due to the large tread blocks on the outer edge they can round off- especially in a IFS vehicle

[Homer]

Pretty happy with the Kuhmo KL71's as is everyone I've talked to that's had them. As far as on road is concerned all MT's are crappy I guess it's just the level of crappyness?

The Kuhmo's top the list on that independent review that 5th posted with 5 stars for mud, snow and trail but only 3 for on road.

They are directional which is where I reckon they'd lose stars to other tyres as they can only be rotated front to back.

Again, there's no way I'd have MT's as a road tyre anyway, but each to there own

[2ENIL8]

I've just ordered a set of Bighorns, how often should you rotate, balance and get wheel alignments done?

[fridgie]

I rotate every 5k (have full set of 5) and get a balance done when I feel a vibration, get an alignment done when I feel its out

May not be the best person to ask though as I'm prob 80+% offroad

[Tim007]

That sounds a lot for big horns. I have the Goodyear Duratrac. Awesome on and off road. RACQ members get a discount at Goodyear as well. Should be around $340 a tyre fitted before discount.

[gmhl]

That sounds a lot for big horns. I have the Goodyear Duratrac. Awesome on and off road. RACQ members get a discount at Goodyear as well. Should be around $340 a tyre fitted before discount.

These are what I am looking at now. Maybe a bit smarter for me to go an aggressive A/T rather than a mudder. The reviews are good, apparently very good on wet and dry bitumen. I have priced them up here in Townsville, and not surprisingly there seems to be a nationwide shortage of them in 265/75/R16. Prices were (4 different retailers)

1. $389/tyre. Not available till mid March.
2. $325/tyre. Not available till late February.
3. $453/tyre. Full price is $480 but they would de me a deal for 4. In stock now.
4. $481/tyre. Not available right now.

I can't believe how hard it seems to be just to get a set of tyres these days. Before Christmas it was a struggle to get BFG M/T or Bighorns within 2 months.

Looks like I will wait for the phone call late February (hopefully) and go the $325 set. They can't guarantee that price so it may end up being more. I still can't get over the ridiculous price variance between retailers.

[Brett05]

Pretty happy with the Kuhmo KL71's as is everyone I've talked to that's had them. As far as on road is concerned all MT's are crappy I guess it's just the level of crappyness?

The Kuhmo's top the list on that independent review that 5th posted with 5 stars for mud, snow and trail but only 3 for on road.

They are directional which is where I reckon they'd lose stars to other tyres as they can only be rotated front to back.

Again, there's no way I'd have MT's as a road tyre anyway, but each to there own

I just bought a set of these in 285/75/R16 pretty much on your advise Homer. I spoke to Tyrepower about tyre life and rotating them. He advised me to rotate them (even though they are directional) 5K then rotate for 1K to take the edge off then back to directional. I replace MTZ's with these and the 1000k trip back home convinced me I made the right choice....absolutely wrapped with them on bitumen. Haven't been off road as yet...so can't comment. I paid $300 each for 285.....265 were $325 each....go figure...

[killa]

Out of interest I priced the Cooper AT3's here yesterday in a 265/75 R16, $370 a tyre.

[snowman]

I just bought a set of these in 285/75/R16 pretty much on your advise Homer. I spoke to Tyrepower about tyre life and rotating them. He advised me to rotate them (even though they are directional) 5K then rotate for 1K to take the edge off then back to directional. I replace MTZ's with these and the 1000k trip back home convinced me I made the right choice....absolutely wrapped with them on bitumen. Haven't been off road as yet...so can't comment. I paid $300 each for 285.....265 were $325 each....go figure...

geez Brett so he is saying to rotate them against the pattern for 1000 clicks What if you drive through some decent water in that 1000klms. the tread would push water to the centre of the tread and lift them wouldn't it?

how are they fitting? just checked your shed but no recent pics. did they fit those to the 7 inch rim?

[Homer]

You wont be disappointed off road Brett, that's where they stand out I'll give the opposite direction a quick run after reading your post

If buying again I'd definitely go the KL71's again, but if not financial enough I'd go the Federal Couragia's I think.
After seeing them in action on a couple of cars in relatively extreme wet and dry conditions, they look to be better than many big brand MT's - and CHEAP....went everywhere - and sometimes further - than all other tyres on the trip. Vehicle setup played a part but they did perform

They were new-ish at the time which I think also makes a big difference to all MT's in mud.

As an aside I saw the Kuhmo KL78 AT's in action off road and they were by far the best AT I've seen performance wise. From all reports they are like ice on a wet road but on normal dry dirt trails - some pretty intense trails BTW (red and orange tracks at LCMP) - they handled traction equally well as my not so new KL71's

I think they shocked everyone on that day run - including the owner!

Problem is their road manners - but that is also an issue with MT's I guess.

I think I should say that I'm not a Kuhmo fan boy when I say this, just what I've seen in my limited experience.
The only tyres I have a bias for or against is Coopers as I didn't like them on my MK, but again it was one pattern from a manufacturer that has plenty of others to offer - and I think their zeons will be my next AT if I don't go D694's again...

[Brett05]

I just bought a set of these in 285/75/R16 pretty much on your advise Homer. I spoke to Tyrepower about tyre life and rotating them. He advised me to rotate them (even though they are directional) 5K then rotate for 1K to take the edge off then back to directional. I replace MTZ's with these and the 1000k trip back home convinced me I made the right choice....absolutely wrapped with them on bitumen. Haven't been off road as yet...so can't comment. I paid $300 each for 285.....265 were $325 each....go figure...

geez Brett so he is saying to rotate them against the pattern for 1000 clicks What if you drive through some decent water in that 1000klms. the tread would push water to the centre of the tread and lift them wouldn't it?

how are they fitting? just checked your shed but no recent pics. did they fit those to the 7 inch rim?

yeah Snowy, that's what he's saying.
I suppose it comes down to how you drive to the conditions. Looking at the tread blocks, there's only a few mm difference from front to back of block....I don't think it would be pumping the water back into the centre of the tread....would still be dispersing the water, but obviously not as good as the direction they were designed for. I'd be prepared to give this a go....at least one to see how they fared in the wet....couldn't be any worse than what i just replaced. (worn MTZ's don't have much grip).
Tyrepower just peeled off the old Mickey T's and put the KL71 on the factory rims. ......running them at 34psi and very pleased with the reduction in road noise.
They fit no probs at all....bearing in mind i have a 2" lift. First thing Tyrepower did was throw the front on and check lock to lock.....plenty of clearance there as well. They fill out the guards very nicely....and have given me about 12mm extra clearance.

note to self: must update my shed....

[Homer]

They're a tough looking tyre...how can that not perform in the bush

[Blue]

You wont be disappointed off road Brett, that's where they stand out I'll give the opposite direction a quick run after reading your post

If buying again I'd definitely go the KL71's again, but if not financial enough I'd go the Federal Couragia's I think.
After seeing them in action on a couple of cars in relatively extreme wet and dry conditions, they look to be better than many big brand MT's - and CHEAP....went everywhere - and sometimes further - than all other tyres on the trip. Vehicle setup played a part but they did perform

They were new-ish at the time which I think also makes a big difference to all MT's in mud.

As an aside I saw the Kuhmo KL78 AT's in action off road and they were by far the best AT I've seen performance wise. From all reports they are like ice on a wet road but on normal dry dirt trails - some pretty intense trails BTW (red and orange tracks at LCMP) - they handled traction equally well as my not so new KL71's

I think they shocked everyone on that day run - including the owner!

Problem is their road manners - but that is also an issue with MT's I guess.

I think I should say that I'm not a Kuhmo fan boy when I say this, just what I've seen in my limited experience.
The only tyres I have a bias for or against is Coopers as I didn't like them on my MK, but again it was one pattern from a manufacturer that has plenty of others to offer - and I think their zeons will be my next AT if I don't go D694's again...

Funny you should mention the coopers, 4 tyre joints near here refused to fit them to the tri - they just don't work was the consensus yet they all praised them on other utes... Widetread said they'd never stick bfg a/t on a rollux for the same reason...

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[coxy47]

Just out of curiousity what coopers were you looking at. I'm running the at3s as day to day tyre and love them. Can't fault them at all

[Blue]

Just out of curiousity what coopers were you looking at. I'm running the at3s as day to day tyre and love them. Can't fault them at all

I was looking at any form of a/t at the time coxy... Plenty on here run coopers and are happy with them, having said that, Rick at work put cooper h/t on his pathy and the bastard thing slid around like it was on ice in the wet...

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[coxy47]

Fair enough. My parents had the ATR's on their Prado and they werent bad but a little slippery in the wet. I find the AT3s grip beautifully though. Best tyre ive ever driven in the wet.