Tyres

[JETnomads]

Hello fellow Landcruiser owners.

I have heard that some of you have changed the tyres on your 200 series Landcruiser for BFGoodrich AT.

Can someone let me know what exact size you have. We need to change tyres and are having a devil of a job convincing tyre places of what we want. They are simply saying.... they dont make them in your size.

If anyone else has another recommendation for a great tyre for the 200, we are willing to listen to that too.

[robles]

I have my order confirmed this arvo for the new Bridgestone 694 in the original size of 285/65/17LT. The light truckversion is to arrive at the wharf in Brisbane this Sunday. WA and Vic already have got their stock

in the last two weeks. I am staying with the original size as I am happy with the diff ration etc.

This tyre is rated higher than the 120 as against the 116 OE and am told by a friend's son who is in management in Bridgestone SA that this tyre has been purpose built for 200 bearing in mind towing heavy vans.

Regards robles

[John and Ann]

Hi Eric,

We have been running Coopers on our Landcruisers for about the last 10 years, they are a brilliant long wearing tyre and can thoroughly recommend them. :thumbsup:

[bullfighter]

Hi

We have a 200 series and recently replaced the tyres with b f Goodrich 285/70R17 (ALL-Terrains) have had no problems with them we have just travelled through Hells Gate to King Ash Bay at Borrolooa Nt over some heavy corrugations about 500 kl of dirt we have had no problems with scrubbing also have met others on the way with same tyres would have no problems recommend these tyres

[JETnomads]

Thank you all for your welcome comments. We are off to Cairns tomorrow to look at the tyres.

[morribm]

Just like to raise this issue again as we're in the market for new tyres and the last post on this topic was a year ago.

The (standard) Grand Treks on our 200 series have now done 43,000 km and have a few 1000 more to go and all in all, I've been very happy with them. They had 17,000 km on them when we purchased the vehicle but since then, other than the blacktop roads, they have taken us across the Great Central Road, the Strezelecki and along the Darling Run as well as shorter off road tracks - the one into Rainbow Valley was a shocker at the time. One puncture and that was from a nail picked up pulling into a roadhouse on the GCR. I always drop tyre pressure and (hopefully) 'drive to the conditions' when off road.

Previously, when we had a 100 series and a 21' Kedron (tare 3.2 T) I had Cooper ATRs all round and the GRR and Savannah Way really chopped them up - not quite to the point of needing replacement, but even so... I believe this damage was experienced by many driving ATRs. Cooper now have a new tyre, the AT3 which apparently addresses the issue of the inappropriate 'for Australian conditions' rubber compound used in the ATRs.

Of course, the choice of tyres depends on their intended use and I'm probably a 80+% blacktop and ~20% off road user and would very much appreciate comments from others who have replaced their tyres and what experiences you have had. Incidentally, I'm very happy with the Goodyear Wranglers on the van.

This really is a complex issue. Not only is there a choice of brands but the question of legal size of tyre in Qld compared to other States and the insurance considerations all need to be factored into the equation. Our friends on the BT forum have some good postings on this but I'm wondering if there are any more current points of view from Kedron owners?

Cheers, Brian

[Neville and Kay]

Hi Brian.

With Tyres fitted to your Landcruiser as long as they are of the same Specs or greater than what is written on drivers side door pillar you are right.We had Cooper ATR fitted in VIC & they were not legal on our L/C but we got 60,000km. using 6 tyres [50,000]each,have now fitted a new set of Cooper Tyres 265/70R17 10Ply. With original Coopers we did Gibb River Rd,Gold fields north Kalgoolie,Plenty Hwy,Katheren Burketown Karumba across to Chillagoe to Mareeba & home to Cooktown towing Top Ender 3.7 T.& L/C Sahara 3.8T [bOTH C/Van & L/C now modified] & was happy with Coopers.When working in Cooktown I was working on Cape York & used BFGoodrich & was happy with them but when I priced them up against Cooper they were $35 a tyre dearer & I was not convinced the $-- Km was worth the difference.

[morribm]

Thanks Neville,

Did you not experience any chipping on your ATRs? That was certainly some weight you were moving. Are your new Cooper tyres the AT3s? I can't locate a ply rating for the ATRs. The BFGs appear to get a good rap with many caravanners and interestingly, I've just had a quote comparing the 265/70/17 size tyres of both BFG and Cooper. BFG TA KO = $360 ea; Cooper AT3 = $430 ea.

[Tolley]

Hello,

For my two bobs worth. I had BFG AT's on the 100 series Cruiser and was happy withe them. However, recently in WA I could not get replacements anywhere. There was a 3 month back order. I ended up with Mickey Thompsons ATZ four pads on the Cruiser. From Carnarvon to Broome, across the Gibb and then Savannah Way and home to Cairns, they have been great and they do not have a mark on them. The Wranglers on the van, however, look like they have been across the Gibb and Savannah Way!

I rweckon there's a good number of good tyres out there and much of it comes down to how and where you drive and personal preference.

Regards to all.

Colin

[Neville and Kay]

Thanks Neville,

Did you not experience any chipping on your ATRs? That was certainly some weight you were moving. Are your new Cooper tyres the AT3s? I can't locate a ply rating for the ATRs. The BFGs appear to get a good rap with many caravanners and interestingly, I've just had a quote comparing the 265/70/17 size tyres of both BFG and Cooper. BFG TA KO = $360 ea; Cooper AT3 = $430 ea.

morribm,

Sorry it took so long to reply to your questions but I flew home to Cooktown [& did not take laptop ] for a few weeks to build a car port & do some fishing got car port done but no fishing wind up to much.Ihad very little chipping on the ATR Coopers,if you can get hold of the booklet from a tyre store it will show the ply the 265/70R17 has a rating of 121R which is 10 ply [803mm dia] you can also get a 265/70R17 that has a rating of 115S WHICH IS 6ply [803mm dia]which was fitted to my vehicle in Frankston VIC that was not legal.Where did you get your prices from as if I am in the aera when I need tyres I would like to get a price as I will be up for at least 7 tyres next round.

Neville.

[morribm]

Hi Neville,

Bad luck about the fishing :-(

I eventually decided to get Bridgestone 694LTs in the standard size as overall, they seemed to get good reports from just about everyone who has fitted them and, at the time, Bridgestone had an offer of an additional $100 discount bringing the tyre price down to $375 each, fitted. It just so happens that I had the 200 up on a hoist a week or so before having the new tyres fitted and had the opportunity to inspect the tread on the current Grand Treks and both the mechanic and I reckoned that they still had several 1000 kms in them and since I have no big trip planned until Feb/Mar 2012, decided to hold off with the new ones for now but for my needs, I think the 694s will be the way to go.

Cheers

Brian

[Hermit]

Hi

We have a 200 series and recently replaced the tyres with b f Goodrich 285/70R17 (ALL-Terrains) have had no problems with them we have just travelled through Hells Gate to King Ash Bay at Borrolooa Nt over some heavy corrugations about 500 kl of dirt we have had no problems with scrubbing also have met others on the way with same tyres would have no problems recommend these tyres