Can I run V Steel radials and cross ply tyres together ?

OK thanks ,
Willie .

I have staked three Cooper AT 10 ply sidewalls on previous trips and I don't think the sidewalls on the BFG will be noticeably better . At least these Bridgestone V Steel have steel in the sidewalls , so I hope they will go better off track .
Thanks Rob .
Willie .

No good in WA Goldfields (if my memory serves me right that's where you are going). I have BFG M/T's on my 75. Great tyres but you'll be walking home it that's where you intend to travel.

Don't take my word for it, talk to the folks who earn their living out here. Radials are rubbish. For track or dirt work only. Off-track, they're crap.

12 - 14 ply cross ply on splits with the least agressive tread are what you want.

I have to agree with "V8 diesel" here. Yer standard "look good" radials are crap in the WA Goldfields. Mulga stumps go through 'em like a hot knife through butter. Side walls are too soft.

If you must go fer radials then get some that 10 ply or greater. At least then you'll have a fighting chance.

Somebody up above made a comment about "tubeless tyres on split rims"??? Is that possible?

I don't think so??

Bilbo

Quote "6 BFG MT on steel rims not split rims will handle all your problems on all terain".

Hope so. I've just replaced the D694's.

Richard, just out of interest (and not wanting to hijack the thread) were you unimpressed with the 694's? I've heard some good reports, and not many bad ones about the new 694 and the price seems right. From all reviews a big improvement over the D693.

What didn't you like about them? They would seem to be a good 'compromise' tyre.

V8 Diesel
I have been running Bridgestone D694 in a 285/75R16 for the last 40,000km, expect to get at least another 20,000 km from them probably another 40,000km. I was in the Pilbara at the time of buying them and the bulk of my travelling was bitumen with a bit of dirt, so far to sum them up:

Life expectancy: Good to excellent
Dry bitumen: Excellent
Wet bitumen: Excellent
Dirt/Gravel Roads: Good
Sand: Good to Excellent
Rocky stuff: okay
Mud: okay but nothing flash

When it comes time to replace them I am not sure if I will stick with them because they are a great tyre or go for an AT with a little bit more of an offroad bias, Cooper ST or BFG AT etc.

Maybe I just had some bad luck but this thread details my woes with this tyre.
Tyres

Rob ,

I was not so worried about legal / illegal because I will be off track in the Gibson Desert , but I will check as you have suggested .

The Bridgestone V Steel MIX ( VSXDZ ) LT 235 / 85R 16 , 10 ply are the tyres I have fitted to my new narrow 6.5 inch rims .

Apart from not really liking split rims , nobody makes them in the correct offset for a TD Cruiser although I have heard that the latest Troopys sort of fit .

I know about repairing tubeless tyres and putting temporary tubes in them , because I have torn the sides out of three new Cooper ATs on my last trips in the desert . I have a large repair kit of patches and three spare tubes .

I would be carefull to get as close as possible to the same diameter cross plys , but I was wondering if there was a small difference , what it would do to the diffs .

The cross plys are just soooo good at avoiding stake damage , I thought I might be able to use them as spares and have them put on the rims before I leave Sydney .

But it sounds like nobody thinks it's a good idea !

Thanks for your answer ,

Willie .

"...I was not so worried about legal / illegal because I will be off track in the Gibson Desert , but I will check as you have suggested ...."

If it is a declared track on a map, it is defined legally as a road, and therefore treated no differently to if you were on the Hume Freeway from Melbourne to Sydney. Still illegal.

If you do use the bias ply and radials in any sort of a mix and are involved in an accident involving other vehicles, you probably (read: certainly) won't have any insurance cover, and may be up for dangerous driving, culpable driving, driving an unroadworthy vehicle, and a raft of other charges.

Seriously, just a bloody bad idea. Forget it, and move on.

No really , I am not kidding , there is no track for 135 klm .

Flash ,
Cross plys are the ducks guts off track in the desert where stakes from burnt out grevilleas etc are a constant problem .They have no bulging sidewall .
Cheers ,
Willie

If they are just spares you can pick up the likes of triangle 12 ply for around 120 each

Thanks Davoe

I agree Davoe. When I've been out prospecting, years ago I learnt my lesson north of Meeka where I ripped 3 almost new "Bridgestone Desert Duellers" (yeah - right!)in 2 hours cross country. Cost? $750.00!!

I was 3 ounces (at the time) of gold "behind the 8 ball" before I even started!

NB - these days that's only an ounce behind the 8 ball ;)

After the above event with my old Maverick (God rest her soul - I hope she's out grazing somewhere in the sunshine), I used anything I could get my hands on that was black & round and held air in. I bought 'em from mine sites, servos, indigenous cousins, 2nd hand any old thing and never paid more than $40.00 for a tyre. And I used to travel on the bitumen on 'em. The diff never complained - but it was a Nissan diff after all ;)

The cops wouldn't know or wouldn't care about a radial from a cross ply from a black Livesaver!! It's "The Bush" fer God's sake, anything goes out there.

Have you seen the tyres that aborigines travel on?? Geez, now that is scary.

After you've ripped a few theyll get the message eh, Davoe ;)

"Legal this, legal that" ,,,,,,,,chunner, mutter, chunner, mutter, mutter,,,,,,,,the country's going to the dogs.

Is there any REAL bush east of Balladonia?? Or is it all civilised these days?

Bilbo

Davoe , Bilbo ,
I like your style . Your comments make sense to me ?
Cheers ,
Willie .

Bilbo, if you're back in that area again, when you come across a glavanised fence dropper with an aluminium tag that's been number punched, and then another either N, S, E or W 4 lineal km's away (give or take a few hundred metres), chances are I may have put it there. I was involved as a subcontractor with the Geological Survey of WA and worked on the geo mapping of each map sheet. Did quite a few of them. Good job for a single bloke, still miss it to tell you the truth.

Also did a bit for Mark Creasy up around Bronzewing, Bogoda Bore, Jundee etc and soil sampled sections of the Horseshoe Lights lease too.

Re: the plod. I got breathalised yesterday at 10.30am on a quiet suburban street near my house. This was not a quick setup to catch someone, there was a bus, witches hats everywhere, four cops, a chase car etc. WTF?

How's the V8 progressing mate? I've got my 6.5 advertised as it is 'surplus to requirements' and I really don't need it anymore, but everytime I drive it I just don't want to sell it. Towed a mates stuffed Hilux a couple of days ago and you really can't tell it's on there. An expensive toy now, but it still makes me smile.

No it would not be really safe for willie to drive from sydney to Perth with 1/2 radials and 1/2 crossplys no one is suggesting that. I have mixed them when I had to and you drive accordingly. Willie is talking about as spares driving offtrack where he would be lucky to top 20kph and probably not even - I cant see the danger myself

Thanks Exploder ,
That's about the way I had it pegged too .
Cheers ,
Willie .

I found the best way to clean the front at least was with a brush - brushed all the crap out. However there is still the crap that gets sucked up between the condenser and the radiator. Luckily with bush driving it isnt as bad as spinifex country. The only time i had a problem was driving a track in spring with this cotton weed stuff that made me have to clean the rad off

We hang shade cloth along the bul bar so and it extends down under the car . This stops some , but cleaning out the radiator and around the exhaust is still needed .

Hmmm,,,,,Phil, my Golden Rule and just about anyone else I know that does hard cross country work, is run 'em hard, as hard they can stand. The less sidewall bagging out, the better. The majority of staked tyres come through a wooden stumps going through that weak point just on the corner of the tyre where the flat tread meets the sidewall. This is where the "2 ply textile wall" meets the "steel belted" radial tread.

Thats' why cross plys are better in the bush - they don't bag out and stand higher.

I've done hundreds of bush punctures, both mine and other peoples and 90% of 'em are in that "soft, baggy bit".

By all means let 'em down for sand etc, but elsewhere - run 'em hard.

But every man to his own.

Bilbo

Phil and Bilbo ,

Both arguments make sense and I honestly think that some stakings could have been avoided with a flexible wall , but on the other hand , if there was NO bag there , what could you stake .

But I think the truth of the matter is , with those big fat AT tyres , even when they have 45 lb in them they still bag out with a decent camping load , so pumping them up does not fix the problem Bilbo .So I have to go with Glens theory because if you can't stop the "bagging " it is better to make it flexible . Saying that though , I have staked three Cooper ATs with only 20 lb in them .

With the rag tyres I think Bilbos theory is correct though , because with high pressures you have no sidewall exposed at all .

Thanks both for your input , and thanks to everyone for your great ideas and opinions .

Cheers ,

Willie .

Hi Bilbo,

I know the "run em hard" theory is popular - its what I used to do years ago when I was running split rims, and I still suggest it to people running splits.

But for the 4wding I personally do - I've changed - these days, I do a couple of desert trips, a few Flinders Ranges trips and a bunch of 4wd club trips each year. For this I prefer tubeless and I like their pressures low. I think it suits the modern tubeless radial tyres. Over the past 6 years I've been puncture-free on desert trips - includes 4 Simpson trips including Madigan Line, and 4 GVD trips. In our groups of usually 6-12 vehicles we do many trips without a single puncture. Madigan Line trip had about 12 staked tyres amongst the 3 vehicles running the higher pressures - no punctures in 3 vehicles running lowest pressures.

Also BFG ATKO are not good in regard to the punctures you describe - the sticks get caught by a raised edge of rubber and in they go - I've got a photo of one BFG with three plug repairs all on this edge. And the 3-ply MTRs are still the best conventional tyre for puncture resistance that I've seen and used.

And with the exception of split rims, we have rarely had to take a tyre off a rim to repair it - we plug them, and its up to the owners about getting them formally repaired back in civilisation. Makes for a relaxing trip.

All this is anecdotal - there is no right answer, and I'm not in the tyre business - just pass on what's worked for us.

And to Willie: those V-steels are good strong tyres - have some faith in them take the plug kit and enjoy your 135kms of cross-country!

Cheers
phil

I tried the soft approach with 28 psi my last trip and My MTRs didnt last 10 minutes -I now have 4 plugs in the sidewall of one and one in another

Hi Davoe,

You've got to admit that you are exceptionally hard on tyres and what you do with your vehicle is the exception rather than the rule.

I like to simply say what I do and give some idea of where I travel. Thats what a forum is about - but stuff about tyre pressures, punctures etc is always a can of worms

But its good to share our different experiences.

Cheers
Phil

Phil ,
The three tyres I have staked have had such big holes there is no way we could have plugged them . I could stick two fingers into two of them .

Phil the first sidewall punctue I was giving them a real hard time - well for a radial anyway. the 2nd time I hope it was no more than just bad luck. I had just left the bitumen driving on a well formed track. it hadnt been used for a while and had alot of sticks blown over it I guess my front tyres kicked a stick up and i copped it in the sidewall needing 4 plugs (it is still up) No doubt I have seen where you go with good results - maybe i am jinxed by the tyre god I dunno. very disheartening to have a $285 tyre stuffed not 10 min off the bitumen

" The three tyres I have staked have had such big holes there is no way we could have plugged them . I could stick two fingers into two of them ."

Hi Willie,
No worries. If you get holes that big every time, I wouldn't use plugs either! Tyre dealers won't repair them anyway, so I guess the tyre's dead. In the bush I'd hit it with some Locktite 406 to mend the hole, then patch it with a radial patch from inside, just so I still have a usable spare.

I guess that sort of problem has been uncommon in my experience, and I'd guess I've plugged or seen plugged over 50 tyres over the past 8 years on trips I've run.

All the best with your plans.

Cheers
Phil

Davoe,

I sympathise with what's happened to your MTRs and I tend to think I should never have suggested MTRs to you. I now understand what you do and where you go, and a cheap set of used Indian crossplies makes a heap of sense. But the rest of us need a tyre that is also usable on bitumen, and gives reasonable mileage.

I'm glad you've discovered the plugs. They work for us - reckon I could almost leave the tyre irons at home.

Cheers
Phil