GoodYear MTR's

true, I recently had a mongrel of a job sourcing my 31's, lots of ringing around but I eventually got them.

I assume you are doing an LCOOL trip because I seem to remember seeing some comments about BFG's staking the sidewalls too easily. What do they say about BFG muds as I'm running these.

Richard, BFg muds are better. The ATKO have a lip all the way round that is a magnet for sharp sticks.

Stan,
I think banning BFGs is a bit over the top. After all, plugging punctures is half the fun of the trip :-))) On the 2004 trip, there were 2 100series with ATKOs - one was up front and had half a dozen punctures; the other was tail end and had none. Anyway, Daz's big rubber will iron out the bumps for you guys!

Yeah but Davoe is going places most people wouldn't. (I'm just jealous of him!!).

I've done a fair bit of bush work through a wide variety of terrain and the only puncture I've had so far is a masonary drill bit of about 4 inches that went through it. It still didn't leak until I pulled it out though!

I would recomend them as an excellent and very capable all rounder.

i agree the rags are tough as nails, used to run them tears ago on HQ while shooting and had one flat in 2 years after geting 1-2 every trip with 8ply LT radials. but they were dangerous on bitumin, 4 drops of rain and the rear end wanted to lead the way.
how does your mate find them on bitumin???

The rags are crap on road. As I mentioned, it all depends what you want to do. Most people don't go 'off track' any more so it's not such a big issue.

Haven't used them myself, but the Indian 14 ply MRF tyres seem to be the go for bush bashing.

Hey V8 Diesel, I rember "davoe" talking about the tyres he ripped to pieces, but I didn't think they were MTR's?

Hey man, I'm not callin you a liar or nothin, but are we talking about the same "davoe" (ex wigdiemoultha) ?

I'll put my money on V8. I remember Davoe posting about the MTR's he cut up badly. He'd cut up any tyre though, the man goes where no man has gone before.

Definately MTR's he was talking about. It's no slur against the MTR's, all radials are useless in these WA conditions.

The problem with these sort of discussions are there's no right ot wrong. What's great in the Vic high country or Cape York is utter rubbish 'off-track' in the Goldfields of WA.

The problem is, what people describe as 'off road' varies. To some it's gravel, to some it's single vehicle tracks and to others it's getting a compass reading, taking a bearing and heading off. The latter is the situation where any radial tyre is as handy as chocolate teapot. I think what confuses the issue here is people argue about two entirely seperate things.

I used to work in exploration, which meant we'd actually make the tracks through virgin bush and the only tyres that stand up to 'bush-bashing' as we used to call it are skinny, high ply rated cross ply LT tyres. They come at a price in that they are hard, handle poorly on the road and grip is not that good - but all of these things are much better than a flat tyre. If you were to head across Australia in a straight line the only choice would be these, however most people tend to stick to the tracks which makes a lot of sense and opens up a wider choice of tyres.

For 99.8% of the folks here, the MTR would be an excellent choice.

V8, I know exactly what your saying and agree with you, however when I talked about bush driving I did mean off the track. In places such as Yellowdine, Brookton and and around Dalwallinu for example. The circumstances I won't enter into and I'd never try to pretend I do what Davoe used to (and probally still does) get up to as he is obviously doing a lot harder bushwork than me, the point is that for the small amounts of bushwork I've done in a variety of types of scrub they have been flawless so far.

But as you say for 99% of people, it's a non-issue anyway and they are a fantastic all rounder.

Agreed. Hey Jeff, how do you find the MTR's for road noise? Heard conflicting reports.

Thanks for the well put comments that make sence and put it in perspective.
I would like to know how the skinny cross plys go in sand and do they handle low PSI for long distance on soft sand?
i know the old tractor rag tyres would start cracking if PSI was too low, the new radials dont.

GN, check this link out, it is spot on.

Beadell tyre info

Local knowledge is invaluable in any decision like this. I take info from 4x4 shops, forums, mags etc with a pinch of salt. Best bet is to find out what people who earn their living working in the specific area recommend.

There is so much froth and bubble around these days, it's hard to sift out what you really need and what is just good marketing. Remember, these outback tracks were originally made by a lone, series 1 petrol Landrover with crossply tyres. No power steering, no aircon, no ARB accessories, no diff locks, no GPS, no tyrepliers, no Blue Tongue compressor, no sat phone and most importantly.....no road!

V8, I think the reason for conflicting results for tyre noise comes down to:

1. They get much noisier as they get older/worn
2. If not balanced reguarly (5-10k) they get REALLY loud.
3. Some people compare them to AT tyres (and have never experience the sound a true muddy makes) and other compare them to a BFG muddy or procomp etc.

When I whacked them on, WOW they were quiet, didn't even know they were on.
5k WOW they were starting to get noisy quickly! ;-)
10k and free balance (goodyear offer free balance every 10k plus free tyre repairs) and WOW they were quiet again.

From what I've experienced they really need to be re-balanced every 5k to keep the noise to a minimum. 10k is fine though if your vehicle has reasonable sound proofing. Of course if you don't give a crap (as a true 4wder shouldn't) then it really doesn't matter, you hang your arm out the window and listern to the WOOAHWOOAHWOOAH and just enjoy knowing you have a quality tyre on the road. :-)

Even at 10k if my radio is at a reasonable volume and my windows are up it's only a quiet background noise, nothing you can't talk over with a normal speaking voice. With the windows down it's a little noisy.

Just to clear things up the tyres I ripped to pices were Toyo opats. However the MTR fared little better and contary to discussion The first flat I WAS giving them a hard time pushing through heavy bush trying to uncover a rock marked on the map HOWEVER I returned the 2nd break and was on a well formed although stick strewn track only minutes from the highway and suffered a 2cm gash in the sidewall

Hi Davoe, how's it all going up at Nullagine?

I'm off this morning to Sandstone, Agnew, Yakabindie and then heading south over the next few days to Kal via Kookynie, Niagra etc. Like a kid on Christmas morning I am.

For the first time I'm putting my faith in radials. I'm not going to put my splits on for this trip as I think we'll only be driving on tracks, but I got to admit I'm not all that comfortable with the idea.

Nullagine is not what I expected there are great looking hills everywhere and i have been scaling them like a mountain goat soil sampling. everything is green and all the creek crossings between newman and nullagine are still flowing.
Unless you are really exploring radials should be fine for that trip as all the roads that way are usually in pretty good shape and often not much worse than bitumen. Niagra Dam should be nearly full ATM. When you stop off for a coldie or 2 at Kookynie ask the barman for the mud map of the rock formations. hanging rock, split rock and balancing rock - worth a look

Hi Rick,

Heard you had a good trip (from Greg). Good to hear the MTRs were OK - I did that same trip with Youngy in 1999, and destroyed 2 desert duellers and punctured another.

My MTRs have bitten the dust after 2 years of many trips - started delaminating a bit on the sidewalls - Goodyear came to the party, and prorata'd them. I have to admit that they copped a heap during that time.

Cheers
phil

Yeah, we had 3 of us in that party that had the G'year muddies, including Greg & Tricia. All very Happy. The muddies performance in sand were a real surprise. My mate is now gunna run them on his farm utes.
Dean had three flats on his brand new OPATS. He was cheesed!
My big Niss got 3.7 km/L in the Gammons. Oh well, that's life.
Even was able to lead Youngy & Don R to a ruin site that was new to them.................but of course they led me to much I had never seen before. They are an excellent leader/tail end charlie unit.

When do you head off, Phil?
How many travelling in your party?
Have just read CT Madigan's "Central Australia"...........very inspiring to a would-be desert dweller/traveller.
Have you seen Goyder's Pillars?

Cheers

I saw Dean at the tyre shop when he got them fitted - those Toyos looked good - 10 ply and all - very hard to get a good tyre on 17inch rims. I agree with you about Don and Peter.

We've got 6 vehicles which is our limit - have had to say no to some others. Madigan's book is a great read - I got hold of an original copy from a 2nd hand bookstore in town - just a nice thing to keep.

Yeah, saw Goyders Pillar on the Hay River trip last year - Lindsay Bookie takes you there when he does a sunset tour. Are you planning on heading up there?

Love to head there, maybe 2007. Wonder if Greg & Tricia are interested?
Got my copy of that Madigan from Beulah Park 2nd hand book shop, v.g. condition, $ 40.00.

If you can, I would really appreciate an emailed pic of the Pillars when you get home. It would be fascinatin' to see your pic from the same perpective as Madigan's, and a pic also of the head of the Thring & Arthur creeks. Interestingly, Thring & Arthur are names closely associated with John McDouall Stuart. I wonder if Winnecke named those creeks? If so, I think no coincidence. Those blokes knew each others travels & background intimately.

I'm also a big fan of George Woodroffe Goyder; Larry Wells; Chas Winnecke; Barclay et al. What men, what country. Inspiring.

Have a good 'un.

Rick, your iprimus address just bounced. Can you email me at
hdj79r at internode dot on dot net and I'll send you the photo etc