AT OR MT For Desert Trip
Submitted: Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 at 08:41
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Member - Lex
I'm presently running BFG AT 265/75 on the Patrol. The question is will a set of MT tyres such as Goodyear MTR's be too much of a compromise in sandy dune country given that their flotation may not be as good as the AT's. I'd probably accept that trade off if the experienced members thought that they made up for it by being significantly better in rough gravelly situations.
Is it perhaps better to adopt the worst case scenario attitude and expect lots of wet muddy sections and just wear the MT's anyway?
Does the more open block pattern of the MT make the tyre more vunerable to
puncture in sharp rocky stuations?
Reply By: Phil G - Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 at 15:44
Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 at 15:44
Lex,
Any tyres will do fine. We go on club trips in groups of many vehicles and nobody has problems provided they take notice of a few things. Don't overload the vehicle, don't drive too fast on outback roads and lower your tyre pressures - like 25psi on gravel roads and 20 psi in sandy country. Last year we had 12 vehicles cross the Simpson without a
puncture - all sorts of tyres. Only tyre problems were the chipping out with some of the BFG and Coopers on the outback roads. One guy was wishing he was running the Grand
Treks as they seem to fare better! People who complain their tyres were no good in sand, just haven't dropped their pressures enough.
Actually, BFG M/Ts are a better sand tyre than BFG A/Ts, but there's not a lot in it.
Don't know about Goodyear MTR's yet as I got my first set about 6 weeks ago. So far, they don't chip at all in the rocky stuff in the
Flinders Ranges (2 trips), but I haven't used them in sand yet - thats coming up in the next 2 months.
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: kezza - Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 at 19:23
Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 at 19:23
Can agree that tyre pressure most important factor apart from driver skill.
I am Currently comparing MTRs and Bfg MTs so far the MTs better in the mud but as long as pressure is low both do very
well in the sand - IF you know how to drive in sand. Had a dream run through a very windswept (ie high jump ups)
simpson desert and never had to go below 20 psi (otherwise often go down below 15 psi in other very hard conditions).
The MTRs seem to be wearing very fast approx 3mm (of 15mm of tread) in 7,000kms while the BFG MTs (USA) are down 5mm (of 16 mm) in 32,000
On rough
rock at low pressure both tyres seem fine I have had no problems though others say MTs soft in side wall .
I have managed to put a horseshoe through a MT but that was on the Strezleckie track and my only problem with MT.
kezza
FollowupID:
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Reply By: desert - Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 at 21:19
Sunday, Jun 22, 2003 at 21:19
Lex, on the surface of it all (no pun intended), you would think that MT's would bite in and have a harder time of it over the dunes, but this has not proved to be true. Watching all sorts of different tyres types in my convoys, shows me that the tread design is of little matter to touring for central desert environment. Unless it is very wet. Floatation is the key, and the MT's will bag and footprint just as
well as AT's. What most people do not take into account, is the more rugged construction of the ply overlays and shoulder bands that an MT exhibits over an AT. This reason alone makes the construction of the MT tougher than a comparable, same brand AT.
All said and done, it is splitting hairs. Use what you have.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: bruce.h (WA) - Monday, Jun 23, 2003 at 19:37
Monday, Jun 23, 2003 at 19:37
Lex 1 thing to rember with tyres is that if you are unlucky enough to totaly destroy
1 or 2 tyres are you willing or able to sit & wait for new ones to be shipped out to where you are & are you willing to pay throu the nose to get them. I think you are better off keeping it simple & sticking with the more popular tyres . to give you an example we came across a guy in a flashed up holden ute in the north west of wa,
had blown 2 tyres so we gave him a lift to nearest town ,as he was hoping to get them straight away we siad we would wait & give him a lift back to his ute he came out of the trye place with a total look of dispare on his face, tyre place said it would take 3 weeks to get his tyres up to them
Regards Bruce
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