Cooper Tires vs BF Goodrich

50,000km isn't bad for mostly outback use especially as you tow as well. Doubt very much the Cooper ATR would do any better. Search a little further back than that last post & the endless numbers of failures may put you off them.
Cheers Craig..............
MTR's

Mate ive read so many horror stories about the Cooper ST and STT's - heaps of people say that they crack and huge chunks of rubber have been known to peel from the tyre - many within the first 20,000 kms.

Not sure itll work but try this link for a few stories:

http://www.4wdmonthly.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=44058

I can definately say that ive read more bad than good reviews but in saying that ive never had them.

I just bought a set of Mickey Thompson MTZ's and am very impressed with them - very quiet on the highway considering the aggressive pattern.

A good mate just bought the Mickey Thompson ATR's and is also very very impressed.

Good luck... tough decision.

I personally stand by Bridgestone A/T LT 693s mate. Nothing comes close to the k's you can get out of them, and never had any problems with punctures, blowouts, etc. Excellent tyres, and i see they have brought out the 694 in LT construction. Might be worth a look also. Honestly i have tried all tyre makes and have settled with these as being by far the best in all categories.

Its also worth looking at the newer Yokaharma A/T's. I had a great run out of the previous two sets. Two flats in 7 years, one a tec screw the other a rivit.

Depends on roads and towing, but how achived good wear from these tyres.

Everyone buys one set of coopers but...................

Hi Bruce
I have owned cooper st's on the last 2 vehicles since 2002 i have had two punctures one was a valve extension off a truck across the Plenty highway(i fitted the spare-a bridgestone instead of mending the cooper-a job when we reached our next camp spot!! the bridgestone made it a whole 80km before a rock went straight through the tread nothing different than what we had been driving on before and for the rest of the trip to Alice Springs, and a burnt stick(very sharp) went through the corner (where the tread meets the side wall). i have not had any issues with them at all and will out wear bf's.
We did a trip from Naracoorte to Boulia via Innamincka, Cordillo downs,
to Alice springs to Halls Creek-Bungles Kununurra and back to Naracoorte via Mount Isa. The coopers were new when we left and met up with friends at Boulia from Longreach and he had just fitted new bf's(both vehicles we dual cab utes nothing to make the bf's wear or chip differently from the st's) after that trip he has replaced his tires with st's and still uses them today he lives north of Longreach and the roads there are fairly hard on tires.
I have heard all the stories about them but know no-one personally that have had these issues(the second vehicle i put the 10 ply rated tires on, these were not available in a 15" for the first vehicle so i was told)

Hi Bruce

I have used BFG AT's (225/70-16 on a hilux) and Cooper STT's (245/70-17 on a Prado).

The BFG lasted well past 50000 kms but the hulix is a bit lighter than your troopy. With the STT's, which is a softer silica tyre compound, I will get 50000 at best out of them. I would think the toopy would probably get less kms using STT's, with your 4wd being a bit heavier.

I havn't used ST's but know people that do and some are of the view they won't buy them again. Either due to poor on road grip on wet tar or due to the tread on peforming well off road.

On ATR, again I havn't used these but I think they come in both LT and passenger construction. A bit is also written on the ATR's and a search will bring up lots of comments on ATR (and ST's).

Bruce T

There is OFF ROAD, which in general seems to mean off the bitumen gravel roads and good tracks as in the Simpson Desert etc.

And there is OFF TRACK which in general means cross country stuff.

In Mulga country OFFTRACK,Coopers will not cut the mustard as their sidewalls are too thin. BFG may not be much better.

Coopers or BFG should be good in OFF ROAD situations as long as you are mindful of stakes and sharp stones.


Cheers

Have a look at Post No. 56866, which give Bridgstone D693 A/T Dueller a good wrap. I havn't used them ... maybe worth a try next time.

"People only buy one set" load of cr@p

Ive had 4 sets of Cooper ST and found them excellent
Each set has acheved better than 80000km except the latest set which are 17" which may not make that.
Id look at the ST-C which only comes in a few sizes. They are seriously tough. Make sure you get LT versions of whatever you buy.
Forget all the warranty rubbish, whatever they offer its more than BFG or others so its a bonus.
Ive run BFG in the past and had tirn sidewall issues and over the last 400000km had one delaminate (90000km old with problem start at dodgy plug repair), and a couple of punctures
I do 40% dirt 50% rough tar, and if it would rain 10% clay mud.
Part of the reason they arent more popular in the bush is thier limited retail outlets - basically Bob Jane here which is only a small player in regional areas.
Get a set, treat them the same as anything else which costs $1200 (carefully) and they will serve you well
JR

I went down a similar track and ended up buying ST-C's after coveting them for ages - it was a bad move. 300km's of driving around nth of Broken Hill on 2500km old tyres and they had bits or tread missing etc etc etc.

If you can stretch to STT's then I would go the Cooper STT's otherwise stick with the BFG AT's.

Thanks for all of the info. I have run BF Goodrich AT since about 1994. The first set I had I ran on an 80 Series and got close to 100 000 and so I was sold on them - not one puncture. They were used on the, pulling a camper trailer and later a van as well as outback off-road camping.

When I got the Troopy I put new rims with BF Goodrich on them right from new. Got about 58 000 km out of them. These next ones I've got about 50 000 km.

I'm still biased towards the BFs. I always get LTs.

Right now I have to go back to the 'Thinking Mode."

Bruce

The only replacement tyre I've ever purchased has been BFG AT's. For what we do they are perfect......Lots of highway miles towing Jayco camper trailer, when off road lots of gravel and sand and some rocky tracks but rarley what I would call heavy duty stuff.

This current set, purchased mid 2003 have done 84,000 klm and will last till Xmas. I don't think many Coopers would do better. For most general touring around Australia, LT construction All Terrain type tyres should do what you want.

It's funny how many 4X4's I see with ultra aggressive tyres that will probably only ever go off road once or twice. Nothing funnier than a tourak tractor with mud tyres. hahahaha

I think realistically, any tubeless tyre has severe limitations and if you want a truly tough 4X4 tyre for desert travel then splits with tubes is the only answer. Anyone who thinks differently might want to go for a holiday with Willem and find out first hand.

For very rocky stuff then MTR's or something like that.

Just took a set of my Hi Lux that had done 20000kms and put em in the shed.One wore unevenly as happens with truck tyres.No fault of the vehicle which my Cooper dealer admitted but refused to replace.Never again.

It seems to be that ALL the searching ive done about tyres (including a few 4wd forums) Mickey Thompson comes out on top..

Maybe so they should for the price..

About 20% as a guess are very happy with Coopers and the rest are not,Like once bitten THATS IT with coopers...

I reckon, as long as the tyre does the job you want, it then comes down to $ per Km or should i say (hopefully) Km's per dollar.
You want to pay maybe 40% more for a tyre that MAY give you 20% more km's ?

Am i tight.....u bet lol

I heard Coopers now made in China. Oh well. Might go for Pirellis next time.

Jack

Bruce,
I have Cooper ST on my Prado, had a good run out of them and now done 83,000 kms but nearing the end of their life. They've chipped a bit in the stony stony areas in Sth Australia, 2 punctures when not much tread left. The ST-C apparently is more cut-resistant but reportedly has lower km life than the ST.

I've been considering BF Goodrich ATs to see how they'd go but I really can't complain about the Coopers. I adjust tyre pressures (and speed) depending on the terrain I'm driving through and tend to look after my tyres. STs seem to slip a bit on wet tar but I'm going to change to two sets: Highway Terrain for commuting, and AT for bush work.

Is anyone getting 80,000 or so out of BFG ATs?

Regards,
Peter