Tyres for best on/off road compromise?

[marky]

ooopss lager speak!

[Koi]

In February my good lady and i are going to live in France for a year to do some work on a lake and some land we have luckily acquired.
We are taking the Surf and towing our caravan over with it.When we get there i am going to be using the Surf for some real workhorse applications which include towing large trailers full of heavy wood etc off road and pulling fallen trees out of the lake.
I'm just after some advice on what tyres would provide a good compromise between road use and would still provide some good off road/towing grip.
I now have standard 15'' wheels courtesy of Marky.(Thanx mate)
Any recommendations folks?

Paul.

Go for BFG MT's, just recently had them fitted on mine after having BFG AT's on for a year.
Excellent off road and having had them on for a month can now say that although the BFG AT's are a 50/50 road/off road tyre and the BFG MT's are 70/30 off road/road tyre the MT's are better in the wet than the AT's. I think Andy (Lucky) will vouch for this having recently been out in my truck on a wet day.
Paid £380.00 for four fitted VAT, valves, balancing all in. Looked at some of the 4x4 supliers and although I found acouple of places that supplied tyre cheaper by the time you added on postage, then the fitting etc they worked out at over £20 a tyre dearer, so try your local tyre dealers.

[codlord]

I went for the General Grabber A/T which is an alternative to the more common BFG, which I think is a bit more aggressive (i.e. probably slightly more in favour of off-road) I am more than happy with the off-road performance, but under emergency stop type of conditions in the wet on-road I have skidded a few times but not been able to compare with other tyres to see whats better/worse.

All details can be found here:
http://www.showmesome.info/hilux/wor...eels_tyres.htm

Koi - in you post you say "MT's are better in the wet than the MT's" - which ones are better, the MT's or the AT's? and can you say why/what reasons for your thoughts, thanks.

[Rob]

Everyone is welcome POP,there is a lot of work to be done on the land/lake.If you can handle hard graft followed by some fishing/BBQ's/chilling out in the French summer evenings and drinking beer and wine then come on over....

Paul.

Sounds good to me!

I think you need a decent set of all terrain tyres. From the reviews I have read, the top 3 seem to be; BF Goodrich A/T, Yokohama Geolander A/T (wot I got) and Bridgestone Dueller A/T 694 (also called REVO in the US). Koi has had good results (as above) with the BFG M/T but the choice of tyre usually comes down to your own preference and experience. If you end up spending a lot of time near muddy / boggy edges of a lake then mud terrain (M/T) tyres might be a better bet than all terrains. BFG M/T and Good Year MT/R are good mud tyres, so I've heard.

[RobD]

4x4 tyres available here :

http://www.etyres.co.uk/offroad.htm
http://www.etyres.co.uk/product_guide.htm

[sumo]

Sounds good to me!

I think you need a decent set of all terrain tyres. From the reviews I have read, the top 3 seem to be; BF Goodrich A/T, Yokohama Geolander A/T (wot I got) and Bridgestone Dueller A/T 694 (also called REVO in the US). Koi has had good results (as above) with the BFG M/T but the choice of tyre usually comes down to your own preference and experience. If you end up spending a lot of time near muddy / boggy edges of a lake then mud terrain (M/T) tyres might be a better bet than all terrains. BFG M/T and Good Year MT/R are good mud tyres, so I've heard.

Yep i think M/T's will be your best bet, its just a case of price and preferance, also consider a WINCH for you baby it just may prove usefull.

sumo.

[Koi]

I went for the General Grabber A/T which is an alternative to the more common BFG, which I think is a bit more aggressive (i.e. probably slightly more in favour of off-road) I am more than happy with the off-road performance, but under emergency stop type of conditions in the wet on-road I have skidded a few times but not been able to compare with other tyres to see whats better/worse.

All details can be found here:
http://www.showmesome.info/hilux/wor...eels_tyres.htm

Koi - in you post you say "MT's are better in the wet than the MT's" - which ones are better, the MT's or the AT's? and can you say why/what reasons for your thoughts, thanks.

Ooops edited now, MT's seem better than AT's.

Having had the AT's on for a year I pretty much know what speed I can do the roundabouts and bends at around the town before the back end goes. Thats:
1. keeping it all smooth til it just goes
2. Going round the bend then flooring the right pedal.

Now with the MT's I can take the roundabouts faster and can give it some extra pedal while cornering much more than I could with the AT's.
Andy (Lucky) has recently been out with me on nice wet roads and I think he will confirm that on one bend a couple of months ago I got the back end out on my AT's and Andy lost the back end on his with Road tyres this time wit the MT's it stuck and I wasn't going slow and gave it some pedal have way round.
I don't know why this is, I expected them to be more lively in the wet but have found the opposite??????

[codlord]

Koi - thanks, thats interesting, may be investing in a set of the BFG M/T's when mine need replacing - as I said on road in the wet I have skidded a couple of times under heavy braking and also had the back end step out on a roundabout once.

How do you find them for road noise/comfort compared with the A/T's?

[pops]

Ooops edited now, MT's seem better than AT's.

Having had the AT's on for a year I pretty much know what speed I can do the roundabouts and bends at around the town before the back end goes. Thats:
1. keeping it all smooth til it just goes
2. Going round the bend then flooring the right pedal.

Now with the MT's I can take the roundabouts faster and can give it some extra pedal while cornering much more than I could with the AT's.
Andy (Lucky) has recently been out with me on nice wet roads and I think he will confirm that on one bend a couple of months ago I got the back end out on my AT's and Andy lost the back end on his with Road tyres this time wit the MT's it stuck and I wasn't going slow and gave it some pedal have way round.
I don't know why this is, I expected them to be more lively in the wet but have found the opposite??????

Oh you little

[Koi]

Koi - thanks, thats interesting, may be investing in a set of the BFG M/T's when mine need replacing - as I said on road in the wet I have skidded a couple of times under heavy braking and also had the back end step out on a roundabout once.

How do you find them for road noise/comfort compared with the A/T's?

Road noise is good, there is a little bit of noise buts its hardly noticeable, with the windows up you can't hear it and with them down you hear the noise of the wind more than the tyres. Only time you hear them is on heavy cornering and the outside lugs make a bit of a noise but again its negligable.
Comfort wise they are good don't find any difference in comfort between the MT's & the At's.

[marky]

handy tip when cutting trees down or pulling them out of the lake
p.s i borrowed this tip!
If your battery goes dead in the middle of nowhere and no one is there to jump you and you just happen to have a chainsaw, you can charge your own battery. Take the belt off your alternator, remove the arbor from the chainsaw and you can now wrap the belt around the sprocket on the chainsaw to charge your battery.

[Pauleds]

Thankyou everyone,much appreciated.

Paul.

[kitesurf_phil]

Everyone is welcome POP,there is a lot of work to be done on the land/lake.If you can handle hard graft followed by some fishing/BBQ's/chilling out in the French summer evenings and drinking beer and wine then come on over....

Paul.

Ahhhhh! Thats the life. A days hard graft, then put the wine in the keep net, light the barbecue, catch some trout and chuck 'em on fresh, fresh baguettes. Spent a summer on the Cote D'Azur (spelling?) doing just that (except it was Red Mullet from brackish water). Damn good angling coaches the French! Didn't use the keep net for fish at all.......funny that!

BTW....If you want a hand

[davey.knowles]

What bit you off too

My famiy and I, and the Surf are emigrating to France in August, if the french builder finishes the house on schedule, and hopefully for good. My latest baby (the surf) is already looking forward to the empty roads and tracks, as well as the lugging work (Im a tree surgeon). Just a quickie the French, God bless them, are funny buggers when it comes to bureaucracy, cars, tyres, bureaucracy and bureaucracy. Before you fit any tyres I'd check with the french car laws.

What bit of France are you off to?

Regards and good luck
Dave

[Healewis]

The missus an' me are in the process of buying this property in Brittany, so after you lot have helped pauleds you can come over and help us There'sjust over an acre of land with it so how many surfs and caravans can we get on there???