Tyres, which, when, how and what.

Right peeps, im the proud owner of a 1996 Disco 300 tdi xs.

But the tyres are ****e.
So, im after some all terrain tyres, as i tow a biggish caravan mainly on and off fields i need something with a bit of grip on the wet stuff, BUT mainly i wanna reduce the tyres wall and drop sizes a bit so i can reduce the wallow and pitching a bit when towing.
Any suggestions for tyres, where from or any other suggestions to stop the wallowing whilst towing?
Uprated stiffer springs maybe.................?

id get a set of uprated springs to help with pitch and roll under braking/cornering and some standard'ish all terrains 205 r16's? maybe. not too big and will provide good grip in the **** and good road ability.

G

What size are you on at the moment?

you can't go wrong with bfgoodrich a/t they are not cheap but they last forever and they do all the standard sizes , and are well behaved in the wet .
as for your springs , i read somewhere about a spring assist air bag type thing thats fitted inside your rear springs that you use only when towing .
this gives you the best of both worlds , it's firm when your towing and reverts back to standard when your not .
sorry i can't give more details but i cant even remember where i read it ,hope that helps .
if i remember any more i'll get back to you !

just found it !
simmonites sell them they'r called semi air springs .

semi air springs, is what you are looking for.
ive never used em nor fitted em, so ive no idea if they any good or not.
sorry mate.

kinell lenny, the taxi's must be paying well, nice ter see yer back, go for 235/75 16's. try that bloke by 12 quays he's pretty reasonable also deeside tyres by the speed camera in sandycroft are good

Michelin LTX A/T are often reckoned to be the best in this part of the world.

... but whatever you do, avoid Michelin Synchrone 4x4 ... not good at all !

Browndog said:

Michelin LTX A/T are often reckoned to be the best in this part of the world.

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Must be horses for courses obviously..... I cant fault them for drive and ride in a lot of different situations, but out here, you sneeze and you get a flat tyre... had 4 flats in three weeks last year with these (not to mention $480 each replacement!!!). They are only 4 ply sidewall rated I think. I have 10 plys on now at 36psi and while it wanders a tiny bit on the rutted roads, I havent had a flat since. I sacrificed a bit of comfort(tiny bit only) for getting home from out bush.


ETA... By the way... welcome back Lenny

Have a look at this link: Consumer Survey Results By Category

OutbackJack ... what brand / type are the 10 plys that you now use ?

Browndog said:

... but whatever you do, avoid Michelin Synchrone 4x4 ... not good at all !

Click to expand...

Hi. I'm a relatively new owner of a Disco 300DTI fitted with these tyres. I will need to replace the front ones very soon, what do you suggest I fit? They are 205/80R16, and I do 95% of my driving on ordinary roads. I must add that I have been very happy with their performance on tarmac.

I look forward to your views.

Pete

Browndog said:

OutbackJack ... what brand / type are the 10 plys that you now use ?

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They are GT Radials A/T by Savero which are an Asian brand I think. The local tyre bloke (Dodgey Tyre service, and I kid you not...thats their real name) have had quite a bit of trial and error trying to find one that will resist mulga stakes and gibber stones that are so prolific out here when you get off the tarmac.

Tigdlo said:

Hi. I'm a relatively new owner of a Disco 300DTI fitted with these tyres. I will need to replace the front ones very soon, what do you suggest I fit? They are 205/80R16, and I do 95% of my driving on ordinary roads. I must add that I have been very happy with their performance on tarmac.

I look forward to your views.

Pete

Click to expand...

It was the tarmac performance of these tyres that I was not happy with ... I never dared to take them off road ! We had a set of 235/70R16's on our Disco TD5. They seemed to wear out very quickly, but that might be because most of our driving is on potholed and broken tarmac.

On our Land Cruiser we had the same Synchrone 4x4 but a larger 275/70R16 ... they affected the handling so badly that we swapped them for the Michelin LTX's.

Maybe on good tarmac road they perform OK. I guess it is unfair to try and compare Ghana's roads to the roads in the UK (unless you are from north Dorset or Somerset in which case you probably know all about lousy roads )

OutbackJack said:

They are GT Radials A/T by Savero which are an Asian brand I think. The local tyre bloke (Dodgey Tyre service, and I kid you not...thats their real name) have had quite a bit of trial and error trying to find one that will resist mulga stakes and gibber stones that are so prolific out here when you get off the tarmac.

Click to expand...

I can't say that I have ever had a problem with 'mulga stakes and gibber stones'. The roads here are generally not too bad. Lots of potholes and quite a bit of graded laterite / washboard all joined together with a few bits of good smooth tarmac !