Tyre's .. time has come ..

Hi

Looks like im going to be in need of couple of front tyres , at the mo I have grabbers TR size 235/85 I have been looking and I like the look of Coopers Stt thought id get a full set ..

Not really in the know with size options and the Pros / cons , I think 235/85/16 and 265/75/16 were standard sizes ? , Id like to fit something which don't need any alterations ,( Ive just done my suspension ) I am running the Boost alloy wheels..

what should I consider , and advice would be much appreciated .. Cheers ...

265/75 is a happy size for the Defender

The STMaxxs are great tyres, like an aggressive all terrain. Great on the road but equally good off road. Very good in sand/snow.

Morning,

Just be aware to check the speed rating. When I have looked at STT Pro's they were not rated to the same speed as I could drive the vehicle at.

I have never fallen foul of the insurance issue ,but is worth bearing in mind.

Cheers

oh , I have just checked this , and the 265 are rated at K which from what I can see is only 68 mph .. on the same make at 235 they are rated too Q which is 99 mph ..

Might need a rethink about the STT pro's ...

I have been running 265/75x16 ST Maxx on my 90 for years, they are a decent enough tyre and have never let me down however I have to say that they are not as good on the road as the BFG AT's they replaced but then again they are more biased towards off-road performance so that is the trade-off. Wear rates are excellent, I don't know if they will match the 60K+ miles that I got from my BFG AT's but they are looking good so far.
A couple of years ago I did try some BFG AT KO's but they were delivered mis-balanced (I always buy a package as it is much easier that way) and nothing my local place could do would stop the vehicle shaking itself apart at 50MPH so they went back and the ST Maxx were re-fitted.

they look good , might have to have a little look at these , I did notice that BFG mud terrain , and AT are rated more so than the STT pros ,.. But :O they seem pretty expensive

I've got some general grabber at2 in 235/85/16 for sale if anyone is interested. They are hardly worn at all, came on the vehicle when I bought it, but cant have been on long. Complete with deep dish alloys and nuts. pm me

checked the fronts again today , and they are much worse than I had thought .. they had worn on the in side a little , I fitted all new HD steering rods and had the tracking done in nov , I thought that the tyre ware would even out , but they just seem to have worn more than expected ..

going to have to get something this week ... Now I had considered just replacing the fronts , these are the grabbers TR but as said above there is prob better, i got a quote for around 640 for BFG AT , but I wasn't sure I wanted to spend as much as that atm , as I have been spending out on the defender the past few weeks ...

A little up date ...

A few people have advised agin 265/75 and claimed that they have a better handling , wondered if I would notice much difference in the means of fuel economy ..

I was talking with the tyre shop , he said the BFG are good but he thinks they are priced expensive for what they are , he recommended the grabber AT2 , someone else recommended ToYo open country M/T , he claims they are pretty good on and off road , and not loud , but look pretty aggressive .. anyone use these ? any more thoughts .. .

aevans692 said:

A little up date ...

A few people have advised agin 265/75 and claimed that they have a better handling , wondered if I would notice much difference in the means of fuel economy ..

I was talking with the tyre shop , he said the BFG are good but he thinks they are priced expensive for what they are , he recommended the grabber AT2 , someone else recommended ToYo open country M/T , he claims they are pretty good on and off road , and not loud , but look pretty aggressive .. anyone use these ? any more thoughts .. .

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I am on my second set of BFG AT's (265/75/16) these would get my vote. The first set did 100k and I sold them on with 4mm of tread left. the second are on 80k and about half worn (but is a set of 6 that I rotate regularly so I am hoping for 150k from these). I know they are expensive but they would get my vote and will be what I replace these with when they get to about 3-4mm. I do not have much experience with other brands as before this I have silly tyres (35x12.5 kuhmo kl71's, and greenway anacondas before that!) but they handle very well off road, manage well in the mud for an AT tyre, and have happily been around the Moroccan dessert twice.

im really on the fence atm , with 235's or 265's , there seems like a lot of positives with sticking with the 235's with little benefit to opting for 265 other than looks ....

What was it fitted with from new?
Back in the day 265 was factory fit (on alloy wheels), they changed to 235 later on.
Mine left the factory with 7.50's on steel wheels but 20-years ago I fitted 265's on alloys as that was the (then) standard size with the wider wheels. Never had cause to look at another size.

Im guessing it was fitted with 235 on the boost alloys which is what I have now ...

Yes, mine tend to wear a little more on the inside at the front, even when the tracking is set dead parallel. I got some BFG ATs in 265 x 75 in the spring of 2016, and they must by now have 50,000 miles on them, with loads of tread left. The inside wear is just becoming visible. I think I'l rotate the tyres next time I have both ends jacked up at once.

Brown said:

I think I'l rotate the tyres next time I have both ends jacked up at once.

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this is the key, I rotate mine about every 20k. Currently have a set of 6 so rotate them in pairs with one spare on the back door and one in the garage. If you make sure you include the spare in your rotation you do not end up with a set of four worn tyres and a brand new spare that is unusable because it is old and cracked!

still haven't made a decision , tbh I'm really struggling to make up my mind , at this rate id end up staying with the grabber TR ‍ ..

A few people mentioned the ToYo m/t , said that its on road manners are very good and they appear to be reasonably quiet , I did considered that as an option , I have been searching for the best price for the BFG K02 fitted and is coming out like £668 fitted where the Toyo A/t or M/T I can have fitted for about £520 ... I could stick with the 235 size but what id save in £'s would be minimal .. not really an issue

I think an AT would be more suited that a MT ,... but I have seen videos of people touring (overlanders) all over Europe with M/T tyres clocking up 1000's of miles of motorway driving ...

just checked the clearance between my tyre and the radius arms on full lock with my current 235 tyres fitted, it looks that I have about 22mm clearance , would I be about right in thinking that if I opted for 265's the tyre would sit 15mm closer to the radius arms ? so in theory I should have a 7mm clearance ? ... This has made me think that its likely to have had 265's previously fitted and the reason for the bump stops to have already been adjusted outwards .. so I shouldn't notice any loss of turning with fitting the wider tyres ?? ...

I've JUST fitted some Toyo Open country M/Ts in 255/85/16 on boost alloys and they've come out to a tall 33.5".
If I was buying something for overlanding and I didn't have the 2" lift, I'd go for 235/85/16 over the 265/75/16. Slightly narrower and taller promises better mud performance with a slightly better ability to air down with greater availability of spares if you blow though more tyres than you have spares out in Morocco.

Noise wise, I'd say they were pretty good for a "mud" terrain. They're noiser than the bridgestone duellers that they replaced (they were road tyres) but what wouldn't have been?

Economy: nothing to write home about but I also just fitted a roll cage, snorkel and roof tent so I've taken a 3-4mpg hit as a matter of course.

I paid about £105 each, and a tenner a wheel fitting so £575 for all 5. I was originally planning on BFG a/t's but my mechanic dissuaded me and I'm glad he did.

Toyos still have an M+S rating allowing use in winter on the continent and have some siping, though they still suffer on hard snow I hear.
Big fan of the look too (if that's your thing) very aggressive look for how they actually behave.

Time will tell how these fare, but after about 1000mi I'm still liking them!

The Toyos sound good .. I didn’t realise they were snow rated too , that’s a bonus as we do intend on a trip to the alps at some stage .

The more I have looked into 235 vs 265 the more I’m leaning towards the 235 .. I can’t really see, any real benefit other than looks for the 265

I was chatting to a guy who travels all over Australia in his 110 his done up 1000’s of miles roaming the out back , he also recommended to stick with 235 ..

Snow rated would be a stretch but they meet the legal requirement. They absolutely won't be as good as a pair of BFG KO2's on snowy roads - however they're legal on the continent and certainly good enough to get you where you are going, or close enough that some snow chains up front will fix whatever was stopping you.