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Need some serious help on tyres

Andy H

New Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2010
Messages
4
I'm brand new at this 4x4 malarky, but wondered if anyone could give some advice on tyres.

I just bought a 2001 Colorado 3.0 to take out to Zambia for a couple of years. It has a set of Dunlop tyres (265 70R 16 112 S) on, but the back ones are worn, so I want to get a new set to ship out with the truck. That way I can drive around on the current tyres while we get our bearings out there and then switch to the new set once we decide to head out into the bush.

I don't really get all of the jargon about tyres though. I assume that want to go for 16" again, & 265 width, but does changing any of the other bits matter? Should I just be going for 265 70R 16?

A few people on here have recommended Camskills, so I've been looking there at these:
http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m64b0s272p51331
http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m64b0s272p21506

Does anyone know if these would be decent for some Zambian national park action (while still driving mostly around the city). Any other suggestions? Any help would be much appreciated
 
Have you looked at the BF Goodrich all terrain, they are very strong, work well in most circumstance other than deep mud and last a long time, however they are a little more expensive than most others
 
Andy H said:
It has a set of Dunlop tyres (265 70R 16 112 S)
A little help with what's what...
265 - tread width in mm
70 - the profile, the percentage of the tread width which makes up the hieght of the side wall
R16 - diameter of rim to fit in inches
112 S - speed/load ratings, I'm not clued up on these but generally the shop selling you the tyres will be able to tell you what they are rated to.

You can easily fit 265/75R16 to your truck which will give it a little more clearance. This size tyre is also much more widely available worldwide, so wherever you are you should be able to replace one at the nearest fitters.

Out of the tyres you've mentioned, the toyo's are more up to the challenge as they are tougher tyres, but I really think you ought to be getting at least an all terrain tread pattern. You can't go wrong with BFGoodrich but they are pricey. Other tyres to look at are Cooper Discoverer S/T, or the more aggressive Discoverer STT. Other people will make other suggestions and this is just my opinion, but Cooper tyres have never let me down. They are very tough tyres.

HTH, and welcome aboard ;)
Jim.
 
Welcome to the club!!

One thing to think about also is potential need for replacement in Zambia - a lot of the tyre choices we have here you may not be able to replicate there - I suspect you will need to bring in tyres from south Africa via Botswana. So to make sure you can replace like-for-like, possibly limit your search to the following:

1. BFG A/T - but having driven Zambian roads for a while I would go for the BFG MT KM2 :D
2. Cooper Discoverer STT - should be slightly cheaper than the BFGs but are as good or better depending on whom you talk to!
3. Maxxis Big Horns are also good and somewhat cheaper than the first two - not as popular in southern Africa though for some reason - maybe because they're not marketed as aggressively.

I would potentially put in Pirelli Scorpion and Yokohama Geolandar as very far other choices - not easily obtainable, more road-oriented and will tear on Zambian potholes and off-road mopane root in tyre ruts.

Both the BFG and Coopers are easily obtainable in SA and thus Zambia - at a price though. The Land Cruiser Club of South Africa is always a good place to check for tyre prices ;)

Cheers

Gary
 
Thanks for the tips and the warm welcome. I don't want to pay too much for the tyres as I just got stung at the garage (£800 to get the cambelt & inhibitor switch replaced at the Toyota place in Battersea - seems ridiculous to me, but I need to get the thing shipped and didn't have time to shop around).

So I'm looking at the Cooper Discoverer STs. Also, I'm wondering about the Insa Turbo Rangers http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m64b0s272p59557. They're much cheaper - but does that just mean they are crap? Does anyone have any experience with Insa's?
 
You need to make sure that what you get is easily replaceable in southern / central Africa, which is why I suggested the tyre types above, as when (not if) you trash a tyre you will want to try and replace like with like to ensure that the performance/ road holding etc. are not adversely affected by different tyres on the same axle / vehicle - remember the old adage:

'The bitter taste of poor performance is remembered long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten ...'

I would spend the little bit more to get the best I could - this is your life you're playing with .... a donkey keeping warm from the radiation on a tar road in the dark is not a friendly animal to bump into ...
 
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TBH mate, if I was in your situation I'd get exactly what I have now - 265/75R16 Cooper Discoverer STT's. The more aggressive tread pattern will be very useful in the wet seasons, and roadholding in the dry is not going to be much different to any other tyre thanks to the soft but hard wearing rubber compound. They are also good value. If you really can't stretch to them then go for the S/T's which I think are slightly cheaper still.

Do not buy a remould tyre like an Insa when you are relying on said tyre to get you home from the back of beyond. Remoulds may be cheap, but they're cheap for a reason.

Cooper tyres are on offer at Silverline4x4 at the moment.

HTH, Jim.
 
Like Gary said.......................................
if you want to buy a tyre that is good and relatively easy to replace BFG will be hard to beat. Insa whatever will not do you favours in the long run. Coopers while excellent will not be available in Autoworld Lusaka or whatever. You might find em but it will likely be a mission or require importing from SA
MTs will give you a slight advantage in toughness, but honestly speaking for general use on tar (and as Gary has said for stopping/roadholding issues) AT would arguably be safer and almost as good. If venturing REALLY off the beaten track in many parts of Zambia no tyre will work - MT/AT/Simex or whatever. In your case I would plump for BFG AT.
Remoulds and cheap as chips tyres are fine on a million kilometre London taxi but not on your 4x4 in third world driving conditions.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I went for the cooper ST's from camskill in the end. Remoulded tyres were a new concept to me - old tyre plus sticking glue definitely doesn't sound too hot!

The car got picked up for shipping on wednesday (after we'd stayed up all night putting a nightmare of a roof rack together!) and is now winging its way south. Really looking forward to getting out and giving it a proper whirl.
 
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