Tyres - MTZ v Claw v FCII v MTR

[plasnart]

G'day guys & girls,

Ive searched and read a bit about tyre selection for GU Patrols and it seems to me that the MTZ's, MT Claws, MT FCII's and Goodyear MTR's are really highly rated by the guys that wear them.

I'm nearly ready for a tyre change on mine and would love some advice on tyre selection. Bought the GU wearing BFG AT's but won't be replacing with new.

I drive probably 60/40 road/off road and am thinking of a trip to the Flinders Ranges next year so here's what I'm looking for:

1. A tyre that handles well on road.
2. A tyre that has excellent puncture resistance in harsh rocky environments, especially side wall strength (Flinders Ranges in mind).
3. A tyre that has reasonable ability in the mud (for weekend fun, not super psycho stuff).

I was pretty keen on the MTR's but some of you don't rate them in mud. Is this right?

What do you guys/girls reckon would be my best option for the type of driving I do?

Thanks for any advice.

[MUD EMPIRE]

If these are the tyres that you're considering........
The FCII would be best for road and Flinders R. trip.
But the MTZ would do the trip easily and be a reasonable weekender for mud
when you get home. Check out Coopers & Toyo aswell........ Don't wanna seem biased

[kevdog]

i considered the fcII cepeks for a long while and they would probly be the best pick ..... but the mtz's looked heaps better so i went with them...

have only had them for 5000 kays and love em to bits so far...

quite a few people have commented on how good they look, perform well on road, stuck well on a dirt road doing 90 to 100 kay an hour bends in the hungy wallowing whale ride...and they hooked up well in some greasy clay shite the other day
havent run them in sand yet...

[rvh96]

MTZs for the type of work youll be doing.i run them for road and sand and outback touring and their brilliant ,quiet, handle good, grip well and never had a flat. dont use them in the bush and rock though i have bias claws for that

[Hof]

Im keeping an eye on this topic as I am in the market for some tyres myself.. They are for a 6 month tour of OZ so im trying to choose carefully.. Looking at either MTRs or MTZs myself, so I am curious to see what comes of this thread..

Cheers,

Hof

[plasnart]

Thanks for resposes so far guys,

Anybody had any experiences with the MTR's? I read somewhere they have a 25% thicker side wall than the STT's. How do you tell this? Is it just the advertising or the guage of sidewall denier?

One MT dealer told me the FCII was only a 2 ply sidewall but the denier was much thicker than standard. He reckoned a 2 ply sidewall with thick denier was better for sidewall puncture resistance than a 3 ply sidewall with standard guage denier (BFG, etc).

Can the tyre experts out there please shed some light on this for me?

[me3@neuralfibre.com]

What about the Pro Comps? Darren (ATS) seems to reckon they are the ducks nuts and may be lurking to comment?

Paul

[Bad JuJu]

FCII's suck on wet bitumen. HUGELY

[plasnart]

FCII's suck on wet bitumen. HUGELY

Is that from experience or word of mouth Bad JuJu?

[mud4b]

how are the mtz on wet road? or sand for that matter.

i remember my radial claws were crap (fun) in the wet road..

[Bad JuJu]

Experience in a mates GU wagon. 3 tones sideways through a 2 lane roundabout here in ACT is NOT fun. Only doing about 35-40km/h too.

[plasnart]

Experience in a mates GU wagon. 3 tones sideways through a 2 lane roundabout here in ACT is NOT fun. Only doing about 35-40km/h too.

Yikes!! That would not be fun.

Do you reckon it was the tyres alone or maybe due to several contributing factors like substance on the road, hard braking and 3 tonne load all combined?

The only reason I ask is that these tyres have generally been given a huge wrap. But according to you, maybe they're not quite as good in the wet as perhaps I would like?

[Bad JuJu]

I reckon this a combo of real hard tyre compound and the weird hotmix ashphelt they use on the road here ... its kind of slick looking.
He changed to MTZs which dont exibit the same skateyness.... but dont get as many KM either.

[plasnart]

... the weird hotmix ashphelt they use on the road here ...

Weird stuff on roads in Canberra?? What about the weird stuff in that half-buried building at the top of the hill??

He changed to MTZs which dont exibit the same skateyness.... but dont get as many KM either.

How many k's should be expected from FCII's and MTZ's?

[Tiny]

personally for my driving style etc the MTR are a great bang for buch all round tyre, although a few mates have run the radial claws and love them, reaslistically it depends on a lot of things, driving style, vehicle, weights, what feel you like etc imo get a tyre you like the look of and think will suit your rig, style and terrain and see how you go.

[wrksux]

What about the Pro Comps? Darren (ATS) seems to reckon they are the ducks nuts and may be lurking to comment?

Paul

I run the procomp muddie and love them

blood quiet onroad. wet roads better then my old AT's great onroad

mud very good,

rock and wet rock they are great. ive they seem to be wearing them well only got 10 thou on em and rekon i should get 60-70 easy out of them. they are a bit pricey at 300+ a tyre for a 33 but i would by them again.

also the new M/T extreme they sell is more of a glorafied AT according to the procomp boys. tougher sidewall new tread pattern better all round except for mud. they dong have an alternating shoulder lug that is scollaped so they are queiter but not as good in the reall sloppy stuff id have a look at em brand new on the market too

[HotFourOk]

MTR are great on road, have very good puncture resistance and can hold its own in the mud.
They only have a bad wrap becuase people comapre them to dedicated mud type tyres. I think all of the above would be similar in the muddy stuff. I have not been stuck in a mud hole yet with mine on.
I have MTRs and love them, would not have another tyre.

I think it comes down to MTR and MTZ, but I don't think the MTZ is proven enough yet for me, I'd wait until more people run them for extended periods. With MTRs, they are proven by the public, and have one of the best reputations i know of.

[brown hornet]

couple of mates have the mtr's, they have worn out really quick, only 30,000km and are really f#cking loud after about 15,000 ks, seemd to perform ok though. really good on bitumen in all conditions, maybe thats why they wear quick, soft and grippy.

i have 285/75/16 bfg muddies on my 100 series. they would have to be a consideration but i know they don't have as thicker sidewalls as some tyres which may put you off them if you are specifically after the thickest sidewalls you can get.

i am very happy with the bfg's. nice and quiet, good in the mud/dirt/sand and haven't let go in wet bitumem yet, i don't push my luck cause i don't want to have 2.5 tonnes sideways on the bitumen.

[BrettInUte]

Ive got some Mickey Thompson FC IIs on a GU wagon. (31s)

Have been great for what im doing (hwy + bit of offroad - not much pure mud work)

they should last 80,00 + kms. (according to my reseach someone got 100,000 out of a set)

mine look to be lasting really well.
No stakes or other issues so far.

they arent the best for wet road grip - but I wouldnt say they are worse than other muddies....

Id consider them again.

[rvh96]

how are the mtz on wet road? or sand for that matter.

i remember my radial claws were crap (fun) in the wet road..

as good as they are in the dry (on my truck anyway) and sand as good as any other radial ,mine are 315/75/16s though

[Troll00]

I have Baja Claws and MTZ on a GU and both are fantastic but the claws win in my books hands down, they handle the hard stuff so much better, yes they might be a little noisier than the MTZ but you have to work out what suits you. Done 2 bigs trips on both about 6000 klm + each trip, high country with the claws and the desert with the MTZ.

[Struth]

I have Baja Claws and MTZ on a GU and both are fantastic but the claws win in my books hands down, they handle the hard stuff so much better, yes they might be a little noisier than the MTZ but you have to work out what suits you. Done 2 bigs trips on both about 6000 klm + each trip, high country with the claws and the desert with the MTZ.

Gotta agree about the claws and the hard stuff.
Mud, they love the stuff,
Rock, they love the stuff,
Gravel, no worries,
Steep, no probs,

They understeer wickedly compared to my BFG ATs when on the highway but the sacrifice you make if you want to run claws.

I can't speak for the other MT tyres, but the claws are very grippy in a lot of applications.

Cheers

[j-top paj]

Experience in a mates GU wagon. 3 tones sideways through a 2 lane roundabout here in ACT is NOT fun. Only doing about 35-40km/h too.

just put the boot in and keep going
when my GU gets sideways its always fun

[bogged]

Thanks for resposes so far guys,

Anybody had any experiences with the MTR's? I read somewhere they have a 25% thicker side wall than the STT's

My MTR's loved the Flinders, driving the tracks on Warraweena Station, they ate it up, round Wilpena Pound, no problems at all. This was after a long weekend driving the beaches of Robe and the Buggy club.. No probs anywhere...

If you want totally bullet proof tires, Skinny Rags are the only way to go over radials.

[DAZZA-LUX]

I have purchased a set of MTZ's for my GU ute. 35x12.5x15.
I use BFG AT's on the road as i clock up 1000 kays a week.
I used to have Simex JT2 which were great off road but wore a lot on longer bitumen trips to get to the tracks. After much research. i settled for the MTZ's.
I have used the MTZ's in mud at Big River, rocks at Toolangi and sand on the west coast of Tassie. I am very impressed with their on and off road ability and would highly recommend them to anyone wanting to do the lot.
I have driven on them around 6,000 kays so far with minimal wear on a variety of surfaces.