what tyres for the cape?????

[78 series]

i am heading to the cape this year, and are undecided what tyres to run?
i have bfg muddies now and they are great but i dont think the funds will allow another set, so i am thinking of cooper stt or mickey thompson mtz, but then my mates up in cairns said they all run maxxis.
i am travelling from sydney so i need the on road ability and good mileage out of them, so any help would be good

cheers

[Patroler]

everyone you ask will say something different! You're happy with the bfg's, i had a set and had a good run also, but half the people who you ask say they are rubbish!
When i had to choose my last set i used the search function a lot and googled a heap also, i came up with MTR's - old style, i looked at things like stt, mtz, bfg mt, and mtr, out of the lot they seemed to have the least negative talk - can't comment on the new style though.
Ive found the mtr's to be good on bitumen, mud, gibber, sand etc, i find them a little noisier than the bfg's - but that could be because the bfg's were worn out!!
Had them on the gq now for a bit over 30000 now and would say tread depth is at 75% - rotate all five every 10k

Obviously being a controversial topic i fully expect the next post to be anti MTR
Good luck

[nottie]

everyone you ask will say something different! You're happy with the bfg's, i had a set and had a good run also, but half the people who you ask say they are rubbish!
When i had to choose my last set i used the search function a lot and googled a heap also, i came up with MTR's - old style, i looked at things like stt, mtz, bfg mt, and mtr, out of the lot they seemed to have the least negative talk - can't comment on the new style though.
Ive found the mtr's to be good on bitumen, mud, gibber, sand etc, i find them a little noisier than the bfg's - but that could be because the bfg's were worn out!!
Had them on the gq now for a bit over 30000 now and would say tread depth is at 75% - rotate all five every 10k

Obviously being a controversial topic i fully expect the next post to be anti MTR
Good luck

WRONG

I did the cape trip a few years back and fitted a set of MTRs a week b4 i left.
Glad i did as i didnt have a problem in the world. Only issue with them I found Was they are shyt in mud (common knowledge) And they howl more and more the older they get. I got near on 100000 out of them but pushed em till the very end

My opinion is i wouldnt touch coopers. And MTZs have been very inconsistence from batch to batch that comes in. ( from speaking to others with them and what I have read) I got a shyt first batch and ended up taking them off the wifes car as they were to dangerous in the wet. Never heard of issues like this with MTRs.
On the family wagon we now have Maxxis Bravos and are great but an all terrain. I would consider the Bighorns. Really good value for money in my opinion for any Maxxis tire.
Hope this helps.

[78 series]

thats interesting about the MTR's as i havn't heard much about them apart from the mud issue. but then everyone you ask have something different to say. i hear the same stories about the bfg (patroler)

thats good news about maxxis though as they are cheap
thanks

[nottie]

BFG Muds have been around since noah was a boy. Not at all a bad tire Especially since they are still produced to this day. But i do think there are better tires around now. The bighorn has been out for a few years now though.

[AFeral]

Ran Bf muddies on my patrol. From melbourne to cape york to brisbane and then out to mt isa finally back to the sunshine coast. Still just going, just. I would use them again.

[Patroler]

only reason i say the mtr's were ok in mud was that i compared them to a set of mtz's, both near new, same size, and on very similar cars gu td42 and gq td42, well we did a trip up the vic high country and headed up the corn hill logging track - it was wet sloppy clay stuff, you could barely stand up on, 1st low most of the way, its a pretty long track. Anyway the guy with the mtz's had to back down twice at one point to drop some air, then more air, i had no trouble.
So from that i guess it could have been down to driver, but either way there wasn't much difference between them and mtz's, the bfg's may be a bit better though.

[mavzilla]

went on bfg great, got stt great, stt seem to balance a lot better is the only diference i could note. NOTE- BFG DOWN GUNSHOT DONT MAKE A DIFERENCE HAHAHA. mud tyres if you go on the telegraph track alteraines if you go on development road are fine.

[El Duderino]

everyone you ask will say something different! You're happy with the bfg's, i had a set and had a good run also, but half the people who you ask say they are rubbish!
When i had to choose my last set i used the search function a lot and googled a heap also, i came up with MTR's - old style, i looked at things like stt, mtz, bfg mt, and mtr, out of the lot they seemed to have the least negative talk - can't comment on the new style though.
Ive found the mtr's to be good on bitumen, mud, gibber, sand etc, i find them a little noisier than the bfg's - but that could be because the bfg's were worn out!!
Had them on the gq now for a bit over 30000 now and would say tread depth is at 75% - rotate all five every 10k

Obviously being a controversial topic i fully expect the next post to be anti MTR
Good luck

Hey Patroler! You might remember this video from the base of Corn Hill Logging Rd...hehehe! Kudos mate!

Just to explain to the others, I took this video and was riding shotgun with Patroler for the weekend. This track is seriously nasty, bumpy, boggy, greasy, steep, etc. The achievements of the GQ fitted with the MTR's was easily enough to convince me to fit them to my Landy in the near future (once my Bridgestones have worn out). Highly recommended product.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NenedSxVz7k

[bogged]

Hey Patroler! You might remember this video from the base of Corn Hill Logging Rd...hehehe! Kudos mate!

Just to explain to the others, I took this video and was riding shotgun with Patroler for the weekend. This track is seriously nasty, bumpy, boggy, greasy, steep, etc. The achievements of the GQ fitted with the MTR's was easily enough to convince me to fit them to my Landy in the near future (once my Bridgestones have worn out). Highly recommended product.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NenedSxVz7k

We came down it 4-6 weeks ago with trailers on.. was a good track.

[YOGI001]

Old style MTR's are tops. Mate has them on an 80 series and loves them. A bit noisy on the road and not the most aggressive in mud but still more than capable.

I have the BFG KM2's on my 80 series and swear by them. They have out down all my mates tyres offroad up around the Zig Zag area. The old style are great and my mate has them on a patrol.

Last but not least the MTZ. I wouldn't piss on these if they were on fire. My mate has punctured his sidewalls so many times its not funny and that was driving the same line as mine.

[badger]

Run the old MTR if you can get them, otherwise the new goodyear duratracs or km2's.

I totally agree about mickey thompsons, they are as weak as piss, ive seen less nangkangs have punctures on gravel than them

[BadMav]

The BFG MTs and the Maxxis Big Horns are the only sets of tyres I've worn out (anything else I've had has failed). But haven't tried MTRs and sound like a good thing if you can push 100,000 ks out of them.

[El Duderino]

Hey Patroler! You might remember this video from the base of Corn Hill Logging Rd...hehehe! Kudos mate!

Just to explain to the others, I took this video and was riding shotgun with Patroler for the weekend. This track is seriously nasty, bumpy, boggy, greasy, steep, etc. The achievements of the GQ fitted with the MTR's was easily enough to convince me to fit them to my Landy in the near future (once my Bridgestones have worn out). Highly recommended product.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NenedSxVz7k

We came down it 4-6 weeks ago with trailers on.. was a good track.

The vid was taken about a year ago though...wasn't a pretty sight back then. ;P

[bru21]

mtz

[-Scott-]

I did it on STTs in October 2005. Drove every inch of the OTL between Bramwell & Jardine, both ways (including Gunshot), no problems.

Wouldn't hesitate to go back with STTs.

I would also consider MT/Rs, MTZ (yes, some questions over batch quality), Toyo MTs and BFG M/Ts.

[thehanko]

from what i know all three options you mentioned and in particular the coopers are a premium priced tyre similar or more expensive than the bfgs.

i also say maxxis offer excellent value for money otherwise go with the bfg's if your already been happy with them.

[MrSparkle]

I had a set of the old mtr's they were awesome, bit noisy and the mud wasnt the greatest but never had a problem with them and they lasted well.

Ive got a set of stt's now and i dont think they are as good, Seem to perform alright offroad and i havent tried them in the mud yet but they are missing lugs already and i always let them down for offroad work. So far they havent been as good as the mtr's

My 2 cents

[stinger]

I did the Cape on Goodyear Silent Armours towing a camper trailer including the OTL in May/June 2009.

If you know how to drive a 4WD i.e. Wheel placement, lower tyre pressures and walk the creeks any good AT will be suffice.

Most of the track is good dirt (a little rough in places on OTL) and some steps, ruts and holes in a few places on the OTL.

If you are heading up in the wet then that may be a different story, but then you will start causing track damage which is the main excuse the Fun Police use to close track 'temporaily' that never seen to open again.
Basically so long as you do not have highway tyres you will be fine, so I suggest buy the tyres you want/can afford given the highway ks you will also knock up in getting to the couple of kms of harder stuff.

Hope this helps.
Stinger

[8maddog8]

Any tyres really

Mates have done it on crappy near bald ATs and some HTs

[steve patrol]

I had 10 punctures on my set of bfg mt's, 45000kms. Crap i reckon. Gave them away with 25% tread. Had MTR's before that, not a drama! 115000kms till they were racing slicks... 1 roofing screw puncture. STT's are on it now, couple of lugs have gone and chunks out everywhere, they seem rather soft compound, done 12000kms on them so far no punctures. They seam like there wearing rather quick compared to the new spare. They've lost around 5mm+ of tread so far, around 15mm to go. I treat them like shit. They haven't let me down on any terrain yet though! Give me the old style MTR's in an 37" anyday! (for daily and play tyre's)

Take 2 spare's no matter what tyre's you get for up there.

[78 series]

Cheers guys. I know this is a tough topic, I didn't realise how many people use MTR's.
I definitely wont be getting Coopers cos I don't think they are worth the money when put up against the BFG's or Maxxis. Thanks for the info.

but like to say just got a 2" ome lift for her and wat a difference

[Bingham]

If i can add up i am upto 260 000-280 000km on Mtzs on several sets averaging 85 oookm.

Touring including the cape and all over the country.

Only one ripped sidewall and that was my fault being an idiot full pressure and full noise showing off flying up a sharp rocky hill at cruiser

Other than that perfect...