Ideal touring tyre size

[muddyperils]

Hey all, The benefits to a forum like this is there seems to be a fairly even portion of users that are either= 100% off road Panel smashers or the enthusiast whom would preffer not to rip the floor pan out of their truck....(probably only because of CASH FACTOR)
Any ways I'm starting the Build up of my 95 DX diesel (Turbo may be added) for the purpose of seeing this Grand Country, I like going off the main tourist routes, so I need some clearance, and want to be prepared for the worst, but the cost of Diesel these days is another important factor when travelling long distances, so I am having enormous troubles deciding what combo to choose ........from experience, what would be Ideal..

[srowlandson]

Hey all, The benefits to a forum like this is there seems to be a fairly even portion of users that are either= 100% off road Panel smashers or the enthusiast whom would preffer not to rip the floor pan out of their truck....(probably only because of CASH FACTOR)
Any ways I'm starting the Build up of my 95 DX diesel (Turbo may be added) for the purpose of seeing this Grand Country, I like going off the main tourist routes, so I need some clearance, and want to be prepared for the worst, but the cost of Diesel these days is another important factor when travelling long distances, so I am having enormous troubles deciding what combo to choose ........

33" tyres with a heavy duty 50mm lift is plenty on a Patrol.

I ran up to 36" on my patrol with only a heavy duty 50mm lift... you don't need bigger than 2-3" unless you are crawling over rocks....

[bogged]

If your touring the outback, your better with 31's and 1or 2 in lift. there isnt really anywhere you need mass clearance - but that depends on where you are going.

31s are available anywhere in the outback, 33's arent. and 35's are laughable, if you need to get tires trucked in, it cost one bloke on exploroz a total of $500 for 1x35 with freight.

[JK]

I have a 96 DX built up pretty much along the lines that you describe you want to do to your truck.

I have recently turboed it which has really made the vehicle. I highly recommend a turbo if you are going to do a lot of miles.

OK...

To be honest with you 35s aren't the ideal tyre for touring as you can't rock up to the Capricorn Roadhouse and get a spare... but if the truck is setup right it will be very reliable and you will get many road miles out of a set of 35s.

35s and 4.6 gears may return your revs/100ks to factory but won't necessarily make your vehicle more economical as the engine is revving higher at touring speeds. You are better to run slightly taller gearing to lower revs and tap the nice torque of the diesel engine.

You seem to be considering economy as an important factor in your buildup and this will make a big difference in this area.

For example, I am running stock 4.1s with 35s and the turbo and I recently returned 12.2L/100ks during 1,200km of touring over the Chrissy break.

When I save a few $$$ I will invest in transfer gears to get the benefit of lower gearing for offroad work.

Like the others said, 33s, 2-3" lift + turbo will be a great combo.

Note that Steve had a GU which have larger wheel arches than GQ so can run bigger rubber with less lift. 33s on 2" is borderline as you will probably rub tryes on the front guards at full lock / stuff.

Min 3" lift + rad arm spacers for 33s to give some clearance.

BTW... damn you guys are quick today... I thought this was going to be the first post

[-Scott-]

I asked myself similar questions, for similar reasons, and ended up with 285/75-16s - with are 33" tyres.

I went for 16" rims instead of 33x12.5-15s because I expected the 16" tyres to be more readily available in the outback, but I didn't see too many of either. 265/75-16 seemed to be very common in the areas I travelled (Brisbane - Innamincka - Arkaroola - Adelaide, back via Wentworth - Willcannia - Lightning Ridge), but as Bruce noted, 31x10.5 is THE tyre you'll find anywhere - if they don't have 31s, they don't have tyres.

I never did an extensive study, but it seems that tyres on 16" rims have a significantly higher load rating than similar size tyres on 15" rims. Right or wrong, I equate that to being a tougher tyre. My MT/Rs suffered a significant number of deep cuts, but no leaks in over 6000km, on roads which cause lesser tyres to shred - like in the pic.

Edit: I also did things in a different order: went for a 2" spring lift first, then put in a 2" body lift so I could get a larger long range tank for touring. Without the body lift I could only get a 105l replacement tank, with it I got a 120l tank. Being a shorty, cabin space is at a premium and I don't want to put things on the roof.

Once I had the 2" body lift I had room for 33s, so decided wtf! On-road performance isn't too bad, but off-road gearing suffered, because the Paj low range wasn't flash to start with. But with some new low range gears, I'm very happy.

Cheers,

Scott

[Screwy]

i dont reckon u would need anymore than 33's and 4 inch for touring, even that may be going to far...

[ludacris]

I would say 33's and if you are touring in remote areas I would be carrying 3 spare tyres. You dont need the hassle of getting stuck anywhere without a spare tyre champ.

LudaCris

[slosh]

Just because it hasn't been said, I would say 32's on 16 inch rims aren't a bad choice- even if only as spares for 33.

7.50 x 16 are a very common tyre.

[quick60]

There seems to be a common concensis here that the big tyres are hard to get outback (which I agree with) and they do nothing for outback touring. I looked at it a different way, in that I had the power to turn the larger tyres (35") and I even geared it up with the Marks transfer gears with an 8% overdrive. This has given me the best of all worlds - low RPM while touring + lower low range gears to compensate for the bigger tyres + excellent fuel economy (around 10/100 touring). The larger tyres also carry more weight at a lower pressure so they fatigue due to heat gain less than smaller ones, and have a larger radius (obviously) that allows them to ride over rocks on the road instead of into them. The only issue is availability of spares, but I overcome this by travelling with a mate with the same size tyres, giving us 4 spares between us + a repair kit if we are desperate. Having said that, the two of us did a quick trip out to lake Coongie without one puncture, and I have also been to Cape York, numerous high country trips and lots of hard stuff without ever getting a puncture. I think it all comes down to tyre pressures and constantly looking where your wheels are to avoid any tyre biters.

Good luck with the decision.

[JK]

What motor + final drive ratio you running quick60?

[quick60]

1HDT, +8/-55% transfers, std diffs (4.11), 35" A/T

[muddyperils]

Just because it hasn't been said, I would say 32's on 16 inch rims aren't a bad choice- even if only as spares for 33.

7.50 x 16 are a very common tyre.

_______________________________________________________

This seems to be one of those situations where "ya stuffed if ya do, an ya stuffed if ya don't", Those 7.50 x 16's are every where, thats a sure note and the fact that the team you travel with should at least have two vehicles with the same size tyres and carry two spares each is another, I personally want a truck high enough to have a above average ramp over angle, cause I really don't like those belly scrubs, coming from a shorty. I would like to do some rougher traks also with clubs in the future, so I am leaning towards a DIKY looking 6 inch lift with a 33x16 stile tyre for touring and later still have the clearance for 35's to fit later, or go the 4 inch and body lift it later down the track??? OMG where is that two bob bit !!!!!

[MKPatrolGuy]

I'm going to run 35s on my DD/Tourer Mav Turbo Diesel. I'm going to go a 3" lift, no body lift and Guard trim to make them fit (Sound familiar Bruce? )

[TuffRR]

If you can carry enough spares or repair tyres, then get whatever you want.

I've gone a 235/85/16 for my tourer because this size is very close to 7.50/16 which are available anywhere. That and they are the biggest i can be bothered fitting to the Discovery.

[muddyperils]

Thanks all for ya Info's, I will be using a 4" spring lift, although I really had my heart set on the 6" kit........
As for the rubber, I will keep my 235/85 16's and purchase a set of 35" mudders, which ones are onboard will depend on the destination.....

CHEERS

[4wdphil]

I toured the outback for approx 1 year and you can get 31" tyres easily but anything else bigger and the guys will just laugh at you. They just dont have them, therefor you will have to pay an absolute fortune to get them freighted in. The sensible way to go is 31" with a 2 inch lift kit. I had no trouble with that combo. It went everywhere.

[bogged]

I'm going to run 35s on my DD/Tourer Mav Turbo Diesel. I'm going to go a 3" lift, no body lift and Guard trim to make them fit (Sound familiar Bruce? )

I reckon your better off stickin with 33's and not hackin ya guards... as said a bit in here, 35s are hard to come by when ya touring...

[MKPatrolGuy]

I'm going to run 35s on my DD/Tourer Mav Turbo Diesel. I'm going to go a 3" lift, no body lift and Guard trim to make them fit (Sound familiar Bruce? )

I reckon your better off stickin with 33's and not hackin ya guards... as said a bit in here, 35s are hard to come by when ya touring...

Guard cutting doesn't worry me at all, and I already have the 35s.

[Screwy]

I'm going to run 35s on my DD/Tourer Mav Turbo Diesel. I'm going to go a 3" lift, no body lift and Guard trim to make them fit (Sound familiar Bruce? )

I reckon your better off stickin with 33's and not hackin ya guards... as said a bit in here, 35s are hard to come by when ya touring...

Guard cutting doesn't worry me at all, and I already have the 35s.

Well thats handy now then isnt it

[Ryano]

My suggestion would be to go for a 16" tyre. It is correct to say that as most 16" LT tyres have a higher load carrying capacity than a 15", which equates to a stronger tyre.
The higher load carrying of the 16" tyre also makes it more puncture and impact damage resistant.... suffice to say that if you start your trip planning NOT to have to replace a tyre, by running a strong quality tyre and adjust your pressures to suit the terrain that you are travelling, there is more likelihood of not having to replace a tyre at all.
If possible carry 2 spares... that way you don't have to try and purchase a tyre from out in the middle of nowhere areas. If you kill a tyre by some stroke of bad luck, you still have a spare allowing you the luxury of travelling on until you come to a larger town.

The 31x10.50R15 may be a more readily available tyre in the more rural areas at the moment, however this trend is changing. The majority of touring vehicles nowadays start life with a 16" OE tyre. Quite a lot of these are around the 265/70R16, 265/75R16 or 275/70R16. I'd be inclined to say that the 265/75R16 and 285/75R16 are going to be the more regularly seen tyres for touring.

On a recent trip from Birdsville to the Gulf that I was lucky to be a part of, there were 13 vehicles all running 265/75R16, 285/75R16, 305/70R16 and one on 235/85R16. There were very few punctures, eight in total with the majority of the travelling done by GPS cross country. They were all fully loaded and the tyres were load rated 118 (1320kg/tyre) or higher.
One of the best things for the tyres was the Smartire system fitted to the vehicles. Basically this is a tyre pressure monitoring system which let us know if there were any decreases in pressure, without having to leave the comfort of the aircon!!! . Worth it's weight in gold!
Anyway, this has stretched out from a simple response to a saga.
Hope it helps.
Ryano

[Ryano]

Just a follow up on this one....

I have spoken to the distributors in Qld, SA, NT and WA and they have said the most common size tyre that they are sending into the rural country areas is a 265/75R16. Most larger towns have at worst a two day turn around on supply.
So the 16" tyre is definately the way to go.
Have fun!!