Is Big Always Better?

[Tblamps]

Hi,

I am new to the forum and fairly new to the 4x4 technical side of things.

Ive been around 4x4s for a few years now and I know tyres are a huge part of how your vehicle will perform when off road. I have a few questions about this topic........

I currently have 4 BF Goodrich 33X12.50 R15 LT on the truck and have been pretty impressed with them. I brought the truck with them already on and it is coming to the point where I need to look at replacing potentially at least two of the tyres.

1st question - do you replace all 4 or run a mixture? what is the norm or recommended?

2nd question - being 33's how much more strain does this put on my running gear? am I better off getting smaller wheels for the sake of less wear and strain on my difs and gears etc? why go so big?

3rd question - as I am fairly new to mud tyres can someone suggest what in their opinion is the top 5 mud tyres brands out there? or their experience when buying mud tyres. any brands which are rubbish and stay away from or any tyres which people always rave about in NZ?

Any advise on the above would be awesome. Quite a lot of tyres out there to choose from when your on the market for the 1st time.

photos of my truck in action below:

199916_10150132117524490_501679489_6376650_8082421_n.jpg (20.87 KiB) Viewed 2589 times

[DieselBoy]

I'm all about maxxis bighorn mt762 at the moment.

15.2mm tread depth, seem to wear well and bloody cheap from the right place

[Tblamps]

Hi Diesel Boy thanks for the suggestion ill have a look into them.

[keithal]

Hi Diesel Boy thanks for the suggestion ill have a look into them.

4wdbits have them on special at the moment

http://www.4wdbits.co.nz/ProductDetails ... uctID=1213

[Sadam_Husain]

lots of good questions there mate, theres no single answer to tyres theres lots of variations on applications and what will suit you

Q1. usually you replace all 4 together as you'd expect them to all wear at a simular rate but if its mostly a road truck you might want to get the economic benefit of wearing the individual tyres down to the last allowable 0.5mm, if its mostly an offroad truck, although the tyres still work they are considered pretty rooted by the time there 1/2 worn you've lost the tread depth and clearing ability and the lugs have long since lost their sharpness and ability to bite and are pretty rounded and chewed up along with the rest of the tread

Q.2 33's arent really concidered big in the scheme of things but for your IFS (I think its IFS) surf they are probably considered big and as big as you'd want to go without a fair bit of $$work$$ done on the truck. As far as strain goes most of the truck is up to it other than the CV's and front diff and that probably comes down to driving style and application, some people seem to smash stuff up and some dont, theres plenty of opinions on this site about front auto lockers helping to take the bite and crunch affect out of IFS CV's and front diffs if you have a search around

Q3. The top range mud tyres are really large lug agressive tyres with big voids like simex, silverstone, swampers etc and they are designed for offroad digging and just that and are absolutely useless on road my old simexes were half worn at 5000k and down to almost bald at 10000k so at a guess if you want top range agressive tyres you'd either want a seperate set of mud tyres to swap on and off for offroad stuff or go for a less agressive middle of the road tyre to get the road mileage out of it

all my opinion as I see it and probably different to how some others see it but theres some info to digest along with the rest of it

[crazyclark31]

lots of good questions there mate, theres no single answer to tyres theres lots of variations on applications and what will suit you

Q1. usually you replace all 4 together as you'd expect them to all wear at a simular rate but if its mostly a road truck you might want to get the economic benefit of wearing the individual tyres down to the last allowable 0.5mm, if its mostly an offroad truck, although the tyres still work they are considered pretty rooted by the time there 1/2 worn you've lost the tread depth and clearing ability and the lugs have long since lost their sharpness and ability to bite and are pretty rounded and chewed up along with the rest of the tread

Q.2 33's arent really concidered big in the scheme of things but for your IFS (I think its IFS) surf they are probably considered big and as big as you'd want to go without a fair bit of $$work$$ done on the truck. As far as strain goes most of the truck is up to it other than the CV's and front diff and that probably comes down to driving style and application, some people seem to smash stuff up and some dont, theres plenty of opinions on this site about front auto lockers helping to take the bite and crunch affect out of IFS CV's and front diffs if you have a search around

Q3. The top range mud tyres are really large lug agressive tyres with big voids like simex, silverstone, swampers etc and they are designed for offroad digging and just that and are absolutely useless on road my old simexes were half worn at 5000k and down to almost bald at 10000k so at a guess if you want top range agressive tyres you'd either want a seperate set of mud tyres to swap on and off for offroad stuff or go for a less agressive middle of the road tyre to get the road mileage out of it

all my opinion as I see it and probably different to how some others see it but theres some info to digest along with the rest of it

Think that pretty much covers it

[Sadam_Husain]

Think that pretty much covers it

took me about an hour to type all that shit out

[Tblamps]

Think that pretty much covers it

took me about an hour to type all that shit out

Hey Mate thanks so much for your reply. You have been extremely helpful. Always nice to here an opinion from someone with experience. I will take a look at the website you guys suggested and start getting some prices together.

My tyres currently would pass WOF no prob and still have heaps of bite on the back its just my two front are loosing it a bit. Might see if I can sell the set and start again with fresh shoes all round depending on price.

Thanks again for your post

[badnuz]

im with DB bang for buck the maxxis 762 are good, i have a set on my TJ and they do good for what they are. the newer 764's are also a good choice, but more $$$... top end maybe Mickey Thompson MTZ or similar are a fantastic tah, but hey top end stuff dont come cheap......

[Tblamps]

im with DB bang for buck the maxxis 762 are good, i have a set on my TJ and they do good for what they are. the newer 764's are also a good choice, but more $$$... top end maybe Mickey Thompson MTZ or similar are a fantastic tah, but hey top end stuff dont come cheap......

Thanks Badnuz,

Is BFGoodrich a good brand of tyre or...? just wondering how they compare to other brands? What in your opinion be your top 3 brands?

[charo249]

BF Goodrich mud terrain are generally considered a good all round tyre but don't offer that much over maxxis bighorns considering they cost alot more. As for tyre size - taller tyres give greater diff clearance but raise gearing, wider tyres are better for soft ground, but not always as good for climbing step greasy hills. All horses for courses and in the ideal world you might have 4 or 5 sets of tyres for different conditions

[Suza]

I am onto third set of Severo MT's and have nothing but good things to say about them. The only reason I am onto my third set in 3 years is due to high milage and getting rid of them when they 1/2 to 2/3 worn

[kbjj]

My wife said bigger is better... but maybe thats cause I navigate deep ruts.
I did get good km's out of the Severo's I ran. Ok for a shiney as such.