Anyone in the Tyre business?

**KK20** · 17-12-2022, 11:58

Originally Posted by Springer

Yes I stuck with 16" on my 105 and my 80 series. 16's offer far better footprint on deflation when required. There is very little difference between the 265 and 285 (some may argue fuel economy, but negligible in my opinion), but my views, however impractical they may be, is that when tyres need to show their worth, the more surface area on the gravel, the better. But yes, your point about stock availability is valid - I always carried 2 spares on extended trips for this reason - you know the story... two is one and one is none.

On a trip to Namibia, we had tire issues in pairs! I will kick out the fridge next time for a 4-tonne tolley jack.

**Teamcam** · 18-12-2022, 20:27

Keep the fridge
Mount the jack on a rack
I think to answer your question, look what is readily available, but also dont let that be your main factor.
Buy a set of 5 or 6.
60 000 - 90 000 kilos is what you should get out the BFs

**Ds J** · 18-12-2022, 22:15

Just for the fun of it: in 1996/7 my parents did the Richtersveld with friends. Dad with his Hilux 4x4 2.2l Petrol, and the other family with a Cruiser.

The Hilux had Michelin RTX (?) tyres as always, inflated to 1.8bar. When they came to Upington they realised that they had left the spare wheel at home, so Dad bought a new rim and wheel.

They did the whole Richtersveld without a single puncture on the Michelin balloons. And when they arrived home they saw that they had bought a five-hole rim for a six-stud bakkie

Count your blessings.

**Vaal** · 19-12-2022, 01:14

Originally Posted by KK20

On a trip to Namibia, we had tire issues in pairs! I will kick out the fridge next time for a 4-tonne tolley jack.

When we did the Richtersveld many years ago I took my scuba diving cylinder and regulator along to pump tires. It worked like a bomb and we even scuba dived in the outdoor pool at Ai Ais.

**KK20** · 19-12-2022, 08:37

Originally Posted by Vaal

When we did the Richtersveld many years ago I took my scuba diving cylinder and regulator along to pump tires. It worked like a bomb and we even scuba dived in the outdoor pool at Ai Ais.

I have that and looking at getting a rapid deflator kit . That would be a much more convenient to get tyres up quick.

**Messor** · 19-12-2022, 09:53

One must be very clear on why a tyre gets damaged, it’s more important than the type of tyre.

Being a noob myself I’ve asked my brother why he’s got this skinny (by modern standards) tyres on both his cruisers and he’s answer was quite straight forward.

If you get a puncture from below you plug it, job done, if you damage your sidewall tyre lost.
So how do you damage your sidewall, people deflating tyres and then driving either through mud where they cannot see the bottom, aka forcing your flat tyre sidewalls through sharp rocks, or people driving with wide flat tyres on trails IN the tracks.
If you drive on a trail you are bound to slip a few times forcing your sidewalls against something, if your tyres are wider than usual then you are already percentage wise abusing them against rock more than usual. SA was won with land cruisers and defenders and those skinny tyres did not leave a very wide track, you drive with your modern vehicle and uber wide tyres in that track all you are doing is just rubbing your sidewall away.

Basically over landing is a process of inflating and deflating your tyres according the road you are on that specific moment, your pump and tyre gauge must always be closer than your jack.

**CorditeCrazy** · 19-12-2022, 11:15

Originally Posted by Messor

One must be very clear on why a tyre gets damaged, it’s more important than the type of tyre.

Being a noob myself I’ve asked my brother why he’s got this skinny (by modern standards) tyres on both his cruisers and he’s answer was quite straight forward.

If you get a puncture from below you plug it, job done, if you damage your sidewall tyre lost.
So how do you damage your sidewall, people deflating tyres and then driving either through mud where they cannot see the bottom, aka forcing your flat tyre sidewalls through sharp rocks, or people driving with wide flat tyres on trails IN the tracks.
If you drive on a trail you are bound to slip a few times forcing your sidewalls against something, if your tyres are wider than usual then you are already percentage wise abusing them against rock more than usual. SA was won with land cruisers and defenders and those skinny tyres did not leave a very wide track, you drive with your modern vehicle and uber wide tyres in that track all you are doing is just rubbing your sidewall away.

Basically over landing is a process of inflating and deflating your tyres according the road you are on that specific moment, your pump and tyre gauge must always be closer than your jack.

Personally I’m leaning towards 235/85’s on my cruiser. What you say makes sense.

**Messor** · 19-12-2022, 12:06

It’s hard to make sense of the tyre industry hence I can see the need for the main question in this thread. Recently when I wanted tyres for my Ranger I was literally on all websites, from all the local tyre shops, each time you search for a specific dimension of tyre it’s not avail, but search for it internationally and they are plentiful.

If you go to a 4x4 shop you get sold the most expensive one, is it the best well that question depends on the seller, you either believe him or don’t.
There was an article in one of the 4x4 magazines a while ago, some of you might still have that, they tested all sorts of tyres and rated each aspect of the tyre. Grip, noise, durability etc all was tested and each tyre given a score for each aspect tested and also an overall score. There were cheapies and also stuff like BFG.
Did the BFG win, no, a think a much cheaper Goodyear won.
I then directly asked someone how can this be, the price difference for lessor performance, the answer I got (not my opinion) is the BFG is expensive because it’s sold to yuppies, those who judges all aspects on the looks of a 4x4 not the performance.

Now I know none of that but what I do know is when I found a set of tyres I wanted, not what was recommended to me, I asked the supplier to ship me some. They were skittish to sell it to me in the first place because they did not want to upset the local tyre shops, who wants to buy it from them and sell it to me for a much larger profit margin. I ended up buying 4 tyres, had it fitted, with fitment cost I still paid for 4 tyres what I would have for 3 at any of the local people.

Most of us are merely enthusiasts in the regard because no matter how much we proclaim to have gathered super internet knowledge I rather listen to people who work in the veld for a living each day, and can show you tyre life over purchase for a decade or two over many sets of tyres, none thumb sucked.

**KK20** · 19-12-2022, 12:22

Messor, I bought a set of Grabbers recently for another vehicle and they are very good and one can get good prices.
I bought a set of 5 for just a little more than the 4 I originally wanted.

Namibia has a selection of tyres we never see here and there is a brand from India that is almost a clone of BFG KO that the Namibians are selling out as soon as they land.

I think there is a large amount of manipulation in our market not always on the "fair and transparent " page for the consumer.

**Springer** · 19-12-2022, 12:40

Footprint is not width. It's length. Driving on sand requires both better footprint on bigger tyres with smaller rim sizes is always better. The narrower tyres were always popular on farm bakkies (General SAG were first prize) but not necessarily a great all round choice.