Snow [was Tyres]

Nasher · 18 December 2009, 16:52

All

Just thought I’d pass on a little experience from this week.

I’ve had Shoguns for @ 9yrs now, the current one being a LWB 3.2TD and have always run them on Bridgestone Dueler 689 H/T Tyres, which are the standard fitment in 265/70/R16 112S.

They have always been a good tyre for the type of driving I do, especially when I was doing 25K miles a year on the road, but of course have always had their limitations on wet grass, mud, green lanes etc.
Having tried other makes I always went back to the Dueler 689s as they performed the best on road with very little noise, but were also always better than I expected off road.

As I needed to replace all 4 this week, I was looking around and somebody suggested I try some Bridgestone Dueler 694 A/Ts, which are a more aggressive pattern, but are also supposed to be very good on the road.

The type of driving I do has changed in the last year or so, as I’m doing less road miles, and trying to do a few green lanes etc. It’s a big, expensive, decision to change, especially as they are a bit more expensive.
At my local lorry and agricultural biased centre they order the 689s in for £99ea but wanted £115ea for the 694s.

I thought I’d give them a try and they were fitted on Wednesday.
I have been totally surprised by them so far. The tread pattern is much more aggressive looking, but having been up and down the motorway a few times now I cannot tell any difference in the road noise created, and the wet and dry on road grip appears to be equal to the 689s. They are so much better than the BFG A/Ts I tried a few years ago.
To try them out I used a short stretch of a green lane Wednesday evening, which was very wet and muddy, and I didn’t have to resort to using the centre diff lock like I’d have needed to do with the 689s.
The big difference however has been in the snow today, where they were much better than the old tyres have been in the past.

In short, I can thoroughly recommend them.

Nasher.

chewy · 18 December 2009, 17:02

Just done a quick search and guess who pops up....

Nasher · 18 December 2009, 20:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by chewy

Just done a quick search and guess who pops up....

Perhaps my question on Difflock when I first heard about them a year ago?

Nasher

chewy · 18 December 2009, 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nasher

Perhaps my question on Difflock when I first heard about them a year ago?

Nasher

Yup, have you any feedback on how long tyres last compared to BFG AT?

Bigmuz7 · 18 December 2009, 20:51

Good to know .. I ususually switch to dirt devils to do the bisiness

Knot Yet 2 · 22 December 2009, 21:58

I do lots of road and off road every day of the year for my work, I have found that general Grabber AT's are the best all rounders.

chewy · 23 December 2009, 08:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knot Yet 2

I do lots of road and off road every day of the year for my work, I have found that general Grabber AT's are the best all rounders.

I was looking at them, my mate has them on his Frontera and it does well.

Nasher · 23 December 2009, 10:46

The A/T grabbers were good when I tried them on a friends Landcruiser, but they were very noisy on the road in comparison with the Duelers.

Nasher

Scousedeli · 23 December 2009, 12:11

Try Colway AT tyres if they still make them. they are excellent remoulded tyres, we used them on a landy 90 worked great off road, soft sand and mud and a steal at about £50 per tyre.

Check

http://www.tyremonkey.co.uk/tyres/4x...res/index.html

Lee

Sorry, just read your whole post.

chewy · 23 December 2009, 12:13

Colway went bust ages ago.

Knot Yet 2 · 23 December 2009, 15:10

Just dont be tempted to get remoulds, they are supposed to be far better than they used to be (cant be any worse), but from what I have heard they are still a waste of money.

chewy · 23 December 2009, 16:29

I had some Greenway Anaconda remoulds, great tyres but very agressive treads, on my parents drive they just ripped the snow up.
Other remoulds were Insa Turbo special tracks, horribly noisy on the road.
After watching "How its made" put me off remoulds for ever!

Nasher · 23 December 2009, 17:03

I don't have any actual experiance, so perhaps I shouldn't really be commenting, but.............

From what I've heard/read remoulds these days from the bigger outfits are very good, with better quality control and materials technology.
So the days of the tread peeling off like a rubber band, or being so hard it wouldn't grip on a dry road are in the past.

For a 4x4 that's not used at high speed on the road, or isn't required to transport passengers 100's of miles at a time and be ready to do corporate battle at the end of the journey, then remoulds are a serious option.
They appear to offer good, well developed, All Terrain and Mud Pattern treads.

If I had the luxury of of being able to have another 4X4 that was used mostly off road and didn't have to be my main family and business car as well, I'd probably go with remoulds.

Nasher.

Nasher · 06 January 2010, 16:11

The new tyres have continued to perform really well today in the snow.

The combination of the tyres, low ratio and just the centre diff locked up made the Shogun unstoppable on steep slopes that other 4x4s couldn't manage, didn't have to resort to the rear diff lock even when, Sorry about this guys, I towed a disco2 up a snow covered single track lane out of our village because he just wasn't going anywhere. Admittedly he was on worn tyres and obviously didn't know how to drive it, but I enjoyed the experiance anyway

The only hazard I found today was the fact that the snow places was deeper than the ground clearance the car has, so I was taking the top few inches off it as I went along. Oh, and the abandoned cars everywhere

Mrs Nashers Astra with 'sports' tyres was useless last night, and we had to abandon it a couple of miles from home and walk when I couldn't get it up a hill. I'd already got home in the Shogun and hiked almost 5 miles with Mrs Nasher and the smaller Nashers walking boots and warm coats to try and get them and the car home. Mrs Nasher wouldn't let me tow her so I had to do it the hard way.

Nasher.

Hightower · 06 January 2010, 21:01

Glad you're reaping the benefit of your recent expeniture Nasher.

I too was having fun in the Snow. My recently bought budget tyres were giving excellent performance too. I bought a pair of Kendo HT's for the rear (£145 pair) 6 weeks ago. They were giving fantastic traction in 2wd (helped of course with the limited slip diff) I have no Diff Loc and no central diff, so had to use 2wd on the clearish bits and 4wd on the slippery stuff. I have a pair of Enduro HT's on the front.

I just couldn't believe how slow some of the 4x4's were traveling at. Either the drivers hadn't a clue on how to drive one or they had low profile road tyres which were next to useless in these conditions. I caught up a modern Freelander and the road which wasn't even that bad. After a large que of traffic had built up behind me I decided enough was enough and burnt him off.

Poly · 06 January 2010, 21:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hightower

I just couldn't believe how slow some of the 4x4's were traveling at. Either the drivers hadn't a clue on how to drive one or they had low profile road tyres which were next to useless in these conditions.

Or perhaps they were just driving at a sensible speed for the conditions knowing that:

1. the problem that catches you out is probably not your car's capability but what the other idiots out there might do
2. 4x4 might help you keep moving but surely doesn't help you stop. Good tyres might help but I've certainly seen a few "gliding along" the road in the last few weeks - and a couple of tonnes of hard 4x4 has the potential to do some serious damage.

Hightower · 06 January 2010, 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Or perhaps they were just driving at a sensible speed for the conditions knowing that:

1. the problem that catches you out is probably not your car's capability but what the other idiots out there might do
2. 4x4 might help you keep moving but surely doesn't help you stop. Good tyres might help but I've certainly seen a few "gliding along" the road in the last few weeks - and a couple of tonnes of hard 4x4 has the potential to do some serious damage.

Yeh and I knew I'd get this response from someone.....You weren't there! 2mph is ridiculous. If you can't drive it, walk!

Hightower · 06 January 2010, 21:39

Oh and 4x4 does help you stop, you use the gears.

chewy · 06 January 2010, 21:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polwart

Or perhaps they were just driving at a sensible speed for the conditions knowing that:

1. the problem that catches you out is probably not your car's capability but what the other idiots out there might do
2. 4x4 might help you keep moving but surely doesn't help you stop. Good tyres might help but I've certainly seen a few "gliding along" the road in the last few weeks - and a couple of tonnes of hard 4x4 has the potential to do some serious damage.

Alot of it is people not knowing how to drive, I've followed a few 4x4's going down snow covered banks using their brakes and skidding rather than using a low gear and letting the engine do the braking.
Granted on ice it is a level playing field.

Dirk Diggler · 06 January 2010, 21:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hightower

. If you can't drive it, walk!

Just before xmas, we had 11 cars in one day end up in the ditch on a half mile of country lane just round the corner from me. Like you, they all thought they "could drive it", but unlike you, they couldn't.

You can't beat a little snow to start a pissing contest.