Offroad Tyres

[momo]

Every off-road driver has his strength and weakness points which results a unique driving style that requires a certain balance of the car - driver equation .

Regardless the on-road / of-road compromise The tyre tread impacts the off-road driving as foolowing :-

H/T tires :- ( ​Smooth tread & light weight )

This tyre will enhance speed and momentum as it floats over the sand it works best for fast paced Rally style driving & big dunes climbing . On the other hand they have minimal grip and they tend to slip ( slide ) on side slopes and side crests spesially when you dont have enough speed ( Technical small & meduim dune areas ) , another disadvantage is side cresting the very big and huge dunes as you will not be able to reduce speed to safe cresting speed without sliding .


M/T tiers :- (Agressive tread & Heavy weight )

This tyre will enhance overall control as they shovel the sand giving great grip. They work best in areas where building speed & momentum is not an option ( Technical dunes , sharp crests and ditches ) in addition to the ability of side cresting in low speed very safely . Their heavy weight will result several disadvantages such as extra load on drive train ( axels , shafts , engine & transmission ) , you will have to deflate to less than 5 psi to get a longer tyre print and building speed & momentum will be hard due to tires weight & load as you will feel the loss of power on big climbs and fast trails .

A/T tiers :-

Its a compromise between the above mentioned H/T & MT tires nevertheless their performance will vary depending on the vehicles wheel base , weight , suspension ...etc.

Finally its up to the driver to determine what works for him and his car best although this may cost him time , effort & money .

Thank you Abu Jimmy, very interesting post. What I felt mostly with FJ Cruiser automatic transmission, it has slow RPM pick up from 600 till around 2500 RPM. Combining this with BF Goodrich A/T. You feel that the car is doing very hard work to move forward. In addition, I was driving with 7PSI and i was feeling that my car was too heavy for such pressure and I was not pushing it to the limit of pop-out. So I was all the time slow on turns.

[pradodxb]

Every off-road driver has his strength and weakness points which results a unique driving style that requires a certain balance of the car - driver equation .

Regardless the on-road / of-road compromise The tyre tread impacts the off-road driving as foolowing :-

H/T tires :- ( ​Smooth tread & light weight )

This tyre will enhance speed and momentum as it floats over the sand it works best for fast paced Rally style driving & big dunes climbing . On the other hand they have minimal grip and they tend to slip ( slide ) on side slopes and side crests spesially when you dont have enough speed ( Technical small & meduim dune areas ) , another disadvantage is side cresting the very big and huge dunes as you will not be able to reduce speed to safe cresting speed without sliding .


M/T tiers :- (Agressive tread & Heavy weight )

This tyre will enhance overall control as they shovel the sand giving great grip. They work best in areas where building speed & momentum is not an option ( Technical dunes , sharp crests and ditches ) in addition to the ability of side cresting in low speed very safely . Their heavy weight will result several disadvantages such as extra load on drive train ( axels , shafts , engine & transmission ) , you will have to deflate to less than 5 psi to get a longer tyre print and building speed & momentum will be hard due to tires weight & load as you will feel the loss of power on big climbs and fast trails .

A/T tiers :-

Its a compromise between the above mentioned H/T & MT tires nevertheless their performance will vary depending on the vehicles wheel base , weight , suspension ...etc.

Finally its up to the driver to determine what works for him and his car best although this may cost him time , effort & money .

[MENTION=1531]Abu Jimmy[/MENTION],

Great post....super informative....I spent 2 years of my career working for a reputed tire manufacturer as an Engineer in the product development and testing. Sand tire testing was a common activity and the tire most preferred was the "rib pattern" (what you are referring as H/T) mainly because it was great for big dunes and had awesome flotation.

That being said, you are spot on about the tire requirement as per car as well and what works for the driver. Your point about side cresting behaviors of H/T and M/T was a good one.

Thanks again...your post brought back a lot of good memories from my previous job...

[momo]

@Abu Jimmy,

Great post....super informative....I spent 2 years of my career working for a reputed tire manufacturer as an Engineer in the product development and testing. Sand tire testing was a common activity and the tire most preferred was the "rib pattern" (what you are referring as H/T) mainly because it was great for big dunes and had awesome flotation.

That being said, you are spot on about the tire requirement as per car as well and what works for the driver. Your point about side cresting behaviors of H/T and M/T was a good one.

Thanks again...your post brought back a lot of good memories from my previous job...

When the engineer and the well experienced marshal meet :051:

[Mosalf]

I tried Dunlop Grandtrek (came with the FJ) and they failed miserably. Some one advised Scorpion Pirelli and Michellin. Both seem to work for the FJ...am now trying Cooper AT3.

On the BFG, I know a lot of guys having fun with those tires especially Marshals and Experts...seems a popular choice for low psi and no pop outs at high speed dune bashing...again as someone said, its individual choice but hey the tire companies do know what they are doing.

I respect Shamsi and consider his opinion in all aspects of desert driving...if he sez they are good they must be...its a case of tasting the pudding here...and he has tasted a lot of it for sure. :)

[Ramstest]

Hi,
really interesting read here, got aloot to catch up on i see...
I got the BFgoodrich T/A on the xterra,
any thumbrule on how low i can go on pressure without asking for a popout for such tyres? i assume it varies a fair bit pending on the tyre you use.
Thanks=)
regards
Henrik

[Ramstest]

Dear Green Giant,

Thank you for sharing your experience over here. There is a big choice of tires on the market and prices vary too. BF Goodrich remains one of the remarkable brand in the off-road community and they have good reputation in our club on some cars. As mentioned many times, with some tires you have good performance, with others you have it less or sometimes you struggle. Getting stuck in sand is definitely not the tire mistake but the driver...
Now hopefully my BF Goodrich would find soon a new beast.

Hope to see you soon,

Regards,

Hi,
really interesting read here, got aloot to catch up on i see...
I got the BFgoodrich rugged trail T/A on the xterra,
any thumbrule on how low i can go on pressure without asking for a popout for such tyres? i assume it varies a fair bit pending on the tyre you use.
Thanks=)
regards
Henrik

[Abu Jimmy]

Hi,
really interesting read here, got aloot to catch up on i see...
I got the BFgoodrich rugged trail T/A on the xterra,
any thumbrule on how low i can go on pressure without asking for a popout for such tyres? i assume it varies a fair bit pending on the tyre you use.
Thanks=)
regards
Henrik

12 psi will be a good starting point till you learn your car , then you can go down to 10 psi .

[caprihorse]

Hi,
really interesting read here, got aloot to catch up on i see...
I got the BFgoodrich rugged trail T/A on the xterra,
any thumbrule on how low i can go on pressure without asking for a popout for such tyres? i assume it varies a fair bit pending on the tyre you use.
Thanks=)
regards
Henrik

For pop-out, tyre brand is not really the case. With any sharp turn or hitting the grass, pop-out is guaranteed even with higher pressure as well.

Try it. Drive down the dune and at the bottom turn sharp to the side and see the result. But you need to have all the equipment available.

[JohnnyD]

Thanks for this informational thread. I'm planning to buy new tires for my ride too. this gets me quite a lot of idea about tires i can use for my ride. So far, what I have on my list are BF Goodrich and Nitto tires.

[alshamsi_m]

Cooper HT is lighter than the AT3 , it will flow better on sand but it has a very weak side wall that gets cut very easily on FJ's .
It has less grip as well comparing to all other AT & MT tyres.

Six years ago the Cooper Discoverer AT-3 didn't exist . Their AT tyre version was called the AT-R and it was only available in L.T. category ( not P. ) so it was heavy and hard to balance hence didn't succeed as a desert off road tyre .