Which AT tyres for NW?

[vladguan]

I was going to do that last year for our big trip but got told it made the car unroadworthy and therefore insurance may have been void. I'm not sure if it was right or not so I left them in.

Only if it is permanently removed where all the anchor points, bolts and seat belts are removed. Temporary revival is allowed that if why they are made that way.

[old Jack]

Thanks for your trip report OJ. I really appreciate the technical details (weights, pressures, fuel usage, etc). I can't wait for my third Simpson crossing (August). I reckon I'll install 697 LT's. I know they're a bit noisy but I had no trouble with them over 150,000 kms on my old NP. I also had the same MD suspension setup and it was very good (it included airbags because I was towing a heavier van). My NW is completely unloaded at the moment and the new rear springs has raised it from 520mm to 680mm. This is excessive but it will drop a bit when I install my home made storage system (I'll add this before the alignment). I'll keep the rear load under 150kgs (including 40 lit water, 40 lit fuel, and a full second spare wheel). A last resort to keep weight down is to remove the second row seats (I did this last time). Time to install the front lift.

Over the last few years 3 of the Adelaide Pajero owners I travel with have all had D697 failures on mild off road trips where the tyre has been legally unrepairable. Sidewall, tread crown and shoulders have all been damaged easily.
They have moved over to BFG, ST Maxx or ATZ P3.

Assume the 680mm rear EBH is a typo and it is 580mm.

Airbags in the rear will assist with touring weights on the MD rear coils.

French Line is really soft and chewed up in both directions and it is early in the season so by August you can expect a rough trip unless there is significant rains in the desert.

Amazingly very few people are reporting their position and direction of travel accurately on UHF 10 so extra caution is required in regards to oncoming vehicles and motorbikes.

Crossing #5 for NJswb (4 as driver), #1 for Pajero 12 and #4 for OJ.

OJ.

See this post,

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=522331&postcount=312

[outbackogre]

Sorry OJ, 580mm is correct. And the fronts (just installed) are 540mm. Previous height was 520 (rear) and 480 (front), so I have a 60mm lift front and back. I imagine it will settle a little, and I will monitor the rear carefully when I start loading up. That's a concerning report about the 697's. My experience of them has been more hopeful. Thanks for the track report.

[old Jack]

Sorry OJ, 580mm is correct. And the fronts (just installed) are 540mm. Previous height was 520 (rear) and 480 (front), so I have a 60mm lift front and back. I imagine it will settle a little, and I will monitor the rear carefully when I start loading up. That's a concerning report about the 697's. My experience of them has been more hopeful. Thanks for the track report.

Factory unladen heights are 500-505mm front and 530-535mm rear so half your lift has been to recover lost ride height through adding accessories. 540/550mm front and 570/580mm rear is really the maximum legal ride height..

I used to recommend the D697 as a good allround AT tyre but after seeing first hand the problems with them in mild off road conditions I changed my opinion. In hard conditions I cannot fault the ST Maxx or ATZ P3 but the jury is still out on the MT 51's as to if they are in the same league.

OJ.

[outbackogre]

Decided to try Hankook Dynapro RF10 in LT (120/117 load rating). They seem very quiet. Will provide a report on performance after an upcoming Simpson Desert trip.

[Dicko1]

I use to 697,s years ago on a troopy. Bloody horrible in the rocky stretches. They cut up very badly and because of the spongy sidewall I staked 2 with less than 5000klms on them. Could of possibly happened to another make as the well worn track dictated that you followed the wheel ruts and the worn off tree roots were responsible for the staking. Soft sidewall. I run them now on the NW,s alloy rims purely as road tyres. Have another set of steel rims with General Grabber 2 off road A/T,S. Just not a fan of the 697 for offroad use.

[outbackogre]

Just back from the Simpson Desert. Another great trip (my third). The Hankook RF10's handled very well, with pressures down to 16 (front) and 18 (rear). I even had a go at the left most track on Big Red (on the west side) and was stopped only by the very soft sand near the top (I could have dropped pressures a bit more but decided not to push my luck). I was a little anxious about traction control in sand (my previous Paj didn't have it) but learned to trust it and give it more right foot when wheels started to spin approaching the top of soft dunes. All worked well. The MD Lovell/Bilstein combo also worked well over corrugations and handled the medium load I was carrying. To be honest, it did not seem to be a hard trip on tyres. Eight vehicles, including a stock 200 series, and the only tyre problems were on a LR Range Rover Sport running 275-45R20's. Though the Rangie performed very well, it destroyed 3 tyres (all side wall damage from airing down too much).

[signo1985]

Hi guys, first pajero (glx-r) and looking at some AT tyres.
ATM i am on yoko geolandar HT g016, I read good reviews on the same geolandar series, but of course the AT version which is g015. Price seems reasonable too

Has anyone tried them?

Otherwise what tyre would you recommend considering that:
- unfortunately the paj is 90% driven on bitumen, at least for now

- living in perth, most of the 4wd will be sand/beach driving


I am so looking forward to start 4wding and have fun on the beach but due to poor funds car is still stock (suspension and of course tyres). Is it gonna be silly/dangerous attempting dunes driving with a stock nw or i can still give it a go? My family safety first, but don't wanna destroy the car either lol.
I have done a bit of 4wd but that was in the rainforest/outback mainly and very little on wa beaches

Thanks

[MARKx4]

Hi guys, first pajero (glx-r) and looking at some AT tyres.
ATM i am on yoko geolandar HT g016, I read good reviews on the same geolandar series, but of course the AT version which is g015. Price seems reasonable too

Has anyone tried them?

Otherwise what tyre would you recommend considering that:
- unfortunately the paj is 90% driven on bitumen, at least for now

- living in perth, most of the 4wd will be sand/beach driving


I am so looking forward to start 4wding and have fun on the beach but due to poor funds car is still stock (suspension and of course tyres). Is it gonna be silly/dangerous attempting dunes driving with a stock nw or i can still give it a go? My family safety first, but don't wanna destroy the car either lol.
I have done a bit of 4wd but that was in the rainforest/outback mainly and very little on wa beaches

Thanks

Good all rounder that is perfect for 90% on road is the Perilli Scorpion ATR

[linc]

I am so looking forward to start 4wding and have fun on the beach but due to poor funds car is still stock (suspension and of course tyres). Is it gonna be silly/dangerous attempting dunes driving with a stock nw or i can still give it a go? My family safety first, but don't wanna destroy the car either lol.
I have done a bit of 4wd but that was in the rainforest/outback mainly and very little on wa beaches

Thanks

One thing to note is WA beaches are often very soft --- so a suspension lift and a tall tyre sidewall certainly will improve the overall 'offroad' experience.

EDIT: upgrades are not mandatory, by any stretch, as long as you make good driving decisions. The stock Pajero is a pretty damned good performer.

I'm running the same make & model as you (NW, GLX-R) and am in WA too, and can only comment positively on my tyre choice (Cooper AT3s ; 265/70/17) and suspension upgrades (bil/lovell combo plus Polyairs for additional towing support) for all the local driving you're likely to do.
But ... there are many, many other positive opinions out there too!
Good luck in your decisions, if you want to take a look at my setup any time just drop me a PM.
Linc.

[signo1985]

Ok perfect thanks guys.
I have no chance but to leave stock for now till i get more funds, so its good to know that even the HT tyres are actually quite good on sand. I still have heaps of rubber left on the ones i have on at the moment so i'd rather use them as much as possible.
i will look into the pirelly and cooper for next year, cheers!

[Travis73]

X 2 for the Pirelli's. Just fitted my second set.

[signo1985]

Which ones, ATR or the new AT Plus?
I read that the ATR are getting almost impossible to find due to the release of the newer model.
Those bigger blocks on the AT PLUS seem a lot more noisier than the ATR ones