Off road tyres

[Karel]

Hi everyone,

In January I bought myself an LC120. This summer I will be doing an offroad trip with my brothers. At the moment my tyres are in pretty bad shape and not made for offroad trips. Is there someone who can give me some advice on which tyre is best for it? It will be an easy roadbook!

Thanks! Karel

PS: if you have some other tips or tricks for my first 4x4 trip, let me know!

 

[karl2000]

Where are you going, what is the terrain like? My default starting position would be BFG KO2 AT unless theres a reason to choose something else (eg heavy mud!)

We will see what the experts say!

 

[Karel]

Hi Karl,

Thanks for your reply! It will be in France and the terrain isn't too hard. I think it will be dry but there are some small rivers on the road (like 30cm deep). There won't be that much mud.

Karel

 

[Chris]

+ 1 on that really. Any decent branded All Terrain tyre will suit the 120 just fine.

 

[MarkW]

BFG KO2's would be my choice, I'm currently running Cooper AT3's and they won't get replaced with the same, not at all impressed with them

 

[Karel]

Thanks for the replies! Do you guys know what the biggest tyre size possible is, without lifting mij LC?

 

[Chris]

Lifting the 120 series makes very very little difference to the size you can fit. Because it's IFS you really need to fit adjustable top arms and use the cams on the bottom arms to push the suspension forwards. There looks to be lots of room in the arch, but that's not the problem. The issue comes on full lock and the distance across the tyre from the inside edge to the outside edge. If you fit a really square, blocky tyre like an all terrain, you won't be able to go much bigger at all. If you find a more road biased tyre with rounder edges then you will most likely get a bit bigger tyre in there. You can spend quite some time doing a body lift and suspension lift only to find the tyre still rubs because the point that it rubs on (basically at 3 O'clock on the tyre) isn't really affected by the lift. Moving the wishbones forward is a far better option all round to fit bigger tyres. You can fit a top mount turret spacer in the 120 IFS which has the effect of pushing the centre of the wheel forward a little more but retains the standard suspension.
Personally having had a 120 and 2 90s I wouldn't deviate too much from the original size. Concentrate on good tread and underbody protection and you'll go places that most people can't

 

[MarkW]

265/70/16 will fit without a lift, guys in the states are regularly fitting 33-35" tyres but with suspension lifts, upper control arms and modification to the front body mounts and maybe some other minor mods depending on the tyre in question.

Well worth checking out the GXOR forums and groups for info on the 120 and 150 platforms, much more knowledge than any of the UK equivalents, just remember that their 120's came with a V8 and not a diesel engine

 

[Chris]

Typically the 120 is on 17" rims. Not always such a good choice of tyres available and you can't generally retro fit 16" rims because of the larger calipers. There are work arounds, but better to keep any changes pretty small. It's a very capable vehicle. I know I actually had one and used it. That's why I know the plastic bash plates tend to get ripped off. Ooops. Always got comments from the dealer when it went in for a service. Lovely vehicle though.

 

[TonyP]

I have General Grabber AT3 on my 120 in 265/70/17 and whilst not quite as good as the BFG for the saving made well worth a consideration.

I don't off road, but when at Lincomb these performed well enough for the tracks encountered.

Acceptable compromise in my view

 

[AndycruiserguyLomas]

I have the similar tyre, the GG AT2 at 265/70/17 on the 120. This was only due to economics as out of choice I'd have had the BFG AT2's However on the road theres no significant difference in the way they drive. in the wet they are just the same as the BFG AT2's I've driven or the Cooper ST Maxx that I'm currently running on the 80.
Unless you're going extreme, most AT's will do the job.

 

[toolsplus]

17'' BFG AT2 265/70's
best tyre i ever bought,quiet on the road,supple offroad,will do everything except serious mud
will last maybe 5 years/100,000 miles
cant find a fault with these tyres...

 

[garygiles1963]

HI

If money is no option, go for the BFG, I have Coopers, very happy with them, at the time saved 250 quid against BFG.

Gary

 

[Chris]

Exactly that Gary. I have Coopers and they've been excellent so far. In fact in snow they have been quite unbelievable. Great on the highway and been pretty good in the dirt. I'd like BFGs but actually having had a set, well several actually, it's hard to say how they'd actually be better than the Coopers.

 

[garygiles1963]

On the road they have been excellent, wet and dry, always felt confident. On the the Pyrenees trip also great. I certainly did not help them as I didn't have the confidence the to air up and down enough, so they took more of a knocking than they deserved. I think if I was going on a long off road trip I would invest in BFG. I don't do more 9k a year, 10% off road.

 

[MarkW]

For methe coopers simply don't have adequate puncture and sidewall protection.

Over 100k miles 80% off road on BFG's one puncture from a nail dropped in a campsite and survived some serious sidewall damage from sharp rocks. Cooper AT3's 2 punctures within a 10k miles, the last was an acacia thorn that went straight through a tread block, simply not good enough IMHO, grip wise they are fine but I won't fit them again when they wear out

 

[Karel]

Thanks for all the replies, I think I will go for the BFG's!

Karel

 

[clivehorridge]

Over the years I’ve had both GG ATs and BFG ATs, and although I’d recommend the BFGs more, the tyre to road/ track performance of the tyre is almost identical.