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Tyres and sizes on an 80

Ecoman

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How you folks rate the Hankook Dynapro MTs in the snow? I'm currently running 305-70-16s with only a couple of thousand miles on them.

The reason I ask is I have just spent 20 minutes digging myself out of a snow filled ditch after the 80 aquaplaned on 1" deep slush at less than 20mph in a straignt line! I then took my Hilux running General Grabber ATs down the same road and it was a much smoother drive and no where near the same amount of slipping and sliding. Thankfully it only ripped off my nearside mudflap, slightly bent my sides step and damaged the paint on my wheel. I can refit my mudflap as its just pulled the bolts through so a couple of big washers and jobs a good un. The step is only noticable if you look underneath it as its just the bottom lip. The wheels I was going to get powdercoated anyway so no great loss there.

Anyway, I have found the Hankooks generally very twitchy on uneven surfaces. I thought at first it was my steering damper but I changed it for an Ironman one and its still the same. If I go along a snow/slush covered lane, down a farm track or hit ruts left by lorries on the motorway the 80 is all over the place. I also don't have much feedback through the steering wheel. I have experimented with different tyre pressure on the front and rear but made very little difference apart from fuel economy. There is no play in any of the bearings and bushes etc so at a loss as to what it could be apart from tyres.

I know a few of you on here rate them very highly so was wondering if it was something like the size I have fitted on mine. Any suggestons as to the best size tyre to run on these 80s. Also what is the standard size supposed to be?

If I don't sort this soon then I will be swapping them out for something like Cooper Discoverer STs or General Grabber AT2s.

Thanks in advance
Bill
 
Bill, only obvious thing that I can say about that is that they are 305. That is a big wide old thing. When you calculate the footprint in lbs/sq inch, you'll doubtless be spreading the weight of your truck over quite a large area. I have 255 STs and when I went to Lincomb this time, I found that I had fantastic traction, moving over very slippery surfaces without spinning a wheel. I would venture to suggest that tyre make to tyre make there isn't a greater difference in snow as there would be between the same tyres but in different widths.

Having had the same sizes on the same vehicle but in MT and AT, I can say that the AT pattern in snow was much better. Buy some margin I thought.

Chris
 
Thanks for the reply Chris. I tend to agree with what your saying regarding width. They are a huge great tyre and I can see no purpose to having them that wide on a road vehicle other than looks (and damn it looks good!!) I was considering swapping them out for a set of 285 75 16s as that would give me roughly the same rolling radius but be a marginally narrower tyre. That and change to an AT type trad may be the may forward. To be honest I don't do that much off roading due to time restrictions. The 80 is to be primarily a touring vehicle, long distance traveller and general winter car and toy for me. For this reason I can't see the point in having MTs. However there are a lot of people who run them on a daily basis and I decided it might be worth getting the moneys worth out of these first before swapping them. I'm beginning to regret my decision.
 
I'd second what Chris said - ATs or even some road tyres (with the M+S symbol ;) ) are far superior in snow and slush. MTs are notoriously poor. A 305 has to be about the least ideal size for snow use, I would think. Have you seen the tyres that rally cars run in those winter rallies? Skinny little biscuit tyres with studs in if driving on ice or lots of small tread blocks ( a la an AT) for snow. The rubber compound is quite important too - MTs often have quite a hard compound to compromise for the high voidage of the tread - MTs with soft rubber wear out very quickly. Hard rubber in the cold is not going to grip too well. I would expect the GG AT2s to be better than most tyres because the rubber in them is fairly soft, certainly compared with the BFG AT.

I have been waiting for some snow to try out my MTs in some decent drifts. So far I've only managed to catch a cold - no sign of snow for my test :cry:

Cheers,
 
Thanks for that. I have had some MT tyres in the past that have handled ok on the roads but I'm not familiar with Hankooks especially a tyre so wide.

On my hilux I'm on my second set of GG AT2s after converting from Goodyear Wrangler ATs. I have been very impressed the grabbers and was considering getting a set for the 80. I think I will ring my tyre supplier up tomorrow and see if he has any in stock and maybe pay him a visit. I may go with 285-75-16s as I want to keep the profile. Any thoughts/opinions?
 
285 are a good solution :thumbup: IMHO they are probably the optimum size for an 80 with standard gearing for looks, a bit more height (over stock 275s), common size etc etc. 255s are probably more "effective" as they have lower rolling resistance, air down a bit more effectively, will have a higher contact pressure when hard but they need spacers to look good on an 80 (or the stance looks a bit narrow) and they are not the most common size, so selection is limited and getting replacements is more difficult than 285s.
I don't recall ever seeing GG AT2s in 255 for example but they do make 285s.

Cheers,
 
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285's :thumbup:

I have muds on mine but thinking of moving them on if anyone is interested, including the wheels maybe.

I want to go down the AT route as lots and lots of road miles coming up.
 
I contacted my supplier this morning and he is gonna ring me back with price and availability soon so may be running on 285-75-16 GG AT2s by the weekend :dance:

Thanks for all your advice. Knew I could count on you guys to keep me on the straight and narrow...literally :thumbup: :roll: :lol:
 
Have you seen the new tread pattern on the GG AT2, doesn't look so good.
 
andyw said:
Have you seen the new tread pattern on the GG AT2, doesn't look so good.
Presume you mean AT rather than AT2?
On General's website is this which looks like the current pattern? :?

General has a new AT (not AT2), which is similar in pattern to quite a few of the new ATs coming out to meet the nampy-pamby EU regs on tyre noise :doh: The new GG AT seems to be intended for modern soft-roaders with big wheels (i.e. rims of 18" upwards)
This new AT tread pattern looks good for snow or wet roads but maybe not so good for mud...
Seems to be some confusion on the actual pattern - we have this shown on a UK site versus this one on General's website.

With the EU rules impacting tyre designs and forcing us to choose from more road-biased patterns, it looks like a good time to be buying tyres while your preferred pattern is still available :twisted:

Cheers,
 
Can you get those in the UK, Paul? I know Chris and few others have the regular ST but I don't recall ever seeing the ST+C. Looks nice though!
 
I used Sinton Tyres. I think that they are actually the sole importer for Cooper. I could be wrong. Camskill are also very good. I looked the other day and Sinton are down to 2 ST. The guy there said that there'd be no more. Not until we sort out what is happening with tyres anyway. Thought about blagging them for stock!

Chris
 
Aye its the AT2 pattern that he is quoting for and not the Grabber/AT pattern.

I like the cooper discoverer range. The way I can gather it the ST is like an AT tread pattern and the STT is an MT pattern.
 
Not quite. The ST is halfway between an AT and MT. It is far more aggressive than the AT. But not as much as the MT. I would not have the ST if you wanted AT.

I would (and have) got the STs and like them a lot so far. I think that for general use on an 80, the AT is an excellent choice of tyre. Good in any conditions that most drivers would ever find themselves in. I have had several sets and would buy them any day. Specifically, the BFG. I have not had any of the other AT makes.

C
 
Yes I was confusing the new AT that was shown on this thread viewtopic.php?f=65&t=9095



Andrew Prince said:
andyw said:
Have you seen the new tread pattern on the GG AT2, doesn't look so good.
Presume you mean AT rather than AT2?
On General's website is this which looks like the current pattern? :?

General has a new AT (not AT2), which is similar in pattern to quite a few of the new ATs coming out to meet the nampy-pamby EU regs on tyre noise :doh: The new GG AT seems to be intended for modern soft-roaders with big wheels (i.e. rims of 18" upwards)
This new AT tread pattern looks good for snow or wet roads but maybe not so good for mud...
Seems to be some confusion on the actual pattern - we have this shown on a UK site versus this one on General's website.

With the EU rules impacting tyre designs and forcing us to choose from more road-biased patterns, it looks like a good time to be buying tyres while your preferred pattern is still available :twisted:

Cheers,
 
My Brother has just bought some Toyo Open country AT's from Camskill for his Patrol, they look pretty good & the price was very good also.
 
Ah OK Chris it all starts to become clearer now. I knew there was a difference but not sure how much of one there actually was.

I will still be going for GG AT2s anyway as I have had a good experience using them in the past.

I have driven a few vehicles fitted with Toyo Open Country ATs and as far as handling I was happy with first impressions. They also look good too.
 
The Toyo AT's are more road biased than the cooper ST's that Chris has but similar to other AT's. They handle very well but they're not a long life tyre like a BFG.
 
Andrew Prince said:
285 are a good solution :thumbup: IMHO they are probably the optimum size for an 80 with standard gearing for looks, a bit more height (over stock 275s), common size etc etc.

Cheers,

What's stock for an 80 on 16"s? 275x70x16?
 
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