Recomendations for 4x4 tyres

[venum]

federal has some firestone

not sure if is old stock though

[lighthammer]

Does anyone know where I might get a set of 4 of these tyres in trinidad???

http://www.coopertire.com/html/products/tires_suv.aspx?tab=4&page=zeon_ltz

Cooper Zeon LTZ


20-inch All-terrain tyres, FTW!!!!

I must have them.......

[venum]

probably Deans Wheels

I saw 22" A/T on a Hummer locally

Nitto Terra Grappler All Terrain

LT325/50/R22

[lighthammer]

Nice - I wouldn't mind having a set of those for my upcoming brand new- ...... ok I'll shush right there .

But yeah, I'm gonna look into importing or skyboxing some of those coopers, esp in the 18-20+ inch sizes. They look real hard and I'm sure they'll be able to handle the average DB-run, and would be an asset to the blinged-out diesel heads..

I did check Dean's wheels last month though, and he has a set of 265/70R16 "Dominator" A/t tyres, which are prob an american brand (he deals a lot with American Racing, Konig, etc) and most his stock prob comes from USA.

Funny thing is when I went down to ask for tyres for the Frontier, he said "sure, I have _____... btw, we have a 3-inch lift kit for that truck, $XXXX, you want to put it in now?".

After spying his red Ford f-250 MONSTER TRUCK with the 50-inch lift out the corner of my eye, I was VERY tempted to say "hell yes, please".

[lighthammer]

This is what the cooper zeon LTZ look like from close-up...



And this is how they'd look on larger sized rims...



They look really good on a Nissan Titan and would look awesome on my new-...... something



Very aggressive tread with both on-road and off-road capabilities, even in 20-inch size.
I'm thinking a 275/60R20 would have enough meat on the sidewalls to handle a moderate trail and a beach run.

From the reviews I'm reading on some american truck forums, they give a quiet highway ride and can still handle wet/snow/trail quite well. Not as great as BFG's but damn near close.

Reviews from discounttiredirect.com

Reviews from titantalk.com



From http://www.discounttiredirect.com, set of 275/65/20's Cooper Zeon LTZ would set you back at $189USD or approx $1200TTD per tyre, and approx $4800 TTD for the set (without S&H plus customs fee to skybox them). Cheaper than the BFG's and just bit more expensive than Goodyear Wranglers or Firestone Destinations.

Check here for that price on those Cooper Zeon LTZ's.

[venum]

LH, i was talking to our corporate customs guy the other day about importing tyres

he was tellin me that when importing tyres, it is better to throw them on some rims instead of bringing them alone

FYI

not sure how accurate this is, prob worth investigating

[lighthammer]

^^^ I heard the same thing too, better to import the tyre+rim package than the tyre alone.

Something to do with HazMat regulations or the other, or maybe import/trade restrictions.


I'll def. let you guys know, cuz I saw some really nice 20-inch performance (not bling) rims for the new... umm... thing....

[jhonnieblue]

thing, and is a nissan titan u post up with them wheels, best say u by the nav lol
btw when u get it check me, want to compare
right now i running continental tires, they ok..serving the purpose but the thread rating is only 280

[venum]

^ ^ ^ damn

that kinda low treadwear there

[jhonnieblue]

yeah i noticed a lot of guys were getting tires with that when i brought mine
have to start looking by mid nex year for tires

[lighthammer]

Does anyone know where one can buy 17 or 18 inch all-terrain tyres?

All i can find in those sizes are goodyear fortera h/t's at Automotive Components & and Dunlop H/T's at Kelly tyres.

I know I posted the Cooper Zeon LT above but I wanna know what's available locally.

[venum]

i saw 18" BFG on a hummer locally

not sure if he got the tyres locally or if they came with the oil rig

try quick serve

[badart]

quick serve only hav all terrain tires up to 16" the only all terrain tire i gettin for my 17's is dunlop

[lighthammer]

quick serve only hav all terrain tires up to 16" the only all terrain tire i gettin for my 17's is dunlop

I was now gonna say that
I'm sure the hummer dude imported the bf's with the hummer.

Badart - where you getting the Dunlop all terrains in 17 inch? The only 17 inch tyre I was finding was some Dunlop H/T's from Kelly tyre. No other local dealer (at lest those listed in the yellow pages that I tried) have 17 inch tyres in either AT or HT, only 16's.

The only place that I know of that has 17 inch all terrains is deans wheels, they have in maxxis. I remember seeing some 18 inch nitto grapplers with an aggressive tread pattern at m. Rampersad's.....

[*Phoenix*]

I saw a place in Couva with the Maxxis in 17s for $1300
Jack's Tyre i believe.

[badart]

Mileage Mack POS hav the dunlop AT for around $1400...

[lighthammer]

*Sigh*

Why de fack nobody have any good quality tyres, and if they did carry them, they ALWAYS out of motherfiretrucking stock???

And we're left to sift through the cheap, bargain-bin shyet.
Forces us to have to run around like a bunch of fools, hunting down a set of tyres that should be readily available in the first place (seeing that Trinidad has a people:car ratio of 3:1).

*sigh*

[*Phoenix*]

I may not be in the market for tyres just yet but when i am ready i think i will just choose one off three...

The Destination A/T
Wrangler SilentArmor
LTX A/T2

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... nation+A/T
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... ilentArmor
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... =LTX+A/T+2

So for those who thinking about stocking tyres... thats what we want....
Group buy anyone????

[CD4Accord]

Well thats the whole problem, some people want A/T tyres, others like me would be on the market for M/T's
I agree that its shocking how hard it is to get the tyres you want... I said the same thing on the car tyres thread months ago..
But whats going on is this, people like us on here do our research and try to pick up something good, but the average Trini consumer walks into a store and tells them put on whatever is the cheapest one they have, hence why you end up seeing people driving benzes with triangle tyres etc..

Same goes for pickups and trucks etc.. The average person not even seeing mud and doh want to spend for a good road tyre, and as such doh really care what tyre they get... And then when I see their vigo/fronteir/navara (face it, cause is always one of the three) flipped in the middle of the highway whenever it drizzle, they wonder why...

[venum]

my take on it is supply and demand, based exactly on what CD4Accord posted above

lets think like the regular tyre shop owners - it makes sense to stock and supply the merchandise what sells, is in high demand and can make a quick profit, then restock and repeat the cycle.

in addition, they need a quick turn-over of their merchandise because it has a shelf life (albeit a couple years, but nevertheless they can't keep it for too long)

the average vehicle owner - the ones who are not as particular\serious as us here on these forums - I would say 80% of all vehicle owners are average owners. They will buy the cheapest tyres when needed - you will see plenty Roadstone, Firestone, Hercules, Nexxen Dunlop, Sumitomo on their vehicles - cars, van, Suv whatever

the above average owners - ppl who are serious about their vehicles will want the better tyres, but we are a few. we want the Kumho, Yokohama, Toyo, BFG, Michelin, GoodYear etc

it isn't economical for the tyre shops to stock brands like those

and LH, unfortunately most ppl who put big rims, do not put good tyres, so you will see ppl with 20" rims and Nexxen\Roadstone tyres on them

[badart]

LTX A/T2 for me

those who running 265/50R20..how is the ride comfort etc is it a noticeable difference from OEM?

[lighthammer]

CD4Accord and Venum - you guys speak words of truth and wisdom.
I wonder if there's any way to liase the trinituner diesel boyz with one of the major tyre dealers, say eg. Deans Wheels, and set up some sort of group ordering system (i.e. some people want 2 sets of kumho's, 4 want firestones, 2 want cooper zeon's, and they ship in every 1-2 months. Of course who ordering will put down a deposit, collect and pay when delivered, etc).

Anyone interested in co-partnering a specialist shop dealing only in 4x4 a/t's and m/t's (i.e. for average enthusiast, not the average mindless trini consumer with the vigo's).

[venum]

LH that is a good idea

I for one will not mind ordering tyres

however, while you and I are willing to pay the extra $ to get the tyres that we want, it must also be reasonable and sensible $ wise to do so

Buying retail in the US and shipping will not be justifiable for me as the total cost will be expensive

Makes no sense spending TT$10,000.00 on some Mickey Thompsons when I can get BFG for TT$6,000.00

However, if someone were to get the Mickey Thompson at a supplier price and then sell retail locally such that it works out to TT$ 7,000.00 then that is a better price which I can justify

[CD4Accord]

I agree with the points made by Venum but don't agree with his classification of brands into cheap vs quality categories..
I wouldnt ever put Dunlop or Firestone in the cheap crappy category with Nexen etc, you just judging based on the crap models imported into trinidad..
On the flipside, Kumho would be considered mid-range at best when compared to the other tyres mentioned..

Anyway, enough technicalities... I actually like the Firestone Firehawk ATX on the pajero right now.. I have to ask pops how much he paid for them, but they definitely better than the Falken's we had on before.. The firestone for one outlasted the falkens which cut BADLY on the inside despite perfect allignment. Also, the firestone despite being an A/T is much more competent off-road.
That said, I still going to need some M/T's eventually based on the kinda places I like to go, problem as you mention is getting it for a good price.. Places like Dean's Wheels can import im sure, but being a speciality shop already means they have a solid markup and expect even more for a custom order.
Concerning supply and demand, the fellas at Ramrattan M. in Sando summarised it best.. They said they love to stock great tyres but when it takes years sometimes to sell, whats the use? So, a few of us want good tyres at a good price but thats not the average consumer and until that changes (and face it, it wont) we stuck with a market flooded with Nexen/Roadstone. (not to mention idiots in vigo's upside down on the highway)....

I digress and rest.....

[lighthammer]

^^word!

*goes to www.tirerack.com and www.discounttiredirect.com , then sighs deeply*

Looks like it's gonna be either Kumho"s or BFG's for the new na..... Something.

There's a place in chaguanas that deals directly with Cooper tyres, does anyone know what place? I called Deans wheels yesterday and he said they'd be better to talk to concerning the Cooper Zeon LTZ.

[venum]

I wouldnt ever put Dunlop or Firestone in the cheap crappy category with Nexen etc, you just judging based on the crap models imported into trinidad.. . - YES. I was referring solely to teh ones available locally, after all I started this thread to discuss teh tyre options available locally. Firestone and Dunlop are excellent tyres in teh US, but unfortunately we get our Firestone from Venezuela, which are the really crappy (except for teh Firehawk AT and ATX). the US gets some nice Firestone and Bridgestone tyres.


On the flipside, Kumho would be considered mid-range at best when compared to the other tyres mentioned.. - depends on teh model I'd say. The Road Venture is pretty good from what I have been hearing and they are available in M/T as well

I saw these today

Maxxis Mudzilla



35 x 13.5 x15 on the left and 33 x 13.5 x 16 on the right







not too badly priced I'd say

and very scarce to get M/T in 16"

[Rutless Tiida]

Actually LH I find that the BFG had a harder ride than the Toyo. But the Toyo are hard to get because the guys at Mileage Mack said that they have problems getting the quantities that they would like. A "big" shipment came in a few weeks ago, 60 tyres and they sell out quickly.

[lighthammer]

^^ Well, it is a 50:50 split between Road/Off-road, so I don't expect the BFG's to give a ride that's fly like a G6...

But from what I've been reading on different forums, more serious off-roader guys swear by the BFG's, and they give surprisingly long treadwears as well - average i'm seeing is 60-70,000 km's and you get down to less than 1/2-life.

I'm seriously considering getting a set of BFG's, once I can find a more aggressive-looking set of 16's for the upcoming new ride....

[venum]

get 15" soo much easier to get tyres for 15"

even if you want to experiment with M/T's 15" are the way to go

if you getting 16" get some 15" on the side

[lighthammer]

Most of the places I called have 16-inch sized tyres, I was initially looking for 17-inch, but 16-inch tims & BFG's tyres should be fine for the new ride.

Maybe something like this: