Replace 205r/16's on splits for 225/75/16's?? @ ExplorOz

AnswerID: 21590 Submitted: Monday, Jun 02, 2003 at 00:27

Prado Boy replied:

Hey Slammin,

I've got a Prado RV TD (2001) - these come with 215 80R16 Rubber standard (grandtreks which are crud!)... I changed these over to Cooper ST 225 75R16 (Light Truck) very early on and have not regretted it one bit. These tyres are looking like they will get 100,000 Km's no sweat (already done 60,000 Kms). They are great in any conditions - sand, mud, gravel roads, rocks - oyu name it, they handle it very well.

I am however going to get the 265 75R16 - a little more width plus a change in diameter from 29 inch to nearly 32 inch. This gives a bit over a 1 inch lift - together with suspension mods should give me 3 extra inches of lift - very handy for some of the places I get to on my lonesome...

Hope this helps.

Reply 1 of 4

AnswerID: 21592 Submitted: Monday, Jun 02, 2003 at 06:26

Squid replied:

Slammin,

My mate has 225/75/16 BFG's on 5.5 splits on his Hilux and he seems very happy to have a bit more rubber.

I am still running with the 205's (Dunlop Roadgrippers) on my Hilux, and have never had a problem so am reluctant to change.

I guess if you are going to be doing a lot of sand driving the extra rubber of the 225 may be worthwhile.

I would be interested to get your thoughts on the Coopers if you decide to get them. Is it the Cooper ST you are looking at?

Reply 2 of 4

FollowupID: 14144 Submitted: Monday, Jun 02, 2003 at 23:22

Slammin posted:

I do agree that the 205's are v. practical and really haven't had any prob's except for in real soft sand and having to virtually deflate most of the tyre.
I'm looking at the Coopers simply because of the number and quality of the plys, particularly side wall.
I live in the desert so I can see the sense of a bit more rubber but as I said I've never come across this combo b4, from what I've been told the 225's are meant for a 6' rim, so I thought I'd see what other users thought.
As to ST's I'm looking at the AT as it is less agresive and will dig in the sand less, mind you I found the Dunlop Road Grippers more to be Sand Diggers. They are good in mud etc.
Anyway I'll post about how they do go if I get them.

Thanx

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AnswerID: 21601 Submitted: Monday, Jun 02, 2003 at 11:39

Anthony (Vic) replied:

Same here. I have put 225/75/16 BFG A/T KO's on my Hilux split rims. The only problem was with balancing the wheels, which I was told was a splt rim problem not the tyre. I definetly prefer the 225 BFG's to the original 205 Dunlop's.

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FollowupID: 14124 Submitted: Monday, Jun 02, 2003 at 20:41

Squid posted:

Hi Anthony,

What do you find is the biggest difference with the BFG's? Is it a more comfortable ride, better off road, better durability?

FollowUp 1 of 4

FollowupID: 14153 Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 03, 2003 at 10:58

Anthony (Vic) posted:

Hi Squid,

It could be as simple as more rubber (205 vs 225) on the road/dirt, equals better grip.

The problem I found with the Dunlop's is that with a bit of tread wear the Dunlop's quickly lost their grip in the wet, on and off road. I think the BFG's are at least as durable as the Dunlop's but I'm yet to find how the BFG's perform when low on tread (still have about 70% tread left).

Before the BFG's I also tried Toyo's, which I found to have a much softer wall and tread. They didn't wear as well as the Dunlop's.

Overall, I think the BFG's have a better tread patten and appear to be wearing at least as well as the Dunlop's. Both the BFG's & Dunlop's have a firmer wall, which I prefer.

On the question of comfort, the best thing I did was the relace the leaf springs etc with an ARB OME suspension kit.

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FollowupID: 14217 Submitted: Tuesday, Jun 03, 2003 at 23:59

Slammin posted:

Just to note I only just got 30 000 out of the road grippers, I wasn't very impressed. How far have the BFG's gone?

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FollowupID: 14230 Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 04, 2003 at 10:09

Anthony posted:

Only 30,000 from your Dunlop's - I got about 60,000 out of the original road grippers on my '92 2.8D twin cab. So far I done about 18,000 on the BFG's, which I think are wearing at about the same rate as the Dunlop's. I'm on my 4th set of tyres and have done 175,000kms total since I bought the Hilux (current set has about 70% tread left).

FollowUp 4 of 4

AnswerID: 21629 Submitted: Monday, Jun 02, 2003 at 16:17