Silverstone All Terrain tyres, any good??

[ProspectorPete]

Hi gents,

I've just sold my '01 Landcruiser ute and picking up a '03 Landcruiser Sahara tomorrow.
I needs new tyres and I was going to get a set of BFG A/T's but have been recommended the Silverstone A/T's with the same pattern by the place that does the road worthy's as a cheaper substitute but still a good tyre.
My ute was running BFG M/T and they were a great tyre, the reality is I don't do much serious off road, just general dirt/gravel tracks getting to destinations so the M/T's were a bit of overkill.
I average around 10,000 km a year as it's my weekend vehicle and I'd do 70% bitumen 25% gravel & dirt 5% mud but predominantly dry weather.

Does anyone have first hand experience with the Silverstone A/T tyres or trust a friends opinion of them?

Cheers.

 

[Ridge Runner]

They are pretty good Pete, but when that red dirt gets damp the tread on AT's can become clogged, I am thinking of buying a set of AT's and a set of recap full on mud tyres being 85% Mud and 15% road, so I would be looking at a brand with a more aggressive tread pattern.

John.

I like these and they are a copy of the Simex Extreme which cost a fortune but these will do for when I go playing in the mud, lol

 

[LONEWOLF]

BFG KO and now BFG KO2's... I have never used anything else... Guess that's why I haven't had a Puncture or issue in 15yrs.... All Tyres have a Life of about 6 yrs from Manufacture. Before they start to Deteriorate and go hard and loose their Grip.....So always check Date of Manufacture(Marked on sidewall) before putting them on your Car/4x4... A very well known Tyre seller tried to sell me the above tyres that were made in 2010.... Way past their used by date... They were quickly and sternly told to get them off, Refit my old ones and return my money... NOW... They wouldn't let me inspect them Before they fitted them..... They will always try to sell you 'Old Stock".. My new ones were made in 2/2017... so I will get Maximum use in the 6yr period... Not too many People Know this, but I Did. ..

Our Problem here RR is Heat... your issue is Wet and Cold.. :lol:

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=56810

LW...

 

[ProspectorPete]

Thanks John for the input.

Probably should have mentioned 70% of off-road would be central Vic (gold fields) and 30% off-road around Gippsland area (Walhalla, Big River, Noojee) so doubt I'll ever see red dirt.

Thanks LW, good thinking on the tyre dates and I'll be sure to get new ones.

Cheers.

 

[Ridge Runner]

BFG KO and now BFG KO2's... I have never used anything else... Guess that's why I haven't had a Puncture or issue in 15yrs.... All Tyres have a Life of about 6 yrs from Manufacture. Before they start to Deteriorate and go hard and loose their Grip.....So always check Date of Manufacture(Marked on sidewall) before putting them on your Car/4x4... A very well known Tyre seller tried to sell me the above tyres that were made in 2010.... Way past their used by date... They were quickly and sternly told to get them off and return my money... NOW... They will always try to sell you 'Old Stock".. My new ones were made in 2/2017... :Y:

Our Problem here RR is Heat... your issue is Wet and Cold.. :lol:

https://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=56810

LW...

There's no chance of getting burned with this Liquid Sunshine, lol.

This place has thick deep peat bogs or wet sticky clay from anything from 4" below the surface to a foot down and it can go down over 30 or 40 feet deep and then some,

I know that red clay in OZ can be a devil of a thing, We had some of it on the farms and the slightest rain and day was done.

John.

 

[RM Outback]

Can't vouch for the Silverstone's but like LW said -BFG KO2'S are a great tyre :Y:. I bought them on the strength of people's comments in one of davent's threads and couldn't be happier. Comments suggested 100k is to be expected, this is covering all road surfaces. I've done around 15k (60% bitumen 30% dirt and 10% mud/greasy surface at present.

On the strength of people's comments suggesting 100k your buying hassle free travel for at least 10 years :Y: if you do 10k a year.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Sorry, forgot to say, the Silverstone tyres you mentioned are pretty good... I have been told. They were recommended by several shops, but I insisted on BFG KO2's.. Google tyre sidewall info and it will explain what All the letters and Numbers actually mean... All tyre Shops think we can be fooled... Especially the Larger Stores...
Black Soil is way worse than Red Clay.... BFG KO2'S A/T are NOT the best for mud and slop tho...
LW...

 

[LONEWOLF]

Just remember Not all tyres are made in Australia, hardly any now actually, so you have to allow for Shipment time from date of manufacture... I was Very Lucky in getting 2/2017 BFG... right place, right time... And have been told Watch out for BFG made in Malaysia too... not too sure why..

If you find these tyres too expensive, there is a web place called Afterpay... They have a tyre store called Tyroola...or something like that.. Order your tyres, they get delivered to your door and you make 4 payments over 8 weeks... AFTER you get your tyres... After pay has over 100 stores and is growing every day... Afterpay is linked to your Bank acc , so you can't Run Away before you Pay.. :Y: ... I have just got my Max-tracks through them and I got 2 sets as well... I could Never get them any other way till Afterpay arrived.... Supercheap, BCF are also Members of afterpay...

 

[brendomac]

RM, Do those tyres really get 100k out of them? That is amazing. I'm guessing that's with mainly bitumen driving? Looks like they cost a bit, but if you can get 100k, then money well spent.

 

[ProspectorPete]

Thanks LoneWolf and RM Outback for positive feedback, I'll look into the BFG KO2.

The Afterpay system looks great but I have the funds in the bank already, just a matter of if it was worth buying the more expensive tyres this time around but at the end of the day they play a big part in getting us to and from our destinations so in hindsight quality shouldn't be compromised.

 

[DrDuck]

I use Bridgestone 697 AT light truck tyres on my D-Max, and got 100,000 K out of the first set.

 

[brendomac]

Hmmmm, either it's my tyres or my driving!

 

[LONEWOLF]

Problem with getting up to 100k out of the tyres is after a period of time, say 6yrs they get 'Hard' and the grip goes down. You will notice this Especially in the wet.. Unless you do lots of kays a year, they sometimes are not worth the $$... The BFG are a Light Truck tyre with a 10 ply rating, so a very strong heavy tyre... But one of the worse in the Wet if they are 'Old'...

Jaros's choice is a Very good tyre as well... But only 8 ply I think, still a light truck tyre tho and will stake the sidewall more easily.. But 'Perfect' for Beach or Sandy areas. These tyres would be my 2nd choice if I Didn't do too much hard and ruff stuff... My mate has these on his Pootrol :lol: and has done about 70k with still plenty of tread left.... :Y:

Brendomac, What Pressure are you running them at?... That plays a very big part in the wear factor... I run mine at 35 psi for around town and still find them a little 'Harsh' but put up with the ride... When the tyre shop fitted them, they were inflated to 70psi and I Bounced all over the road, all the way home...

A little research goes along way in your tyre choice, that's for sure... I Rotate my tyres every 10k including the spare and change to new ones about every 5yrs, irrespective of Tread wear.. and fit the old tyres to my trailer or sell them on Gumtree for a few $$$...

LW...

 

[brendomac]

Thanks LW, that's great info.
I run mine at 40, the reason for that is that's what the tyre shop recommended. I have leave them the same for off road, but my off road is pretty tame.

The latest tyres I bought are Bridgestone dueller A/T. (It says light truck too)

 

[LONEWOLF]

Light Truck Tyres are 8 or 10 ply and the difference is in sidewall strength... I run 10 ply cause of the terrain I get myself into... 40 psi is not too bad... That's my Highway pressure when loaded... Till I get Off-road then drop to around 25-30 for the ruff stuff.... The more you drop pressure the slower you go... Some would say I run mine too low, and sometimes I agree... But Big kms out of a set is Not my Goal.... The rating of a 10 ply is 121, and a 8 ply is 112.. or there abouts...With 121 they are rated to 1450 kg per tyre... and 112 are about 1100kg... I weigh close to 2.7 t when fully loaded, 3t with my trailer, so I always use a 121 rated tyre... Your tyre placard will tell you this info.. never go under what the Manufacturer recommends.... :Y:

LW...

 

[brendomac]

Thanks LW all very interesting on how to manage tyres. It's a big part of the expense of our cars. So far so good for me except for how long I got out of my initial factory set. Hopefully there will be more out of this set!

 

[RM Outback]

RM, Do those tyres really get 100k out of them? That is amazing. I'm guessing that's with mainly bitumen driving? Looks like they cost a bit, but if you can get 100k, then money well spent.

I haven't had them long enough to know myself but a quality tyre run at the right pressure and rotated every 5k to 7k should come close or better 100k. I have achieved 100k + year's ago on Dunlop Goodyear AT's when they were a quality tyre. The last set of Goodyear AT's I just changed I only managed just over 50k. The BFG KO2'S I replaced them with I got 5 for the same price I would have only got 4 Goodyear AT's. Bob Jane had a good price about 6 months ago, LW's advice on place of manufacturing is worth looking into.

 

[brendomac]

Thanks RM!

 

[LONEWOLF]

I got BFG KO'2 for $289 EA at Bob Jane on the Gold Coast about 1 month ago... They will better any other price including 'Internet Stores' by 10% they told me... Problem was, they were the cheapest...

LW...

 

[bazxa]

check the sidewall rating especially if towing. BFG AT for that reason.