WHAT TYRES SHOULD I FIT ON MY 4X4?
I get asked this a lot….
We ask you to fit a light truck type tyre to come on our tagalong tours…why do we need you to this?
All vehicle manufacturers fit, as standard tyres to their 4×4 vehicles, a very light Carcass tyre. This means these types of tyre are way more susceptible to damage. We are always happy to help with tyre repairs and the like whilst we are on tour, but when we are aware of a weakness we try to avoid any problems before we head off and suggest fitting a heavier construction tyre.
I am supported by Toyo Tyres and am currently using their latest Hybrid tyre, the Open Country R/T. 
These tyres have been over all sorts of terrain such as high speed bitumen, Victorian High Country, and the Simpson Desert crossings etc. I have found this particular tyre to have been excellent on the 6×6 Landcruiser and as yet we have not had a single puncture.
Throughout my time 4 wheel driving and leading tours around Australia I have used and seen most brands of all terrain or mud terrain tyres available and over the years there has been a massive improvement in these tyres. I remember a trip around Australia I did in 2004 where the aim of the trip was minimal bitumen roads and we had around 28 punctures in a quality mud terrain tyre! Nowadays it truly is becoming a rarity having many tyre issues.
So Mud Terrain vs All Terrain? The old guide was that mud terrain tyres are not good on sand, however I must say that I am unable to agree with this statement as I have never felt any difference. If you do a lot of bitumen driving with some off road, my personal view is an all terrain tyre is a good choice. If you do a bit more off road, then the new style of Hybrid tyre is ideal as they are a mixture of all terrain and mud terrain. However if most of your driving is off road, the mud terrain tyres are the way to go…but be warned as these wear, they do get loud!
So summarising, I use a Hybrid tyre and we average around 50000-60000 km of travel per year, usually with multiple trips to places such as Cape York, the Canning stock route, and the Simpson Desert, and we opted for these as there are still very long runs on bitumen to get to where the fun starts. I cannot fault the Toyos, and I know I am supported by them, but I wouldn’t use them if they had proven to be an unreliable tyre as I need confidence in my tyres whilst on tour. Over the years on the 6×6 I have used a main stream all terrain tyre from a well known highly popular brand, however this tyre in our application had atrocious wear issues with them only lasting 30000km. The Toyos have done nearly 30000km, starting with 12.8mm of tread and are now at 7mm. I hope to get at least 50000km out of this set which for a 6×6 Landcruiser will be better than any other tyre we have ever used.
So the choice is yours, but please allow for 50% tread in an All terrain, Mud terrain or Hybrid tyre prior to commencing one of our tours.
And don’t forget a spare! On most of our tours we only require you to have one spare tyre…if you can carry two, then great.
Call Adam on 0408780072 with any questions.