AT tyres for 4Motion

[bvddobb]

What about the spare wheel? is it possible to use the bigger tire in the normal place for it or you use the normal tire as spare

You can't use a smaller tyre as a spare, the whole ESP and 4Motion electronics will go berserk with different size wheels. You need a spare in the same size.

The bigger spare will not fit underneath. You can have your spare fitting adapted (expensive), or you can deflate your spare tyre. Our 225/75/16's fit underneath when deflated.



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[zeratul]

Hi, how was your trip? I am looking for the same choice, Latitude Cross on my alu VW alloys.
What about the spare wheel? is it possible to use the bigger tire in the normal place for it or you use the normal tire as spare?

Kind regards,

Renato

Still in Iceland. The latitude cross did great, good traction both on rocks and in mud/sand/snow. What I like the most is that they are very tough and it makes a huge difference in the stability of the van at night. When the children who sleep upstairs turn we don't feel the van shaking as hard anymore.
Also we have not had a single flat tyre after many kms on really horrible roads.
But. A lot of small stones get stuck in the tyres - the profile isn't coarse enough (minor issue) and on some places the rubber profile is showing small tears and parts are starting to peel off. After just 2000km half of which on bad rocky roads (sprengisandur was the worst for the tyres)

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[bvddobb]

on some places the rubber profile is showing small tears and parts are starting to peel off. After just 2000km half of which on bad rocky roads (sprengisandur was the worst for the tyres)

Do you change the pressure often enough, according to the terrain? We never saw any of that on our MLC's. Still not (a year and 15.000 km further).


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[zeratul]

Often enough, what do you mean exactly? Before the highlands lowered 3.1 to 2.0 yes, ringroad back on 3.1. Did not dare to go lower as we are very loaded. How low did you go?

There's also a difference between the unmaintained tracks and the standard f roads. The tracks are more stones and Sharp rocks where clearance is very importantant, harder to find the way but typically there is less erosion and waves in the sand that cause these very uncomfortable vibrations like we had on sprengissandur with any tyre pressure I tried.

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[bvddobb]

Before the highlands lowered 3.1 to 2.0 yes, ringroad back on 3.1. Did not dare to go lower as we are very loaded. How low did you go?

There's also a difference between the unmaintained tracks and the standard f roads.

This is what we were taught at the Seikel off-road training, and have used as a guideline since, also in Iceland:
Regular: 3.4-3.5 bar
Gravel: 3.1 bar
Mud: 2.8 bar
Sand: 2.0 bar

On the washboars tracks we used the daredevil approach: go over them at 70-80 km/h and you 'fly' over them.


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[zeratul]

Haha yes I also use the daredevil approach. Worked really well on Kjolur but on Sprengisandur there was often a mix of washboards and deep holes in the road. Got a big bang a couple of times. That vb air suspension is wonderful though. Feels very very solid.

The regular tyre pressure is well above the standard. Why is that? Any idea? Decrease risk of punctures?

Care to share what else you've learned at this seikel training?

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[bvddobb]

The regular tyre pressure is well above the standard. Why is that? Any idea?

3.5 bar is the max pressure for our MLC 225/75/16. We find they are still very comfortable at that pressure, and they don't seem to wear unevenly (like only in the middle, like with tyres that are inflated too far).
The 'Seikel pressure table' works with percentages from your normal pressure. I gave absolute figures because you guys have the same tyres as we.

Care to share what else you've learned at this seikel training?

Have sent you a PM.


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[zeratul]

I have the 235/55R17 and the vw official pressure for fully loaded is 2.9. It obviously has a slightly smaller air chamber. Perhaps we need to modify the values a bit

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[smilingit]

Hi Zeratul,

I was wondering how was your experience of tyres in Iceland. I don't have a 4motion but plan to do some NON F roads but still unpaved of course and I saw that here on the forum some members did as well but destroyed their tyres so wanted to get something decent. Where did you find the 4 steel alloys + tyres for 805? Which website?

 

[zeratul]

I went for Michelin tyres latitude cross that were recommended here. Standard 17inch alloys. They were fine..

 

[smilingit]

Did you buy a spare tyre as well? If so does it fit underneath or where did you put?

Thanks a lot

 

[bvddobb]

Did you buy a spare tyre as well? If so does it fit underneath or where did you put?

Thanks a lot

Hi smilingit,

We use 225/70/R16. A spare wheel with this lightly larger than standard (for our van: 215/65/R16) will not fit underneath inflated, but if we let out the air it fits.

To Iceland we did bring an extra spare tyre. We had the spare wheel with tyre on the back for easy access, and the tyre underneath. The idea was that if we wrecked a tyre, we could have the extra one fitted and not wait for a new tyre to arrive. We never needed any spare wheel/tyre on our Iceland trip.

We didn't do that for our Pyrenees trip this Summer, and have regretted it. There we did wreck a tyre and fitted our spare, only to find that no-one could replace the tyre within 14 days which meant for us we stopped driving off road, because we didn't want to do that without a spare. A real shame. Next big off road trip we will take an additional tyre with us again!

 

[zeratul]

I did not use a different spare than the Standard one we had. Never had a to use a spare in 5 years of california.. Including 3k km in iceland

 

[pjm-84]

Was on site on Friday and one of the guys had these on his van.

 

[smilingit]

They are 225 55 R17 - at least on mine the approved size is 235 55 r17

 

[bvddobb]

On our 16 inch Cali, the largest we can have is 225/70/16, otherwise the speedometer will start to give too low readings, and that is not allowed over here. Also, we feel, with this size already we would prefer a lower gear, going larger will put too much strain on the gear box in the terrain.
The BFG’s in our size have too low a load index for us (we want 103 as a minimum), therefore we never used them.

 

[bvddobb]

I did not use a different spare than the Standard one we had. Never had a to use a spare in 5 years of california.. Including 3k km in iceland

Lucky you! We also never needed it before, until this year in the Pyrenees, when we didn’t have it with us...

 

[zeratul]

I always have the original space wheel with me. It's a 17 inch as well on steel alloy. Because we have not changed the tyre size, it would be possible to escape from most situations with mixed tyre types until the next garage. In iceland on some F-roads it could have been a little harder but still not impossible. Looking forward to go back there perhaps as early as next year.

 

[bvddobb]

I always have the original space wheel with me. It's a 17 inch as well on steel alloy. Because we have not changed the tyre size, it would be possible to escape from most situations with mixed tyre types until the next garage. In iceland on some F-roads it could have been a little harder but still not impossible. Looking forward to go back there perhaps as early as next year.

I meant the sixth, separate/additional loose spare tyre. Of course we had the spare wheel, but once that was mounted and it turned out the wrecked tyre couldn't be repaired or replaced, we had no spare anymore. We felt that without a spare shouldn't do any more pistes or off road tracks for the rest of the trip (question even if it is legal or not to drive around without a spare ore repair kit...), and there was just one more we really had wanted to do. So, that was a real shame and therefore we decided to always have a 6th loose tyre with us on future longer off road trips , even if this was the first instance in many years we needed one.

 

[Wesel]

I meant the sixth, separate/additional loose spare tyre. Of course we had the spare wheel, but once that was mounted and it turned out the wrecked tyre couldn't be repaired or replaced, we had no spare anymore. We felt that without a spare shouldn't do any more pistes or off road tracks for the rest of the trip (question even if it is legal or not to drive around without a spare ore repair kit...), and there was just one more we really had wanted to do. So, that was a real shame and therefore we decided to always have a 6th loose tyre with us on future longer off road trips , even if this was the first instance in many years we needed one.

Do you protect this tire from being filled with mud and gravel by being stored under the car?

 

[bvddobb]

Do you protect this tire from being filled with mud and gravel by being stored under the car?

Yes, when you order them they come in a plastic wrapping and we leave that on.

 

[smilingit]

I always have the original space wheel with me. It's a 17 inch as well on steel alloy. Because we have not changed the tyre size, it would be possible to escape from most situations with mixed tyre types until the next garage. In iceland on some F-roads it could have been a little harder but still not impossible. Looking forward to go back there perhaps as early as next year.

Zeratul, so you have a 235/rr r17 as a spare tyre underneath? Will it fit (deflated)?

 

[Mistadave]

On our 16 inch Cali, the largest we can have is 225/70/16, otherwise the speedometer will start to give too low readings, and that is not allowed over here. Also, we feel, with this size already we would prefer a lower gear, going larger will put too much strain on the gear box in the terrain.
The BFG’s in our size have too low a load index for us (we want 103 as a minimum), therefore we never used them.

Hi, I'd be particularly interested if you could expand further on you experience going to 225/70 r16, gearing, acceleration, braking and handling wise?

I want to go a bit bigger than the 215/65/16 and 235/55/17 wheels I have at the moment, but I don't want to put massive heavy tyres on and sacrifice too much performance.

I've considered 215/70r16 and 235/65r16 (3% bigger than 235/55r17) but neither have many tyre options that aren't either too light on the load index or 115+ which I'm guessing will be heavy and harsh.

225/70r16 at just under 5% bigger than 235/55r17 is the biggest I can legally go on Norway without having the wheels approved, and seems to have a nice selection of tyres available, but I'm just concerned it may have a noticeable impact on road performance. I was interested in the latitude cross you have been using, but I live in Norway and could really do with something slightly more winter capable for the shoulder season before/after I put my studded tyres on. I've noticed Nokian do the Rotiiva AT in that size and although it is listed as a summer tyre, it does have a 3 peak mountain snowflake and it seems to get good feedback for winter performance so might be my best bet.

Cheers, David

 

[bvddobb]

Hi, I'd be particularly interested if you could expand further on you experience going to 225/70 r16, gearing, acceleration, braking and handling wise?

A difference with 215/65/16 is not noticeable. Only the speedometer starts showing a 5% lower, i.e. more correct, reading. A 5% deviation seems well within tolerance.

 

[kave]

We just installed General AT3 in 235/55 18. The ride is smoother than the factory 17”. I havent been driving much but there seems to be no noticable increase in ful consumption.