Which tyre size for a TLC 80 ? (for desert)

Here, in Spain, most people like, for desert trips, BFG AT, and secondly BFG MT. HC aficionados prefer Michelin XS. However there are 1000 opinions about the size, which, I guess, matters.

If I'm not wrong CS , in Sahara Overland recommends the possibility of using a tall tyre such as 900x16.

Which other size you may recommend or have experienced ?

Thanks a lot!

armadillo,

There's nothing wrong with BFG - now owned by Michelin. The brand is aimed at the consumer market and is an all rounder offering good value for money. You can spend a lot more on tyres without getting any evident advantage in terms of performance or longevity. XS is a highly specialist tyre - good on sand, scary on tarmac.

7.50 x 16 or 235x85x16 is the most popular size. Bigger tyres will drive better on sand but are more difficult to replace locally.

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Roman (UK)

You want a tire size that fits your gearing and driving conditions.
Then you chose a model/style of tire.

Wide tires at lower than street air pressure work well in sand. Strong sidewalls are a plus. All-terrain styles work better in sand than mud-terrain styles, unless you go as extreme as Interco Boggers which act as paddle tires in sand.

If there wasn't a limit of the budget, I'd go with BFG Baja T/A in something like a 33x12.50, but I don't know your wheel size. These tires are expensive, have 4 ply sidewalls, built for off road racing.

hi armadilo.

without going into too much investments of changing rims and and lifting the body for too big of wheels i would go for the bfg 265-75/16 AT. mud tyers tend to dig in in soft loose send and you don't want that to happen, on soft send you have to reduce your tyre pressure which put a lot of stress on the tyres walls there for a high tyre with higher side walls will suffer more from reducing air pressure, in go as bad as a blown tyre or the tyre falling of the rim.
i have a very good experience with bfg on several 4wd i owned including a lc75, they are a very reliable tyres and gives a sufficient traction, the AT wheel give a smoth ride on termac and perfect traction on send, and they do live much longer then any other tyre i had before (dunlop, goodyear etc.)
if you do want spend your money wisely, buy a good compressor, not the cheap Chinese ones.

have fun.

guy

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love to all

www.guyandmarie.com

Hi there,

Unlike the LR, 80 series Landcruiser can take much bigger tyres - 35 inch tyres (with lift) are possible. This, however, is not a good choice for Africa.

Rather like digger scoops!

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Roman (UK)

Hi Armadillo,

There is an other factor to considder; ripping of the thread. In stoney desserts the BFG M/T are far superior to the A/T because of the massive blocs on the M/T rather that the serated blocks on the A/T. I have driven 60.000 km through Afica on my M/T and they are still ok! While we were driving with an identical car on A/T you could see the A/T wear down in the stoney deserts. On the other hand, while we were in the sandy desert (we crossed a.o. the Tenere and Grand Erg du Bilma) there was no noticeble difference between the A/T and M/T. Although the rummors are different, I can tell you from first hand that the M/T perform marvelous in the sand (compaired to the A/T). Obviously the Michelen XS is far supperior but they are useless in any other terain.

Goodluck !

Noel
www.exploreafrica.web-log.nl

Armadillo,
depends where you are going - if heading on a Western Trans and through Sahel - (more chance of tyre damage IMO) - then I would go for 235/85 16 or 7.50x16 - its the easiest sizes to get on route.

Only if you are doing some specialized trip through the true Sahara would I consider a 255/85 16s ( a good size) or 9.00x16 (255/100 16)- (with a suspension lift) - though the 80 will pull the larger tyres - see post by idrubie.

As for tread type , again West Africa, Sahel to SA etc, id go with BFG Muds, as Noel says they are much tougher - for West Africa only and back to Europe id go with the BFG All Terrains.

Cheers
Grif

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Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

Hi, I don't know whether it counts for us common folk, but virtually ALL the Dakar cars run 235/85 x 16 MTs or XZLs.

Whether it's pure Michelin market muscle or a good choice is to be discussed, but I think the profile would have changed if it were no good in sand.

Hovering around the Euromaster truck on a rest day is a great way to pick up a few free XZLs (usually they've only done one special)

As Grif says, see post on rim sizes, that's for an 80 too.

Luke

Hi,

One of my reasons for choosing the 255/100 XZLs was what CS wrote in Sahara Overland.

I don't know if it's true or not but I read somewhere that Michelin did some sand testing on the new XZL tread pattern compared to the XS and found the XZLs were better!!

I have read that 8.25x16's are popular, again don't know how true this is.

Regards

Ian

Errr....not quite, actualy not at all.

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Roman (UK)

Roman,

I got the following from the Bremach website.

The MICHELIN 8.25 R 16 XZL. As this dimension is quite standard in Asia, Africa and South America, this is the perfect choice for expeditions going there - replacement (if necessary) is much easier than for metrical size tires.

http://www.allrad-christ.com/ebre_ex...on_michxzl.htm

Regards

Ian

Ian,

I thought you were asking about tyres for TLC80 not Bremach.

For replacement tyres metric or imperial is not important - rolling circumference is.

Perhaps someone knows better about this size being perfect choice for expeditions going to Asia and South America, but I am quite positive about Africa.

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Roman (UK)

Roman,

I am talking about TLC80s, but the availability of tyres is not vehicle dependant. I only found the Bremach site through my search for 6.50H rims in the wheel rim thread.

I don't know about tyre availability but was just passing on info gathered from elsewhere. If its wrong I apologise.

Regards

Ian

Holly Toledo ! Thank you very much ! All your answers have been very interesting and helpful. Well ... I ... got a bit dizzy with all those numbers.

I'm new in the Toyota thing, I always had LR Santana Series (II & III) as everybody knows they are quite far from perfection, but so do I. But I like'm. As a Mauro nomad told us : "Old Santanas can take you anywhere but they are slow and need care, they are half vehicle half camel".

With a Toyota the range of tyre size is bigger and that's cause I asked your opinion
The HDJ 80 I just got comes with BFG AT 265/75 x 16, they look a bit too wide.


Some small comments to your help:

- XS, too bad to hear bout those important limitations , cause they look great.

- body lifting, I did read in a magazine something: when heavy loaded not changing coils but using AIRBAGMAN inside of coils. I'd like knowing more about that.

- Air-compressor, a friend got me from the U.S a Viair for 230 Eu. In Sahara conditions works well but if together with a small fan (the ones used by taxis and trucks before a.c.) it does not overheat after 10 minutes.

- BFG MT , very surprised, I had no idea they could be so good in soft sand.

- Dakar, as I wrote in a post bout our trip to RIM, some Spanish teams use 215 - 85 - 16, Pirelli, for competition kevlar reinforced. However they disintegrate the thread if driven in a heavy loaded vehicle driven over 120 km in tarmac.

Gracias a lot for all your answers.

I fit my H60 with 7.50s for trips as against the 31x10.50s I use in the uk because the tyre size is more or less standard fit on landies hiluxes and cruisers around the world, so easily available.

the business of wide tyres for sand is a well established red herring, they just put more strain on your bearings and steering while doing little to help floatation, unless you go monstrously wide. what is needed is a good tall tyre that takes low pressures well.

also take a couple of tubes even if you are running tubeless tyres, they may get you out of a spot if you rip a sidewall or something.

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1990 Landcruiser H60. Full rebuild completed 2014