Michelin 4x4 XZL
 

Thinking of fitting my Landy with Michelin O/R XZL. They are said to be good in mud and gravel. But how about sand? Isn't the profile
to rough and to how little pressure can the tyre be deflated?
Any experiences?

I used 760 XZLs on a Defender 110 throught Africa last year. Had no problems in sand with them. You can run as low as 13psi pretty easily depending on your load. Being a tall, narrow tire they give a long contact patch when deflated which is key in sand. They are also very good in mud and gravel, but no so good on wet tarmac.

Hope that helps.

Cheers

Graham
www.africaoverland.org

Thanks for the info. Nice website too.

I love XZLs and rate them over almost anything as an all-purpose tyre. I ran my 110 on a set for 18 months in Cairo for general desert work. In big dunes they lose out a bit as they are thin in section but I could drop them to 10psi with no hassle and this helped a lot (thick sidewalls). Where they really score is in mixed rocky desert - some tyres get sidewalls sliced by thin rocks etc - these are unkillable.
A bit wobbly on wet tarmac though, but no more so than, say, XSs or XCLs. Just a bit of care needed. Fab tyres!

Have to agree that they are great overland tyres, but I've never run them on virgin sand so cannot answer the OP's question

I don't own these tires but I have got impression that the O/R variety that original poster asked about is not the same as truck/military XZL that are stronger and very heavy. The latter are those that are more recommended. But I may be wrong, though. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by Rebaseonu (edited 05 October 2005).]

I have them fitted to my 110. They are fairly crap in sand, compared to a sand tyre, but as above, have the virtue of very strong (12 ply?) side walls so don't mind the pressure being low, and they seem to survive side wall damage.

I had two inch long slits put into a back tyre in Morocco and it survived another 20,000km before starting to bulge out.

They only last about 50-60,000km if you do much sealed road driving, but in the Uk you can pick them up on ebay for around 50-60 pounds each, for about 75 pounds at landy shows. people who buy landies with them on often get rid of them after only a few miles.

I wouldn't spend a fortune getting them, but for an overland trip without too much extra sand driving than what a normal sahara crossing gives you, then they are a bargain at 50 odd quid for one reason - they are very tough.

(I can write down the side wall o/r details if you like from mine)

Considered XZL for general and desert use but dismissed them due to - 1. Rapid wear rate - see post above, 2.load rating is much less than XZY so more prone to punctures, 3. wet road adhesion not good. The 8.25 size is taller than an 7.50, the 9.00-16 size appears to be unavailable (both these sizes are uprated 'jeep' tyres whereas the 255-100/16 is 36 inches high and a true truck tyre).

If you can pick them up cheap it may be worth it but I would say that the XZY is a better all round tyre particularly if you can get them cheap (Vass are knocking them out at £40+vat on a plain rim). I have been on the same set for 4 years and 65,000 miles including 4 Africa trips and not a single puncture or problem. Probably will replace next year with same, or maybe BFG M/T's - dunno yet.

XZL more of a semi-permanent off road than general tyre I would say, particularly in the smaller sizes...

Andrew.

[This message has been edited by Andrew Baker (edited 08 October 2005).]

Andrew,

Do Vaas have a webiste or contact numbers? Are the XZY's new?

I don't agree that they are more prone to punctures. All those I known (expert! expert!) who have used them (ihana.com etc etc) have had good luck with them (with tubes).

Vass are on 01525 403255 (Bedford. They are used tyres - ex Northern Ireland 110's as far as I know, they swopped over to desert tyres and went off to Iraq, hence tons of XZY's (14 ply). Run tubed or tubeless - says so on the tyre. £20 + vat per tyre, 40+ with rim which is an unusual 6J plain LR type rim...

Andrew.

[This message has been edited by Andrew Baker (edited 08 October 2005).]

That's a bargain!
XZY tyres are marvellous, they just go on and on. I was really upset when mine blew out in Mori, they still had an easy 50000 kms in the tread after already having done 50000.

Their weakness is in their strength, they are steel radials (not steel belted), and if you run them soft the steel flexes and fatigues.
They're also pretty rubbish in the wet, but they really do last.

The XZL is a nylon radial, and copes much better with low pressures, side cuts, rocky ground, mud, sand etc.
The Dakar competitors who are rich enough use XZLs so they can't be that bad in sand. Mine are Dakar rest day throwouts (they had only done one special)

They just wear out quicker.

Going thru a tire dilemma of our own w the XZLs (hadnt considered the XZYs mentioned) but rather XZLs vs. BFG ATs -

Was hoping to jump in here with a few different ??'s - b/c our terrain will be a bit different during the course of our trip...not so much desert.

Driving a '95 TLC 80 Series: UK to Cape Town via West Coast of Africa - back up the East Coast then possibly on thru E.Europe, M. East, Asia and then Oz. That said - realize that we'll be dealing w just about everything! Rain, snow, ice, sand, tarmac, mud, rocks, etc.

We want a tire that is best suited for all which wont wear too quickly, one that will give us the most mileage and the least amount of work! Want to spend less time changing/repairing and more time enjoying a sunset with a cocktail in hand! Know its a bit idealistic - but we can at least make our best efforts!

Very interested to hear thoughts on how well the XZLs might perform under these different types of conditions (leaning that way) - realize they r MTs, arent the best on wet tarmac and need to adjust for sand - but...

how long have they lasted b4 needing to make repair??, dealing w the tubes much trouble? how quickly did the tread wear?? Would u take 5 or 6?? would u buy the same again or go for something else - why??

Thanks for the feedback!
Slobo

"Very interested to hear thoughts on how well the XZLs might perform under these different types of conditions (leaning that way) - realize they r MTs, arent the best on wet tarmac and need to adjust for sand - but...

how long have they lasted b4 needing to make repair??, dealing w the tubes much trouble? how quickly did the tread wear?? Would u take 5 or 6?? would u buy the same again or go for something else - why??"


From experiences I know of, and as above, they will probably give you the least hassle, but if you need to change a tube on one of them in the wilds, make sure you have a few days water & food supply. They are very tough. You will need to know what you are doing.

I had a tube valve go on me. 3 tyre guys with machines in Marrakech couldn't get the tyre off the (2 barely tried hard) rim. The 4th guy knew what he was doing and popped it off in 3 mins.

I travelled with 2 full tyre/wheel spares - with xzl's I think you need to if your going to remote places, or even just somewhere that they would be hard to replace.

In the lastest version of Tom Sheppards book I thini he says some good things about the bfg's - can somebody elaborate of this...?

Cheers, Darrin
http://www.roamingyak.org

Just for the record XZY's are also supposed to be stiff and difficult to change but when I had 2 tubes go (not punctures please note) we changed one tube using just tyre levers and the other was taken to a repair shop in Tam where the tube was replaced in about 10 mins for 50p, no struggle involved. Tyres were on std 5.5 rims. Wider rims are supposed to be a pain at removal time but don't know if this is borne out in practice.

Only carry 1 XZY spare now as never have any problem. Always carry at least 3 Mich Airstop tubes and plenty of valves etc.

Andrew.

[This message has been edited by Andrew Baker (edited 10 October 2005).]

That's a point, the XZLs are really very very tight on my split rims; they're probably that tight so that you can run soft without them slipping on the rim.

The XZYs just fall off once I've got the circle off, yet another reason not to run them soft.

I've never tried tyre pliers, but I imagine they solve all that on tubeless rims.