4x4 Tyre's Wet Season Africa What Have You Guy's Been Using
 

Howdy HUBB

Has anyone out there got any info on a good tyre to use going the east coast africa route...I now this question is a trouble some one with overlander's
But the market has changed so much.

Hankook do some amazing tyre's which are ALL TERRAIN & MUD TYRE
also INSA TURBO do a similar tyre.

I now that BF GOODRIDGE'S ALL TERRAIN are the king's but what have YOU GUY'S BEEN USING AROUND THE GLOBE i am very interested to now your
EXPERIENCE'S with these new breed of tyre's.

As we intend to do some muddy stuff in the wet season...east africa and centrel...All message's will be greatly appreciated...:thumbup1::thumbup1::thumbup1::thumb up1:

And travel safe to all of us on Horizons...Regard's...DANO

All Terrain Tires are not really the answer....

Apart from the muddy conditions in the rainy season, you have have very rocky and shrarp rocks around.

For this reason I will highly reccomend Mud Terrain Tires.

I have researching this quite a bit and one concern is the availibility of tires in Africa, should you loose one or two.

My short lists is:

BFG Mud KM2
Cooper STT
Firestone Destination Mud
Bridgestone Mud

These all perform really well on tar, in the wet, in sand, on rocks and obviously in mud....

The BFG KM2's is by far the most popular in Southern Africa, but I am leaning towards the Bridgestones for their availibility.

I had some bridgestone mud duellers for 60000 miles+ and sold the car with them. Mainly they were on an unladen series 111 landy 2 1/4 petrol so not huge amounts of power to wear them out but I was still impressed. These were in 7.50 R16 on lwb rims with tubes, everyday driver in the UK with greenlaning and muddy weekend trials. Prior to that I had a CJ7 Jeep 4.2l 3sp, 3" lift and 33*12.5*R15 Yokohama Mud Diggers which looked cool but for clayey mud there was too much flotation/ too little weight for them to dig properly. The little landy made mud almost boring, so little fuss did it make of driving through everything!!! :)
Anyone remember possibly a Top Gear from a while ago with Clarkson stuck on someones big estate surrounded by posh 4*4 stuff all stuck. The estates game keeper drove past, around then uphill past them, parked up to see if they needed a hand in a swb ser11/111? Made everone laugh, was 20years older than the whizz bang stuff they were in!
This in reality was just another illustration that heavy posh 4*4s on road biased too-fat tyres won't get far in the mud despite fancy electronics!

Cheers freeflyde
 

Thank you freeflyde

Thats great any info is awesome i have been reading the 4x4 mags in the uk
and there is so much different apinion but i think to get in contact with
someone who has done it or spent sometime there is the best way......:thumbup1:

There is a brand over here in the uk called insa turbo and these are becoming popular and seems to do the job.

Any more info is greatly appreciated.....Many Thank's and drive safe

I fully agree with above info! Based on 60.000 km in Africa, East coast and West coast ! M/T all the way. :thumbup1:

Cheers,
Noel
exploreafrica.web-log.nl

Insa Turbos are remoulds, if it was me I would go with BFG M/T's

I'd go MTs, we used them trans africa, good all round tyre for lots of conditions. BFG All Terrains were just frustrating, they slick up too easily.

In EA I used Michelin XZLs, however when I had to replace them in Nairobi I went with locally produced Firestone Stallion's. Local tour ops go for Firestone Translugs which are similar to Michelin XZYs (due to their longevity) however I wanted the MTs for the black cotton soil.

With reference to the BFG muds mentioned above, note the originals (Km) have a different tread pattern to the newer KM2's.

I think you will struggle to find KM2s in Eastern/central Africa yet, supply to the UK has been limited. I would not buy Insa Turbo's for overland use as they are (stated above) remoulds/retreads, most people in the UK buy them for general offroad use, pay and plays etc, but I would have reservations about taking them somewhere where replacements could be hard to find.

Copper STT's perform well, there was some debate over their sidewall strength a while back, not sure if things have changed?

Mich XZL's - excellent mud tire. In 750 size so should find plenty of replacements in Africa (even if its a different tread pattern). If you want a set of these, the ex-MOD places are the place to source them from.

MT's all the way!!!!

G

Yep BFG M/T would be my Tyre of choice - either KM or KM2

The KM2 have are a more closed tread than the original - I would give them a go if you can get hold of some in the correct size - that could be an issue.

- I bet they are pretty good in sand too, as they have a chunkier version of a Michelin XS profile (awesome in sand, crap on everything else!!!)

They also have a 33% tougher sidewall than the old M/T KM which is welcome.

If I can get some the right size I will give them a go on the 90.

Or as mentioned, stick with ZXLs in 7.50 - easier to find in Africa.

BFG AT's
 

I am not so convinced, seen a few blow outs on them. In Northern Kenya the gravel is almost like flint and seen them make long cuts right through the side walls. Still believe BFG MT's are the way to go, they have a tougher sidewall and the compound is a lot harder and tougher than the AT's. Did 76000 km's on them up the east side of Africa and down the west, not even one flat.