Trying a different tyre (I'm anti-social)

[cruiserdan]

I finally had to retire (so to speak ) my last set of Goodyear Wrangler M/T's This last trip to AZ finshed them off. I have been tyre snooping for some months in anticipation of the inevitable and I settled on the Dunlop Radial Mud Rover in 305/70/16.

I do not know another Cruiser of any type that is currently running them and I have first hand knowledge of only one Dodge truck that is running them. I was looking at GY MTR and BFG Mud Terrain among others but I could not bring myself to buy 5 of them at an average cost of 210 bucks a rattle....

So I got these for about 30% less than that and mounted and balanced them myself. The mounting was easy as a large truck tyre goes and the balancing went reasonably well. I had one that wanted more weight than I liked so I broke the bead and spun the tire 180 degrees on the wheel and that brought the weight down quite a bit.

They measure almost exactly 33 inches tall with no weight on them and the section is exactly 12 inches on a stock wheel. The tread is similar to the BFG MT and they have white letters on one side (the inside of course ) and a serrated blackwall on the other. Inital observations are very favorable and I will keep very close tabs on wear and performance.

 

[T Y L E R]

I ran 33's or 35's on my 4Runner Dan. Not bad as I recall, though they might prove a little soft IMSMC. (it was a decade ago)


Peace,



TY

 

[cruiserdan]

By soft I assume you mean tread. Yes, they may be. Most mud Tyre compounds tend to be that way. As far as load goes, they are "D" range which is 2,910 lbs per Tyre at 50 psi cold.

 

[Koffer]

Dan
Ive been running these in the 315 size for about a year now and they seem to be a very good tire at a great price .
I only have about 10K on them and they seem to be holding up just fine. As for wheeling them I have not been able to get anywhere near a trail since work and home life have gone on a 48 hour day now

 

[Fochdog]

I've got a buddy running a set (33x12.50R15) on a YJ Heep. They seem to work good as a mud tire in the Michigan goop up here!

 

[flintknapper]

Dan,

I have run them before on my 1/2 cab Bronco (16" E-Range), and currently have a set of 32" on my Full Size Bronco.

I disagree that the tire compound is soft. In fact I find them pretty hard. They do pretty good in mud and on dirt. They are only "fair" on rock but you can air them down quite a bit without worrying about popping a bead.

Tire wear will vary with use but you can expect 30-35 K. out of them and still have decent tread.

They are not noisy at all and I have had no problems keeping them balanced.

Suckers are heavy though.

 

[cruiserdan]

to the fellows that have indicated that they are currently using them, what pressure do you like?

 

[Koffer]

to the fellows that have indicated that they are currently using them, what pressure do you like?

I think Im running 35 psi

 

[e9999]

I like the Firestone. What made you choose the Dunlop?

 

[yellowchaosfj80]

Ya Dan .... just sold mine to get the toyo's good tires ...mine were only 3mouths old but still a good tire. 285..75 16 no wear in that time.. my 2cs

 

[flintknapper]

I run 40 psi. on the 15 X 32's. We don't have rock or sand around here (mud mostly) so I just keep them at highway pressure.

 

[LX_TREME]

I like the Firestone. What make you choose the Dunlop?

Probably much quieter compare to Firestone, maybe Dan?

 

[IdahoDoug]

On a related tire, I had a set of Dunlop Radial Rover R/V's as winter tires for several years on my Montero. They were studded and siped and I ran them on a lot of mixed (mud/snow) trail runs. Dunlop builds a tough tire as they held up to some abuse and wore well. I do remember them wearing lots of weight however.

Did you sipe yours?

DougM

 

[T Y L E R]

I disagree that the tire compound is soft.

Just gotta be grumpy dontcha ? ;p


Like I said that was 10 years ago .. things change.




TY

 

[medtro]

I read these reviews before, and thought I would post them here.

http://www.carreview.com/cat/parts/tires/dunlop/PRD_1001_1577crx.aspx

http://www.4x4wire.com/reviews/dunlop/

 

[dmc]

CDan,

My next tire purchase for the 80 will be Dunlop Mud Rovers. I'm glad I can use you as a test model to see how they wear on an 80. I ran them on my 60 back in the late 90s and loved them. I was poor back then and they were a cheap tire.

I've always run Swampers on my 40 but would never use them on a DD. I went with MTRs on the Taco because I was told they were "the straight goods." Well I had an AWFUL experiece with MTRs. Three blown sidewalls (one about 200miles North of Fairbanks, AK) that caused huge inconvenience. That's fine and dandy on a cheap tire but the for the cost of MTR I expected a lot better performance.

I haven't priced tires for my 80 yet because mine came with very few miles on them. 32x11.50x15s on the Taco made the Dunlop a no brainer. MTRs $185, Dunlop Mud Rovers $105. The math is simple and the Dunlop worked great on my Taco before I sold it.

This may be a minor point to many but huge for me. The Rover guys swear by Dunlop. That is the style of wheeling I plan to do with my 80. Those guys may drive inferior vehicles but the expedition/trek style trips is the direction I want to go and if they trust it and recommend it, I'll trust them and go Dunlop. Dan (and others) I think you're headed in the right direction.
dmc

 

[Cruiserdrew]

They are good tires Dan. I ran them for 2 years on my FJ40 and to this day, Marty B. is running my tires on his FJ40. Tread wear is very good for a MT type tire. I thought they were an excellent value. My only gripe, and it was minor, is that they were loud at speed, but about the same as BFG MTs. MT/r's definitely are quieter on the road. I always ran them at 35 psi on the road and 12-15 offroad. Mine survived my first attempt at the Rubicon, and on Marty's truck have survived 2 years of Moab, and 2 years of his daughter driving the truck.

 

[Hltoppr]

I'm interested to see how the sidewalls hold up, compared to the Goodyears or BFGs....

-H-

 

[Tools R Us]

Sam's Club has them for a good price, 315's for $149.

 

[Doc]

Probably much quieter compare to Firestone, maybe Dan?

I doubt it. The Firestone is suprisingly quiet on the interstate. I like them so much I put a set of 5 in each of my cruisers.