Kumho KL71 Mud Tyres - 120 Prado

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

Decided I would try out some mud tyres on the Prado since the wet season has started to kick in out here. Went through a bit of testing today on the way back into Arnhem Land with Heavy rain, so lots of water on the road and then onto the dirt and corrugations where they really proved to have so much more control than the standard road tyres did. I also had some emergency spacers made up for the back door so the spare wouldn't rub, many thanks to Steve (8608) I managed to find some 50mm bolts at Super Cheap.

Comparing them to the factory road tyres in terms of noise seems a little unfair, but I think for a directional mud tyre they aren't that bad. I'll see how I go through the wet with them and into next year with my trip to Cairns as to whether I'll go with them again or something less aggressive. Being that they were quite cheap for a mud tyre I figured its no big loss, I think the only let down on the tyre so far is the lack of white wall writing to show them off..

[KAKADAZ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close KAKADAZ]

Great looking tyre.

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

Did some dry river driving up to a soon to be flowing waterfall. Kept the tyres at 36psi and they were fine. I had recovery gear with me so I tried slow sand driving without any momentum and they worked well.



The water coming through here is normally roof height where the Prado is sitting come the heavy wet season rains. So its always a good comparison, when normally to get to this spot is by boat.

[Hazza Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hazza]

Palydoh,

I have an 09 GXL and getting suspension lifted next week. Next thing is looking at tyres. I like the tyres you have chosen and keen to do the same. With a higher tyre has this affected your speed much (at 100km) and can you advise if the tyres have enough clearance on the inside on full lock (rubbing on suspension components)? Also would you let me know what you paid for them (sorry for all the Q's).

Hazza

[samo Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close samo]

hey hazza when i fitted 70 series tyres i found my speedo was nearly spot on, read 102km/h at 100 on the speedo, well so the gps said so. cheers samo

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

With a higher tyre has this affected your speed much (at 100km) and can you advise if the tyres have enough clearance on the inside on full lock (rubbing on suspension components)? Also would you let me know what you paid for them (sorry for all the Q's).

Hazza

Hi Hazza no issues at all answering your questions that's what this place is for sharing info...

Got the tyres from a K-mart Tyre and Auto shop in Darwin I paid $320 each (purchased 5) As you can see they are a directional tyre so you gotta choose which way you want your spare pointing.. lol. I've got another rim which I'm going to have fitted so I have a spare for each side.

As for the speed I found that my speedo compared to my GPS was actually showing 4/5km/h slower with my standard road tyres, so now it is pretty much spot on with these bigger tyres, when calculated its only a 2.5% change in your speedo. I will do a run this weekend and report back though as I'm trying a speedo app on my i-phone to see if there is any difference as well.

I've got about a 2" suspension lift with a very soft coil rate so my Prado flex's well, but so far I have not had any rubbing or issues there, I would imagine things could be an issue fitting these tyres without lift though. The closest part the tyres are is the Upper control Arm in the front there is about a 1" gap, but as they move together the distance between them will always be the same. Remember if you fit this size tyre you should space out your spare tyre on the back door other wise it will rub on the back door in your travels.

[Hazza Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hazza]

Palydoh,

Thanks for the info. I'm booked in for suspension lift next week. Once that is done I will be looking for a set of rims and tyres and certainly the Kumho's look the part.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) I have to have two sets of rims and tyres as the Prado is bitumen bound for most of the year.

By the time I have to reach for my wallet you would have done a few KM and I hope I could bug you for an update on their performance mainly off road.

In the mean time I will have to continue logging in, looking at you car and drooling like an impatient child looking at an ice cream lol.

Happy 4x4ing

Hazza

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

Just a small update headed into town for a service tomorrow. The tyres have my speedo spot on reading the same with GPS and my I-phone app.. I set the cruise at various speeds and they all matched up. But I figured this would be the case as my road tyres were showing 4km slower on the speedo than the GPS before as I mentioned in previous post.

As for having two sets of tyres Hazza I'm probably going to go the same direction next year. When I am now we get flooded in so no highway driving until May/June next year. At that point I should have picked out some All Terrains and ordered some rims from the U.S.

[Hazza Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hazza]

PLAYDOH,

You mentioned getting a set of rims from the US. Can I ask for the info as I'm after a set as well.

By the way the suspension was done today. Very impressed I must say. See http://www.pradopoint.com/showthread...61-Kings-v-OME link if your interested.

Hazza

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

PLAYDOH,
You mentioned getting a set of rims from the US. Can I ask for the info as I'm after a set as well.

Looking at using 4wheel parts,

http://www.4wheelparts.com/WheelFinder.aspx

[pinko351 Member Find all posts View Profile Close pinko351]

PLAYDOH

Could you give us an update on your KL71's?

I'm interested but turned off a little by the directional tread and the 2 ply side wall.

That said I love the look and the price. So their still in with a chance of getting a run.

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

Sorry for the late reply, been a little busy back at work.

I've only put about 700k's on them since early December but the tyres are going really well, on the wet roads feel very confident with them, in the wet loose mud they are great and do really well. I've measured the tread but they are still the same as the spare, but where I am its more dirt roads than sealed so I might expect less wear on them because of it.

I'm not to concerned with the directional pattern as I wanted an aggressive mud tyre, as for two ply side wall they way I've been reading is that some tyres are using a thicker cord and going with less ply for the same side wall strength or good marketing I'll see how they hold up. I'm in the process of making up a short video clip of how the tyres are going on the Prado using my GoPro once I've collated it I'll put it all together properly and post a link up here.

here is a quick video of my Sierra with the KL71's on in some very boggey stuff if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV9lg...ature=youtu.be

Over the December holidays I got my Sierra back on the road and I decided 31" KL71's would be the go as well for their price, and well they are doing really well. I even pulled a member on here's bogged Prado out with my Sierra...

[pinko351 Member Find all posts View Profile Close pinko351]

Thanks for the update. I've got 2 months to decide then its of 4 central australia.

[PLAYDOH Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PLAYDOH]

One of my photo's from today.

[Hazza Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hazza]

Great photo keep them coming.

Hazza