Will my Grandtreks do, or should I upgrade the shoes??

[Grey Nomad Member Find all posts View Profile Close Grey Nomad]

Re: Will my Grandtreks do, or should I upgrade the shoes??

Hi all

My experience with the Grandtreks are similar to Mav's. I have just replaced them after 46,000km. Two of them had 3mm tread left, 2 had 4mm and one was in between. I have rotated the 5 tyres every 5,000km since new. I reckon that I would have got well over 60,000km out of the set of 5 tyres. This includes a trip around Oz last year towing a heavy caravan. They are an excellent tyre for the market that Toyota aims this vehicle at, and that is bitumen driving.
I only felt the need to replace them prematurely because of the Aussie dollar falling recently and the fact that I am off on another big trip early next year.
What did I replace them with? Pirelli Scorpion ATR. Here in Brisbane, Bob Jane were $295 per tyre whilst Jax were $305.
The Pirellis are as quiet as the original Grandtreks and one only has to look at them to realise that they will perform much better in mud than the Grandtreks. I had a flirt with D694's on a previous vehicle and was surprised at how noisy they were so I ruled them out this time. Additionally, the Pirellis were a top scorer in a tyre test that I read about 18 months ago.
So there you go, for what its worth, my 2 bob's worth.

Cheers - John

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

Re: Will my Grandtreks do, or should I upgrade the shoes??

The highways and roads over here are no different to other parts od Oz, probably better than some places, except longer distances can play their part with temperature build up, but like any trip planning you consider this, loading, tyre pressures etc.
The same applies to offroad down here in South West, drive to the conditions. Its a general mix of conditions. While there is the sand of course, the unsealed roads are generally gravel through Forests, and when you get closer to the coast you will get limestone, or maybe granite outcrops. But these havent caused me many troubles.
One of the main things I try and look for is when driving through Tee Tree and Peppy Tree country. These are small hardwood trees, and they can break off on the edge of sandtracks and tend to go through sidwalls. But this will happen to any A/T tyre if you hit a stake or rock in the right spot, particularly on washouts on coastal tracks

Me, I have BFGs on Prado, and Desert Duellers on Hilux, and they suit the rough access tracks to the sandy beaches great, but often pass vehicles on these tracks with Highway tyres, and they seem to get along ok.

So where are you heading in SW? Its been a cool start to Summer down here, but it pick up soon when the big Highs start parking themselves in the Bight.

[hwang_edward Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hwang_edward]

Re: Will my Grandtreks do, or should I upgrade the shoes??

To see other users' reviews, this site is quite useful.
http://www.tyretest.com/4x4_reifen/index.html

Grantrek AT20 is poorly rated compared to other models including D694.

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

Re: Will my Grandtreks do, or should I upgrade the shoes??

I would suggest having a read thru the previous threads on this exact topic. There is a number of them.

I would not be going offroad with Grandtreks, unless you dont mind destroying them. At 27k they should be almost worn out, most of my mates are only getting 30k out of them. Makes it even more risky if they are worn.

Your mates aren't rotating their tyres thats why they're only getting 30k. I'm just about to hit the 85k mark and I've been on some fairly rough tracks.

[bgreeni Member Find all posts View Profile Close bgreeni]

Re: Will my Grandtreks do, or should I upgrade the shoes??

I have read through all the posts and just get more confused.

I take delivery of new Prado end of April, and am wondering what to about tyres.

Though I like to think otherwise, initially at least, most driving will be comuting with occasional beach or National parks trips. Once I retireI hope to do some more adventrous trips, but plan to move to Hervey Bay area so trips to Fraser Is will be on the itinery. Would also like to do Simpson and CSR sometime.

I have had 4WDs peviously and only ever used the supplied tyres with out much problem. Been boged but don't think any trre would have helped. Also in younger days drove a Holden Ute with LSD with standard tyres all over the country where most people say a 4WD is needed now.

So what to do? Stay with original tyres and see how they go or change right from the start?

I presume I will get plenty more conflicting advise

[JamesC Member Find all posts View Profile Close JamesC]

Re: Will my Grandtreks do, or should I upgrade the shoes??

I have read through all the posts and just get more confused.

It all comes down to the type of driving you do or plan to do.

Highway tyres have plenty of tread grooves and appears more uniform in design, the rubber compound is also fairly hard. This all helps with sticking to the black top in wet and dry and also the hardened rubber helps keep tyre wear down (on the highway). They are good for sand driving because in the sand, you want to drive over the top, not dig into it. Just remember to adjust tyre pressures.

On the other extreme, MTR's and crawler style tyres have large tread blocks that look like could dig their own open cut mine with ease and the rubber compound is softer than highway tyres to help them tackle rocks etc. This means that they are good in mud, dirt tracks and other trail work, but wear like buggery on the black top and not very good in the sand as they have a tendancy to dig you into a hole rather than get you over the top.

In between, you have a variety of all terrain style tyres, some better than others.

You did say that most driving will be comuting with occasional beach or National parks trips, therefore I would either stick with the Grandtreks or get a set of all terrains. The Kumho Road Venture AT is a good looking tyre and comes in 265/70-17. They normally sell for less than $300 each. There are heaps of others so I suggest you surf the web for reviews on the available tyres.

Just for your info, I've kept my grandtreks as I've only got 30K on them but run a second set of rims with MTR's...best of both worlds I spose. After I wear the Grandtreks out, I'll be replacing them with another set of highway orientated A/T's.