grandtreks,new improved?????

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

hi
having owned 3 previous toyotas with Dunlop Grandtreks, I know only too well how bad these tyres are. I'm told that the new generation Grandtreks, the AT20, are much improved and are now quite good.
I'm skeptical. Any thoughts???

[Guest Close Guest]

Saw 2 of them punctured in 5 kms the other day, I still say they are crap.

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

Maybe if they dropped the pressures would have been different :wink:

[lc120_man Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lc120_man]

The Grandrecks are soft tyres, and while they are OK for shopping
trolley driving there are much better tyres out there. Just replaced
Grandrecks which done 55K with D694s and the handling is improved
heaps, specially while cornering.

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

"and the handling is improved
heaps, specially while cornering."

hmmmm!

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

I've gotta say that I've been pretty happy with my Grandtreks on-road. Though I'm convinced that other brands would be a far better and more more puncture resistant prospect off-road.

On road, especially in the wet, the Grandtreks seem to grip well and are quiet.

If the D694's are even better in terms of wet grip and quietness, I'd happily upgrade to them.

Could I kindly ask some of the legions of D694 fans to confirm these two particular aspects for me please?

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

Although I plan to use different tyres when these wear out, I can't say I have lost traction or slid in the wet yet..... I agree the Grandtreks are pretty good on road tyres.... :shock:

[PeteS Member Find all posts View Profile Close PeteS]

Well I've read a lot on various forums re this very topic. After only doing 13,000km on the AT20 I cannot really give a definite opinion however I cannot bag them yet.

I would never travel at this speed, however on Tuesday I tested the grip on the F3 freeway (up to 125km/hr for a short distance) in heavy rain and hitting patches of water crossing the road and they felt very good IMHO. This is a road I travel on every day and I have felt my previous vehicles starrting to aquaplane well below this speed in similar conditions.

Also did a 4WD course last weekend in all conditions with gravel, water crossings & sand and they went well, esp compared to some of the other vehicles in our group.

Time will tell I guess. I have one BIG problem if the Grantreks start to fail me and that is our new off-road Kimberley Karavan we take delivery of in mid May is also having them fitted (so I have the same tyres for spares). We are doing a trip in late July for 5 weeks up to Litchfield, Darwin, Kakadu, Kununurra, Gibb River Rd to Broome, the Tanami Rd, Alice SPrings, Uluru/Grand nyon then home via Broken Hill.

The Gibb River Rd and Tanami will be a real test of any tyre, I will keep you all informed.

Cheers
PeteS

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

Guys, i have had the 694's on previous vehicles and they are great, My mate and i both have new prado's and have swapped the tyres to 694's. Well he has anyhow, i am still waiting for mine to arrive. Today we were looking at both tyres and the real difference was in the tread depth between the two tyres, the 694's i rackon had at least another 3-4mm tread than the dunlops, i tkink this why they don't last.

[lc120_man Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close lc120_man]

Time will tell I guess. I have one BIG problem if the Grantreks start to fail me and that is our new off-road Kimberley Karavan we take delivery of in mid May is also having them fitted (so I have the same tyres for spares). We are doing a trip in late July for 5 weeks up to Litchfield, Darwin, Kakadu, Kununurra, Gibb River Rd to Broome, the Tanami Rd, Alice SPrings, Uluru/Grand nyon then home via Broken Hill.

The Gibb River Rd and Tanami will be a real test of any tyre, I will keep you all informed.

Don't forget to take 5 spares with you if you are planning to use grantrecks on Karavan on those roads :shock: :roll: :roll: :roll:

[John Member Find all posts View Profile Close John]

It's interesting that in 46000km I'm still on my original AT20's. On various surfaces they have performed well and without a single puncture....I must be lucky.

Surprisingly I thought they'd be cactus at 25000km because they seemed to initially wear really fast, but they are only just now getting close to the tread bars.

I'm tending towards the 694's as replacements. Our new caravan has 693's fitted as standard and it towed beautifully over all sorts of roads, both wet and dry, sealed and unsealed in our recent Tassie trip.

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

I've just returned from 4 hours travelling on rainsoaked roads and freeways (mostly at 110-130kph).

Once again I have marvelled at the wet road handling and surefootedness of the Prado. It's like a damned train. Cuts thru water on the road and with no sign at all of even beginning to aquaplane.

How much of this is due to the Grandtreks I don't know - all I can say is that if the 694's are a cut above this in wet road handling, they must be bloody phenomenal.

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

Hope you have a tyre guy on call because roads around here seem to eat tyres. (Pilbara)
Would guess the Kimberley would be much the same!!
We would average a blown tyre every couple of days while on the access road.
Bridgestone D694 last about 25000km before the tread is chewed out.
You may need to invest in better tyres now as ordering over here can take what locals call the Pilbara week which can be up to 2 months!!

[PeteS Member Find all posts View Profile Close PeteS]

Hope you have a tyre guy on call because roads around here seem to eat tyres. (Pilbara)
Would guess the Kimberley would be much the same!!

Hi Chuck
I have read extensively posts on various forums and spoken to people who have done the exact trip as we are about to do. Yes tyres are a real worry on most places we intend to visit, esp the Kimberleys & Tanami. I have a good compressor, R&R Beadbreaker etc with me and feel confident I can remove a tyre and repair a puncture or very small sidewall tear. I am taking a few spare tubes as backup also.

There are so many variables in the equation. Speed, corrugations, debri on the road, general weather conditions, luck (can be and/or good & bad) etc.

The biggest problem I see is realising I have a tyre problem and stopping BEFORE I destroy the tyre casing. I have seen the tyre casing destroyed on a number of occasions now. This would which make a repair impossible. I would then have no choice obtain a new tyre.

We have contingency plans if such a thing happens. If I have no spares left that I can repair then I will need to SHOUT for help. It won't seem much fun at the time but i know that's all part of a trip. Hopefully it makes a great tale and laugh when we get home. :lol:

PeteS