Different tyre brands, front and rear axle

[westy90 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close westy90]

Hi all,

Keen for some advice, appreciate your thoughts on the following two questions:

1. Is it ok to have different brand tyres on the front and rear axles? I have Cooper HTs on the front that are half worn, the Cooper HT on the rear are flogged though and need replacing. I am thinking of running an AT tyre on the rears and then putting the same brand on the front when fronts are worn out. All tyres will be the same size, 265/70/16. One bloke in a tyre place kept banging on that I need to replace all 4 or I will kill the centre diff. I recon he's full of it, but that little voice of fear/doubt in the back of my head makes me ask you guys what you think????

2. Also opinions on Khumo KL78s AT (cheap at $215 each), Yokohama Geolander ATs ($250) or Desert Duellers AT ($265) would be appreciated. Espeically in terms of the road noise and sand driving abilties of these brands would be greatly appreciated. Which one to pick is doing my head in.

Thanks

Adam

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

Re: Different tyre brands, front and rear axle

I'm not sure it would be a good idea to match a highway tyre and an AT at the same time. Wouldn't they have different levels of traction that could cause slippage problems? I'm no tyre expert though so take what I say with a grain of salt. I still have a HT tyre as my spare but that's only for emergencies, not constant use.

As for which tyres to select I can only comment on the Dueler D694s. I have just fitted 4 of these to my Prado and find them to be reasonably quiet and handle well on the bitumen. They ride a bit harder than my old (and I do mean old) GrandTreks but I'm putting this down to a combination of running higher pressures (I'm sure my old GTs were under inflated compared to the Duelers) and the fact the Duelers are an LT spec tyre sith firmer sidewalls. I have not yet had a chance to try them off-road sorry.

[dhula Member Find all posts View Profile Close dhula]

Re: Different tyre brands, front and rear axle

best to have all 4 the same as the prado is a AWD when on the road. The tyre guy is correct in saying that there is a chance you can do damage to the centre diff if you put different tyres front and rear.
having said that if the tyre circumferences are the same then it should be OK to do.

Having new tyres all round allows you to rotate them more easily to gain the best run out of them you can.

Regarding which tyres to go with, I had a set of the older yoko geolander A/T+II on for ~96k before going for new ones and i recon I could have got another 10-15k be3fore hitting the wear markers.
I currently have the new yoko geolander A/T-S. I haven't used them in anything tough off road yet (mud, rocks etc) but find them better on the road than the older style and on par on the dirt.

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

Re: Different tyre brands, front and rear axle

Assuming the new and old tyres will have a different circumference (due to wear):
- I don't believe it's a problem when in H (not locked) as the three diffs will absorb any differences.
- Technically, it will be an issue when in HL (high locked) and LL (low locked) as the front axle rotation will be less than the rear axle rotation, putting stress on the locked transfer. Practically speaking.. this probablly occurs all the time anyway, due to steering. HL and LL is only for use on slippery surfaces... follow that rule and you might be fine.

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

Re: Different tyre brands, front and rear axle

basically you could have 4 different tyres at each corner, as long as they were the same rolling diameter it wouldnt matter. cheers samo

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: Different tyre brands, front and rear axle

HT tyres have different tread depth to AT tyres and then the same again for MT tyres. So you would need to measure the rolling diameter physically and not go off the tyre size. I assume that the rolling diameter varies from manufacturer to manufacturer too.

Maybe do a diff oil change if you are planning on changing 2 tyres at a time as the diff would be working constantly.

Maybe trawl around for a 2nd hand HT tyre or 2 to tie you over until you wear all 4 of them out, then get the AT tyres.

[westy90 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close westy90]

Re: Different tyre brands, front and rear axle

Hi all, thanks for your advice and help. I have ordered 4 d694LT tyres that will go on Friday morning. I decided to not be such a tight arse! I'll attempt the Robe to Beachport run with them next week.

This does mean I'll have two Cooper HT's back at my place by noon Friday. They are 265 70 16 tyres with a least 5mm of tread above the indicators. If anyone wants them, pm me please. Yours for a carton of beer. I'm at West Beach in Adelaide.

Cheers

Westy.

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: Different tyre brands, front and rear axle

Good choice on the D694LT.
Put a post in the for sale section for your tyres.