New Bridgestone A/T D697 Tyre

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Jss Im the same, have a crap load of roundabouts and not a straight road in the place (Glenmore Park), any body that's been in here where I live will agree. Even when Ive had new tyres fitted previously to either my wifes car or mine the tyre blokes who I wouldn't know from a bar of soap will say ""can tell you live in Glenmore Park"" the way the tyres scrub out. I generally only get 30 to 35 thou out of a set of standard road tyres and their stuffed, the outer edges worn down to slicks. I run the prado tyres on 40psi. I did this with the bf's and they lasted very well........the wifes car is due again now, all round, got 40k out of these running 36 instead of the 32 I was told to run them at. There is no way I would get more then 40 out of the grantrecks. Will see how the 697's go.........Cheers Steve

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

I got around 83,000 out of the original factory Grandtreks on the old 95 series, only replaced them when they began to squeal going around corners. The fronts were pretty scrubbed on the outside but the rears were still OK, guess Toyota didn't really rotate them at every service like they claimed on the invoice. The spare on the back had never been roaded as far as I could tell. Sure there wasn't a huge amount of tread left on the other 4 but still enough to be classed as roadworthy.

I replaced those ones with D694s but traded the 95 about 18 months later so don't know how long they would have lasted. I hope to get good life out of the the D697s on the 150 but it's still early days, they've only done around 8,000KMs so far.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

You may be right Im not sure but I got 10k more out the wifes tyres this time so not really sure to be honest was just going by what the mechanic told me ?? Yea agree they designed the road to slow the traffic down but can tell you it turns into a race track on Thursday, friday and Saturday nights. Must say I've given it a bit here and there in wifes car not in the wet though. That's when we can sit in our lounge room and hear the squeal from the tyres then the bang when they lose it and hit the huge bolders they have put around the place. We even have the wire in the middle in some places like down the middle of the M4 to stop people ending up facing the oncoming traffic. There are some tight turns that the Peter Brock P platers fail to take into account and end up making some mistakes. Not just P platers either I should say. Way off topic but we had a GT Falcon in front of us one night zoom up the inside of us on Northern rd following a STI subi, they then turned right into the bends into Glenmore Park and the road was wet and I said to the wife the falcons got no chance against the AWD of the subi. Not 200metres down the road the falcon was up a tree, driver ok (we stopped to check) and the subi no where in sight. And it happens regularly....Bob Jane love these guys lol...........Cheers Steve

[jss Moderated member Find all posts View Profile Close jss]

Arr Glenmore Park, I nearly bough there a few years ago.

I know the roundabouts and chicanes were a pain but they need to be there otherwise it would be like the Monica GP.

If the edges are scrubbing out wouldn't it help to drop the pressures a bit?

I was told to do the same as what Steve did, up the pressures a few psi to give more centre wear and even things out a bit, plus the more psi the less flex in the side wall so it should roll the edge less, Or so I was told. I'm going to try running the 697s on 44 like I had in the grandcraps, but getting it right may take some experimenting.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

James do you do a 5 tyre rotation? My niece is a bit aggressive on roundabouts in her 100 series and the front to back rotation does nothing. The rears barely wear compared to the front left so once a second rotation is done you are putting the same tyre back in the highest wear place. At least with a 5 tyre rotation the FL becomes the spare then the RL then FR then RR before turning into the FL again.

[jss Moderated member Find all posts View Profile Close jss]

James do you do a 5 tyre rotation? My niece is a bit aggressive on roundabouts in her 100 series and the front to back rotation does nothing. The rears barely wear compared to the front left so once a second rotation is done you are putting the same tyre back in the highest wear place. At least with a 5 tyre rotation the FL becomes the spare then the RL then FR then RR before turning into the FL again.

No not at this stage although I probably should as what you've said makes good sense, I only went the 4 new tyres this time as they have the same R/D as the grandcraps so it wont matter if I need to use the spare in case of a flat. Once I've decided if I like the 697s i'll go the 5 tyres next time, which will probably only be 12 months away with all these bloody round abouts.

My mates wife drives their 200 series (he's not allowed to drive it and it's never been off the road lol, his prado gets taken to hell & back though) and she got nearly 80 thou out of their grangcraps and they live around the corner from me ( she is like driving miss daisy). They then put some dick cepek m/ts on (I know m/t for the road lol but it was for the look hahaha) and after about 1000kms off they came and a new set of grandcraps went back on lol.

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

I only went the 4 new tyres this time as they have the same R/D as the grandcraps so it wont matter if I need to use the spare in case of a flat. Once I've decided if I like the 697s i'll go the 5 tyres next time, which will probably only be 12 months away with all these bloody round abouts.

I thought the same however remember the grandcraps are a highway rated tyre so the load and speed rating will be different. For my size tyre it is 110H as opposed to 114S for the D697. That may not matter so much on road in an emergency but what happens if you are out in the bush?

I still have the grandcrap as a spare too but was going to buy another D697 so I can do a 5 tyre rotation. It means getting the rim painted though since the others are black and the painting isn't exactly cheap at between $160 & $200 (what I was quoted at the place that did the others for the previous owner).

[jss Moderated member Find all posts View Profile Close jss]

Fido 99.9% of my off road is either Double island (sand), Fraser island (sand), or Agnes Waters (sand & easy dirt tracks) so I cant honestly think of a situation where it will be a real issue. TBH the different load & speed ratings would only really matter if you were going to exceed them in some way which just isn't going to happen to anyone in most situations. The only real world issue for non matching tyres is if the R/D is different.
In saying that I wouldn't have non matching tyres as a full time scenario as they will handle slightly different on the raod in the wet for example.

[jss Moderated member Find all posts View Profile Close jss]

What are those Dick Cepets like I saw them in bob Janes yesterday when I was getting my puncture fixed.

I've got the spare original GT tyre as well, brand new never been used and I'd like to get a D to replace it and do a 5 rotation but I'm struggling with spending the money when I have a perfectly good tyre that will do the job if I need it.

I can only comment on the ones on my mates cruiser but jesus they were noisy even at 60 - 80kph, I have noticed a lot of them about lately though, I think the local bob jane is pushing them hard.

[jss Moderated member Find all posts View Profile Close jss]

I have no probs with road tyres either and they would probably suit my needs better than a/ts aswell, but I liked the look of the 697 better, that's truthfully the only reason I went to an a/t. If going an r/t I wouldn't go grandcraps though I don't think.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

I only ever used to rotate 4 tyres and then use the OEM spare as one of the new tyres when the other 4 needed replacing, keeping the best for spare. But the Prado seems prone to high wear on the LF so I do the 5 tyre thing. Also i wouldnt run Grandtreks on my trailer. Means buying 5 and not 4 tyres if you go this way but you also can get better wear.

I mostly do sand driving and fire trails so going more aggressive than an AT isn't necessary and the extra noise and weight of an MT isn't of benefit for the 1% of the time I would be better off with MTs. But it is definitely horses for courses. If you do more mud or rough terrain running then the MTs are worth the inconvenience.

[LifesAbeach Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close LifesAbeach]

Hey guys, how are we going with these tyres? Are you still happy with their performance?

I have been quoted $269 for 265/65s so I'll be choosing these (over the Pirelli Scorpions @ $280) unless anyone out there can convince me otherwise?

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Mate extremely happy with mine so far. Great in the wet
compared to bf's . Had them off road and on the beach, can't fault them yet. Haven't had them in the mud but just going by the tread pattern i
reckon they will perform better in that regards as well.... Cheers Steve

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

I'm still happy with my D697s too, they have handled everything we've thrown at them so far. Haven't done any extreme mud driving but they've gone through some bog holes and muddy tracks and still handled OK.

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

just clocked up 60000km on the D697`s. That includes towing a caravan to WA and to the Sunshine Coast. So around 20000km with van on.
I have been rotating all five tyres, expect to get another 25-30k .
They are wearing evenly and still provide great grip on shitty greasy wet cold Gippsland roads. Between Coal, Briquette and Log trucks the roads can be slippery and broken up.

Very happy , will get another set of these and trade in the grandcraps when I get the next Toyota.