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Buying a car, no off-road experience, doubt about tires


Jona

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So, I've decided to buy a second hand FJ Cruiser (I want to buy a 2015 or newer, still searching). The car would be used only, or at least mostly, to go off-road. I understand that stock should be fine, at least initially, but my main doubt is regarding the tires ... will normal road tires be enough to go to the desert?

Thanks, and hopefully see you soon!

 

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Ideally no. If the tyres are worn out I would recommend changing to ATs like Yokohama or Kumho. BFG and Cooper are too heavy and have thick sidewalls which are not the best in the sand.

But if the existing tires are in good shape, you can continue using them on the sand. Not the best option, but it will do.

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 I ran on HT tires till fewbie + (15 drives almost), untill one of them had air leakage and tire shops couldnt identify the reason.

if you get a used car with 4 good HT tires, perhaps sell them as a set and get new AT tires are your best option. you dont want surprises in desert.

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FJC is a good choice you made for offroading as in stock form they are absolutely amazing.

Just make sure you buy FJC with road HT tires than AT to be sure that it was a mall crawler and not extensively offroad driven or abused.

For offroading lighter AT tires are must have, but you can still manage newbie to fewbie level drive with HT tires.

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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Perfect advice from @PaoloMaraziti 

when you look at the cars, the stock tires are Dunlop Grandtrek AT22 - these are highway tires and not Offroad even though they carry the AT label.  So don’t be put off if you see these on the car (or if the seller attempts to claim these are All Terrain tires).  Don’t change to genuine AT until you have driven a few times with stock tires - the leads when setting the convoy order do also consider your tires and position you to compensate.  

@Wrangeld @Ale Vallecchi and @Emmanuel (edited :) ) are the infamous Marshals going everywhere in highway treads!! Showcasing skill/experience/control over mods is real! 
 

Edited by Niki
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8 hours ago, PaoloMaraziti said:

Here’s a FJC. Happy with light Cooper AT (AT3 4S). Yoko Geolander seem great as well. I’d advice against  BFG KO2 , too heavy, but many like it especially if you plan to do Wadis

my advice ? Start with HT if that is what you have, I think a Marshal I know still runs HT? When you found their limit, you upgrade . This is the best advice I was given … and never followed though !

bienvenido  y que lo disfrutes ! See you soon on the sand!

 

calling @Ale Vallecchi, @Niki, @JeromeFJ, @Hisham Masaad among others to comment. There’s a prospective FJ fellow to help !

The same with me @Jona, as @PaoloMaraziti mentioned, I used to have the BFG, then changed to the cooper AT3, which is totally different and much better option. Of course the advise of the masters is still valid and to consider. Any way, welcome to FJC lovers group 👏🏼

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8 hours ago, PaoloMaraziti said:

Here’s a FJC. Happy with light Cooper AT (AT3 4S). Yoko Geolander seem great as well. I’d advice against  BFG KO2 , too heavy, but many like it especially if you plan to do Wadis

my advice ? Start with HT if that is what you have, I think a Marshal I know still runs HT? When you found their limit, you upgrade . This is the best advice I was given … and never followed though !

bienvenido  y que lo disfrutes ! See you soon on the sand!

 

calling @Ale Vallecchi, @Niki, @JeromeFJ, @Hisham Masaad among others to comment. There’s a prospective FJ fellow to help !

@PaoloMaraziti, I and @Emmanuel are also running on normal tarmac tires. I tried once to change with AT tires and went back to highway Michelin tires the following week. My reasons? Atrocious road consumption, and most of all lack of "floating" ability on sand (all that thread was getting too much grip for the way I had become accustomed to driving). My opinion is that on sand you don't need any special tires (which you'd definitely need on rocks or very mixed terrain). This is my choice while in the UAE; if I were to make a choice for most other desert areas, I would reconsider, as sand is only present in 12% of the world's deserts, which are actually mostly made of gravel, rocks and mountains, where traction prevails over floating, and risks of punctures and tears are too high. 

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