Best A/T tyre patrol safari

[MrT]

Hey, I am in the hunt for new wheels! 275/65R17 - what’s your feeling about 

Yokohama - Geolander 

Bridgestone Dueler

Hankook Dino Pro 

Any feedback advice? 

[Frederic]

I will be doing the same coming summer and after some resource I’ve shortlisted these ones:

1) Michelin LTX AT: amazing feedback from fellow off-roaders @munkybiznessand @Gaurav here. 
2) Yokohama Geolander G015: has been my go-to tyre on all my off-road vehicles so far and never really disappointed me. Perfect blend of on road and off-road capabilities and price is affordable.

3) Kumho Road venture AT: noticed recently on @Ahmad Nerathis new FJ and heard good things about them as well.

 

The BF Goodrich KO2 are of course also a great alternative if you spend lots of time in wadis and rocky terrain. Unfortunately for sand they are a bit heavy and would rob you from some climbing ability which is already a bit of an issue on the Y61.

 

Bridgestone Dueler I only have experience with the HT which is not bad but absolutely not a decent off-road tyre. Perhaps the AT version is better but I doubt it.

[Bravoecho]

20 hours ago, MrT said:

Hey, I am in the hunt for new wheels! 275/65R17 - what’s your feeling about 

Yokohama - Geolander 

Bridgestone Dueler

Hankook Dino Pro 

Any feedback advice? 

@MrT I have just done this recently myself on my 2016 Y61 SWB and I went with the Geolander however I chose a different size then the standard 275/65/17.

I ended up going up a size to the 285/75/16 (I have 16" rims/not sure whether they do this size for 17" rims) and the reason being at this size it is the light truck tyre which means a 10 ply sidewall (two more than the KO2) larger block size in the tread but at the sime time you retain the optimal G015 tread pattern.

The tyre is heavier then the standard size G015 however with the weight of the patrols that we have I haven't noticed too much of a difference.

You would need a lift to fit these however their ability to hold the car on the dune has really impressed me.

Hope this helps

[munkybizness]

When it comes to tyres, as @Frederic has stated above, I love my new Michelin LTX Force (275/65/R17). I got them in December and have so far put on 6,000km across wadis, dirt tracks, dunes, and of course endless tarmac getting there. They are an excellent on-road tyre. The G015 was a softer tyre but after seeing three fail on me, I did not want to try my luck any further with them. However, I'm hearing that me and a few others may have just been part of a bad batch.

@MrT, I see that you have a Super Safari. It comes stock with 17" rims while the Safari trim line of the same Y61 Patrol like the one @Bravoecho has comes stock with a 16" rim. The two sizes are not interchangeable as the rim size dictates the bead radius and diameter.

Hence, you have two choices here:

Route #1
Stick with the stock 17" rims, and continue with 275/65/R17 (left below) or size up to a 275/70/R17 (right below).

The /70 will give you a 0.6" bigger sidewall and hence also a natural lift from your tyres. Deflated down, it will give you a larger contact surface area. It will be a heavier tyre and have some impact on how you read your speeds because you are changing from stock configuration so you will need to account for that.

 

Route #2: If you plan to change shocks and raise your car in the future

Phase A: Change your rims down to 16" with at least -15 offset (ET -15), and get the 275/70/R16

Why negative offset rims?
The stock rims on the Nissan Patrol Y61 are positively offset at 10mm so they are deeper inside the wheel well. If you are planning on adding a suspension lift in the future, your center of gravity will shift and hence you would need to correct for it. A negative offset of 15mm, will widen your overall track by 50mm (2 x 25mm (+10mm + -15mm)) keeping your wheels still within the well but giving you better balance offroad.

The 275/70/R16 is almost an identical tyre to your current 275/65/R17 but it has the benefit of a much larger sidewall an not being significantly heavier. It's a great solution for on-road comfort, mileage returns and offroad capability. If you want to get better mileage, you should always size down on width therefore 275 --> 265 --> 255 (Pizza Cutter). Don't do this for the desert because a narrower tyre reduces contact surface area.

 

Phase B: Add a 1.5"/2" lift through upgrades heavy duty springs and shocks

**Only do this when you feel like your nose is bottoming out or you are finding it difficult to climb in choppy dune areas because the stock suspension is rebounding a lot more than it should. Unless you get to this point in your driving, you will not be extracting any new value out of your upgraded suspension setup.

Edited May 22, 2023 by munkybizness

[DP1011]

22 hours ago, Frederic said:

I will be doing the same coming summer and after some resource I’ve shortlisted these ones:

1) Michelin LTX AT: amazing feedback from fellow off-roaders @munkybiznessand @Gaurav here. 
2) Yokohama Geolander G015: has been my go-to tyre on all my off-road vehicles so far and never really disappointed me. Perfect blend of on road and off-road capabilities and price is affordable.

3) Kumho Road venture AT: noticed recently on @Ahmad Nerathis new FJ and heard good things about them as well.

 

The BF Goodrich KO2 are of course also a great alternative if you spend lots of time in wadis and rocky terrain. Unfortunately for sand they are a bit heavy and would rob you from some climbing ability which is already a bit of an issue on the Y61.

 

Bridgestone Dueler I only have experience with the HT which is not bad but absolutely not a decent off-road tyre. Perhaps the AT version is better but I doubt it.

@Frederic  ( might be off the topic, your statement on BFG applies to all cars or specific makes? ( I got these recently on mine hence wondering, though based on positive feedback from our fellow jeepers here:))

[Frederic]

32 minutes ago, DP1011 said:

@Frederic  ( might be off the topic, your statement on BFG applies to all cars or specific makes? ( I got these recently on mine hence wondering, though based on positive feedback from our fellow jeepers here:))

That statement is more made after seeing how BFG performs on different cars in the club and a couple of friends that i go camping with. 

On a powerful Jeep (280hp on 2000kg car), BFG will perform great as you have plenty of power anyways to deal with the fact that the tyre is heavier. Loss in climbing ability would be negligible.

On a LWB Patrol Super Safari (250hp on 2600kg car), BFG will perform great on wadis and rocks, but become quite heavy on a car that's already a bit underpowered in stock version. Climbing big dunes would become an issue.

People often think, "oh it's only 2,5kg per tyre difference" for example, but this is not static mass like your vehicle weight, but rotational mass, which has an effect on how the car accelerates. 

Anyhow you can sleep well at night @DP1011, as a Rubicon would fly up the dunes even on wooden wheels  

[DP1011]

35 minutes ago, Frederic said:

That statement is more made after seeing how BFG performs on different cars in the club and a couple of friends that i go camping with. 

On a powerful Jeep (280hp on 2000kg car), BFG will perform great as you have plenty of power anyways to deal with the fact that the tyre is heavier. Loss in climbing ability would be negligible.

On a LWB Patrol Super Safari (250hp on 2600kg car), BFG will perform great on wadis and rocks, but become quite heavy on a car that's already a bit underpowered in stock version. Climbing big dunes would become an issue.

People often think, "oh it's only 2,5kg per tyre difference" for example, but this is not static mass like your vehicle weight, but rotational mass, which has an effect on how the car accelerates. 

Anyhow you can sleep well at night @DP1011, as a Rubicon would fly up the dunes even on wooden wheels  

Thanks @Frederic for the detailed response.
P.: On this topic, I went far as much i could see, but now I see further more   : 

[munkybizness]

45 minutes ago, Frederic said:

On a LWB Patrol Super Safari (250hp on 2600kg car)

I dyno'd my stock LWB and at-wheel was 190 whp with my Michelin LTX Force 🤣

Edited May 22, 2023 by munkybizness

[Frederic]

16 minutes ago, munkybizness said:

I dyno'd my stock LWB and at-wheel was 190 whp with my Michelin LTX Force 🤣

That's normal:

Understanding Gross Versus Net Horsepower Ratings > Ate Up With Motor

 

WHP to HP Calculator - H Calculator

 

[Bravoecho]

21 minutes ago, munkybizness said:

I dyno'd my stock LWB and at-wheel was 190 whp with my Michelin LTX Force 🤣

I actually did the same last week @munkybizness  .

Wanted to get a base line on the car before I start the "enhancements".

205 WHP with the new tyres I mentioned above and 247 foot pounds of torque