NS - Another Good News Story

[Yellowfin]

Went on a 4wd tour over long weekend in Southern Highlands NSW -pretty hard core - did 7 to 8 hours a day through the Deua NP. Some challenging terrain - rock steps, massive hills,heaps of river crossings - in fact pretty much everything except mud.
The Exceed did it very easily and from my observations better than some of the tricked up cruisers on the trip, particularly up steep hills where the Paj just flew up fully laden with 4 people.
We were in 4w low the whole time and it didn't miss a beat unlike one cruiser that blew up. Temperature never moved.
This was the first offroad test since I changed tyres to the Goodyear Silent Armours. I was very impressed with them - what a difference to the HT Duellers which if I had on this trip would have made things far more difficult. I can only remember the traction control coming on a handful of times the whole trip which I think had a lot to do with the tyres. Some parts of the trip had very sharp rocks and while one BFG TKA on a cruiser got a punture the Goodyears had no signs of any damage(but they are new).
Also the engine which was already much better after the ECU flash seemed to be smoother again after the first day - maybe they just need a good work out to settle in?
And no DPF issue which is very comforting.
Anyway just thought I'd share my experience -I am now convinced that this is a great car and perfect for my purposes.

[Rusty]

Yellowfin
I don't know anything about the Goodyear Silent Armours. Guess I could go to the tyre place but....
Are they AT or MT?
What profile?
How many ply? 8 or 10?
If they are a higher profile do they fit OK? Obviously they do or you wouldn't have them on.... but what about the spare?
Do you have the spare lift adaptor?

[Yellowfin]

Rusty
I did a lot of research before deciding - as luck would have it my first choice the Silent Armours were one of the first to arrive in Aus in the Exceed size 265/60/18 - Beaurepaires just put them straight on - exact fit. As they are the same size as the Duellers the spare fits perfectly in the spare wheel cover(I don't have a lift - just standard cover).
They are an AT tyre but they are great onroad as well - IMO significantly better than the HT Duellers and as name suggests no noise which I understand is a trait of a lot of AT's on road.
They are a heavy kevlar reinforced tyre and are certainly not cheap - $500 fitted but in the scheme of things and given the importance I place on tyres it's well worth it to me.(probably could have got them cheaper if I shopped around).
If you want to read a lot of reviews of them go to tirerack.com.
It was interesting to read the recent article in 4x4 Australia re the new 200 series land cruiser - the top model will wear 285/60/18 which is interesting given that a lot of "experts" in blogs have bagged 18" wheels for offroad.
Anyway hope this helps.

[Walker]

Yes the Silent Armours look like a great tyre and they are what I will be putting on the Paj. I think they are a great touring tyre while still remaining quite on the road.
I have still ardered my Paj with 17" rims. Not that I think the 18's are bad but because the tyres in 17" are a lot cheaper than they are in 18".

[subi_man]

Wow I thought I was the ONLY Silent Armor fan - and now I find I have a brother I have 265/75/16's Wrangler SA's on my ML Triton, and I'm very happy with them. Most people on other forums suggested BFG's and I was Cooper user, but I'm glad I decided to try something different...

Cheers

[Walker]

I had nothing but trouble with the BFG A/T's I had. I was cutting up side walls everytime I went offroad.
It was interesting to note that I know of at least 1 tag along tour that will not allow BFG A/T's on their desert trips.

[Wilmo]

I had nothing but trouble with the BFG A/T's I had. I was cutting up side walls everytime I went offroad.
It was interesting to note that I know of at least 1 tag along tour that will not allow BFG A/T's on their desert trips.

What's their reasoning for banning BFGs!?

I have Cooper ATR's on my Paj, and had BFG's on my last 4by....they are noisy compared to the Coopers and not very good in sand by comparison, they don't float anywhere near as good.

[Walker]

There seems to be a lot of the newer BFG A/T's which are having trouble with sidewalls. The ones on my last 4WD had sidewall bulge at even 40psi and when deflated for offroad work the sidewalls would easily get staked.
Some of the tag along companies have found the same thing and that is why they have banned them. Some people in the group were destroying up to 3 tyres just on a Simpson crossing.

[Wilmo]

hmm, interesting...bet my dad is glad he went the Cooper ATR's - just completed a Simpson crossing without one puncture.

[Hookedon4wding]

Went on a 4wd tour over long weekend in Southern Highlands NSW -pretty hard core - did 7 to 8 hours a day through the Deua NP. Some challenging terrain - rock steps, massive hills,heaps of river crossings - in fact pretty much everything except mud.
The Exceed did it very easily and from my observations better than some of the tricked up cruisers on the trip, particularly up steep hills where the Paj just flew up fully laden with 4 people.
We were in 4w low the whole time and it didn't miss a beat unlike one cruiser that blew up. Temperature never moved.
This was the first offroad test since I changed tyres to the Goodyear Silent Armours. I was very impressed with them - what a difference to the HT Duellers which if I had on this trip would have made things far more difficult. I can only remember the traction control coming on a handful of times the whole trip which I think had a lot to do with the tyres. Some parts of the trip had very sharp rocks and while one BFG TKA on a cruiser got a punture the Goodyears had no signs of any damage(but they are new).
Also the engine which was already much better after the ECU flash seemed to be smoother again after the first day - maybe they just need a good work out to settle in?
And no DPF issue which is very comforting.
Anyway just thought I'd share my experience -I am now convinced that this is a great car and perfect for my purposes.

Sounds like a great trip. How'd the Paj go in the water crossings without a snorkel? What sort of depths were you wading? Did you use 1st or 2nd gear low range for the steep stuff? Did you get any pics/video?

Cheers, Sam.

[Yellowfin]

It was a great trip. Up hills 2nd for nearly all - has a great rev range. 1st is way too low as I find momentum is important. I went up much more easily and quicker than other vehicles - the Paj loves hills! Some lesser hills in 3rd.
Downhill I used 1st with no brakes on first day but as terrain got tougher I found 1st would not hold - over rev and slip but if touched brake every now and then it worked fine. But interestingly by third day in tougher terrain I used 2nd downhill a lot and using brakes to be very effective.
The river crossings were not deep - but I have a view on the position of the air intake. I think it is in a better postion than those that have it under the guard - its higher and being at the front you have a pressure wave which pushes the water away - I actually think it is a great postion and has been well thought out.