Off Road tyre’s size for a t5.2?

[sdkfz7]

Waiting delivery on the Dual Cab and getting it ready for my Gulf trip the standard tyre’s would not be the best option so I would like to put on an off road tyre for the trip and put the original back on when returned.
What would be the maximum tyre size that will fit without fouling on anything?
The dual cab has on the 17inch steels with Dunlop SPS Sport 235 55R17

[4wheels]

What motor do you have? Unless it's a 132Kw (which has bigger brakes, and can't fit less than 17" wheels), you might be better to look for a set of 16's for your off-road tyres. You'll find a wider choice of tyres, and you can keep them mounted to swap easily for other off-road trips. Be wary of how much bigger you go in overall diameter as well. Bigger diameter gives more ground clearance and grip for off-road work, but higher gearing (you want lower off-road), and speedo will be affected, and they may cause guard clearance problems. There are legal limitations as well, but I'm not sure what they are in QLD.

Having said that, I did Cape Yorke on my original Michelin Agilis (16's) without any dramas. Still trying to wear them out (65K now, with probably 10K left; and I never got round to rotating the spare in). But I'll be looking at a similar exercise soon.

Brian
2007 Trakkadu

[sdkfz7]

G’day Brian
Thanks for the reply
132kw 4 motion so it has the big brakes The tyres on it are about 27inches high and I think most off road tyres in 17 inch start at 28.5inches high but I am no expert.
I am also looking at bulbars and snorkel. Snorkel for bulldust than river crossing as were we go, we travel thru about 4ks of it. I do not think that Seikel are making one yet for the new T5-2
Brian what mods do you have on you 07 for the trip?
Tim

[4wheels]

Hi Tim,

It was/still is a bog stock 128Kw 4 Motion with factory rear diff lock (and Trakkadu camper conversion). The only mod was to put Pedders King Springs on the rear. These give only a slight lift to the tail, where the towbar always seemed to hang pretty low. They are supposed to take it back to 'unladen ride height' so you don't need diff spacers etc. Tyres, as I said, were the factory original Agilis (road pattern), but they did fine in the mostly dry (but rough) conditions. I was pretty pleased with its performance in standard trim.
If you're new to the scene, you might like to have a look at the journal I wrote back then, here; Kombis to the Kape 2008 - Kombi Club Forums
Re the tyre size, check with your retailer about the percentage increase in diameter, and how it will affect your speedo reading. Given that most VW speedos seem to read about 5% over, it may just bring you back to a more correct reading. The extra 3/4" (ie. half of diameter increase) in ground clearance will be nice, and I doubt you'd have any guard clearance problems at that size.
Brian

[Seano]

That's a bugger of a size to replace....profile is quite low. Diameter is roughly 690mm so you can't go far from that - except there'll be bugger all in chunkier treads because it is a size range that is normally fitted to soft roaders.

However, it thee were me......I wouldn't bother. Go with stock. Most XL rated tyres like yours are built way better than many so called of road tyres. I've been using stock van tyres in offroad situations on my T4 since 2002 and have done two circumnavigations of the country (travelling roads like the Great Central Road, Gibb River Road and the Tanamai Track) and spent four years commuting on the Darling River Run in western NSW......I had one puncture (picked up a screw in the yard) in that time. The tread pattern (as Brian points out) is virtually irrelevant when dealing with dry open dirt roads (no matter how rough). A chunky pattern is an advantage for slow steep fire trails and the odd mud hole but not much else. And even when it does get a bit damp you'd be surprised how well van tyres hang on with 4motion or syncro. The other advantage of typical close pattern van treads is that the overall tread is tighter and therefore thicker - without the open pattern it is harder to drive a stone through the gaps in the pattern....so more puncture resistant. That's what I told myself anyway but it appears to have been borne out by experience.

The main thing is to make sure you have two complete & brand new spare tyre/wheels before you go. I actually had three....but never needed any of them.

I also wouldn't worry about the snorkel.......I still don't have one. And the T4 intake is in an appalling position for off tar work....just take a spare air filter. If the intake on the 5.2 allows it then placing a oiled coarse foam sock over the inlet pipe is a good dust pre-filter (I bought one from Unifilter for our Forester). But this couldn't be done for the T4. Still......no biggie.

Bullbar......mine wears one. But I'm not convinced unless you are out there all the time AND you frequently drive early mornings, early evenings and/or night time (like I was when I fitted it). First time we went round I didn't have one. I went round before that in a Landrover Defender and it didn't wear one either.....and I was living in the far west NSW then too. These days.....my bullbar is merely decorative.

[bobf]

also awaiting delivery of T5.2 (4motion with Rough Road suspension and diff lock) and have been looking at alternate AT type tires - frustrating as the abilty of the 4Motion will be comprimised by the stock tires.

Nothing in 235 55R17 that I can find, and only tire that meets the load rating seems to be Goodyear Wrangler ATR in 235 60R17 106H however that is 22mm greater dia and I understand that 15mm is the max for NSW regardless of the wheel/tire size - I would have thought that a % max would be more appropriate.

Coopers have an ATR 235 60 R17 but only 102 load rating - others available are only 99 load rating. I hope that Seano's logic is right because I don't see many alternatives.

I understand that Trakka will have a Seikel snorkel for the 5.2 later in the year.

[hoddy]

I have had my T5.2 for about 2 months now. Have 4motion and diff lock and rough road suspension.
Will be replacing the stock tyres with Bridgestone dueller AT D694 235/65/17 Load 108.
They have an increased diameter of 48mm ( 24mm all round).
My only concern is if there is enough room around the spare to fit - I have had a pre-liminary look and I think it will but cannot confirm.
Will pick up new tyres in a month and let you know.

[Transporter]

I had my spare (235/55/17) out and in several times, there is enough room for 65 profile tyre.

[Seano]

I hope that Seano's logic is right because I don't see many alternatives.

My logic is tried and tested.....and it continues to work for me.

My only caveat is that the profile on your 17" stock tyres is appallingly low for off tar work. This probably won't really be an issue unless you frequent open unsealed roads that contain many large stones (about half fist to fist size)....at speed these have the capacity to tear open sidewalls and ding rims and 55 profile tyres will be vulnerable. Fortunately such roads are rare - Gibb River Road is one, there's a few in Sth Western Qld, Nth Western NSW and the Pilbara in WA that come to mind too. The low profile will also be a challenge in some trail work but probably not a dealbreaker unless really low speed crawling up rocky stepped track....which the vehicle is not really designed for anyway.

But in the end.....you'll be carrying two spares anyway.....won't you.

T'other thing to bear in mind about AT tyres is.....they are frequently rather noisy on tar. And thousands of kays of constant whirring gets rather wearing on the soul....

[hoddy]

I had my spare (235/55/17) out and in several times, there is enough room for 65 profile tyre.

Sadly no.... did a trial fitment of a cooper AT 235/65/17 --> wont fit in the area for the spare. Bugger Bugger.
Thought all hope was lost when I looked on the internet and saw that the tyres in between (235/60/17) all had load ratings of 102.
BUT -- As BobF points out there is a goodyear Wranglet that may do the job --> Yippee

While I'm here I also need to vent some frustration. My new T5GP has SEVERE wear issues on the outsides of both front tyres and only
3800km on the speedo. WTF. There is still nipples on the inside. The outside is almost down to the wear indicators and has noticable "paddle effect" on the outside blocks. The dealer is 150km away. It would be worth going there and back if I get new tyres from them, but alas all I'm likelt to get is a free wheel alighnment and rotation... :<

[Transporter]

By how much it didn't fit?
How about deflated spare? If it would fit, you could carry small 12V air compressor in the van when you need to use the spare.

[hoddy]

I tried with the tyre man to get it in position, so thats 2 people trying to shove it up, we tried pushing in every direction including getting my knee under for more leverage. It just would not fit.
Was thinking of letting the air out a bit, and although I usually have an air compressor when travelling I could not always guarantee to have one in the Van.
There doesn't appear to be any covers or plastic bits that I could take off either.
The tyre I tried was a good inch bigger all round, and really there is less than 2 cm clearance at most.

Not sure if the 4Motion "bits" restrict the size of the area?
Maybe there is less spare room in the T5GP?

Will probably go the Wranglers, will get $200 bucks for the current set of 5 with 3800km on them ( 2 damaged).
The 235/60/17 are 23.5 cm bigger in diameter. A little bigger, and hopefully not too hard to replace in the outback...

[bobf]

sorry to be the bearer of sad news but my local tire man tells me that Goodyear Wrangler 235/60/17 are no longer available in Oz - even tho he tells me he sold quite a few of them. The best he can offer at the moment is a Yokohama H/T-S 235/60/17 103H - a highway tire but supposedly OK - some good reviews in US etc,. Hopefully they will fit @ 22mm greater diam than 235/55s, otherwise the cupboard is fairly bare.
bobf

[bobf]

further - part of the problem might be that Coopers advertise extra tread depth - their 235/60' are 721 mm dia whereas standard 235/60 are stated as 714mm dia - I assume a similar increase in the 65's would add to the problem. Looking at US ratings on Tire rack (Tire Rack - Your performance experts for tires and wheels) in the US the Yoko H/T-S rated well on sand and light snow, rating 6/59 tires for Highway-all season driving and 4/10 tires for Sporttruck-all season tires.
bobf

[hoddy]

All is not lost, it seems there is a choice! Hankook Dynapro HP or HL have the 235/60/17 with appropriate load (875kg).
Not sure which is the better tyre for off road / long wearing / toughness...
Am leaning towards the Hankook as it may last longer +/- cheaper...

Put some new headlights in the beast also --> IPF 110/80 H4s The high beam draws 8amps at each globe (compared to 5.5amps for standard)
Not a lot but significantly brighter, hopefully the wiring can take it. (will use combined high / low sparingly - 13.5 amp load)
Also had to aim the headlights down as they were way too high to begin with.