Another Tyre Question?

[Paulus17]

The tyres on our RAV 4.2 are different makes and have different amounts of wear on them.

The front as you can see look newish and i think they are Nexen make??? with snow,and M S symbols on the rim.

The rear are both Dunlop and have M S on them and are worn more.

Now is it best to put these front ones on the back??

I phoned our local tyre place up for prices and was told that the budget tyres they supply are just as good as the named makes,and about £90 each fitted.Is this good price and advice?

The car won't be used off road.

Cheers.

[gcams]

Hi Paulus17,

I'm certainly not an expert on tyres, but from what I've read around the place, I believe it's best if you can keep all 4 wheels the same tread-pattern for 4x4's (i.e. the same brand/type).

Last year, I fitted General Grabber UHP's, supplied by my local independent:

http://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/brands/general/grabber-uhp

They were under £90 per tyre (about £85 from memory) and fitted, my local independent beat all internet prices I had found at the time! I have been really impressed with the General Grabbers. They are wearing really well, and coped beautifully with the horrendous snow we had up here in Scotland over the winter (they are an M&S rated tyre). I wouldn't hesitate to get these again. If you search the forums here, you'll find a lot of Rav owners recommending this particular tyre too (one of the reasons I went for them).

I hope that is of some help?

Cheers,

Graham

[Paulus17]

Hi Paulus17,

I'm certainly not an expert on tyres, but from what I've read around the place, I believe it's best if you can keep all 4 wheels the same tread-pattern for 4x4's (i.e. the same brand/type).

Last year, I fitted General Grabber UHP's, supplied by my local independent:

http://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/brands/general/grabber-uhp

They were under £90 per tyre (about £85 from memory) and fitted, my local independent beat all internet prices I had found at the time! I have been really impressed with the General Grabbers. They are wearing really well, and coped beautifully with the horrendous snow we had up here in Scotland over the winter (they are an M&S rated tyre). I wouldn't hesitate to get these again. If you search the forums here, you'll find a lot of Rav owners recommending this particular tyre too (one of the reasons I went for them).

I hope that is of some help?

Cheers,

Graham

Thank you Graham.

I'm no expert either Graham on the cars nor tyres hence all my questions.

Now the bloke i spoke to at our local tyre place said it was ok to put different tyres on,even just changing the one tyre at the back if needed??

I take it that the MnS tyres are suitable for general use,ie tarmac??

[bitman]

best to have the newest tires on the rear axle. but since your rav 4 is permanent 4x4 ideal will be same tires all around. on my black gx i had the dunlop tires and i liked them, but that's personal tast...

read here about m&s -> mud and snow

budget tires for £90 fitted a corner isn't the best price imho. i bought 4 brand new general grabbers hts for £350 all inclusive for the hilux last summer... and those tires were a bit bigger then yours

[pmb]

I put GG's on last year , just over £90 for the 235's from event tyres (mobile). Can't work out if they are 215 or 235 on yours if you could add the model to your profile it would help. They seem to be uni-directional now (mine are) but didn't used to be if you look at older threads on here.

[gcams]

I take it that the MnS tyres are suitable for general use,ie tarmac??

I've had no issues at all with the M&S General Grabbers on tarmac. I probably spend about 95% of my time on motorways, but it's nice to have something with a bit of extra "meat" for the times we do get snow up here, or I have to drive into muddy fields (every now and then). I was worried the M&S tyres would be noisy for motorway use, but these ones seem fine! (They are the unidirectional tread pattern like pmb mentioned).

[Paulus17]

Thanks Bitman and pmb

Tyres are P215/70 R16.

Just read that Bitman and i have been googling the tyres we have on the front which are Nexen ST701.

One site says they are winter tyres and another says they are all terrain,so am more confused

We don't want to fork out on four new tyres,well not unless we have to so if the front tyres are ok to use all the time we would rather get two to match on the back.

Graham the GGs do seem a good tyre,just gotta find a local supplier if we have to go down that route.

I have been trying to do searches on here on the older posts but am unable to get anything up,am i doing summat wrong??

Profile updated :D

[bitman]

for the moment check the profile (tread dept) of your tires if there is 'only' say 2 mm difference in the front and rear tires then swap them from front to rear etc. keep your wallet closed and enjoy.

if you have lets say 4mm difference then buy the same tires as the front ones for cheap(er) solution or if you got a money tree in your back yard buy 4 new tires and dump the front tires on eBay

[Paulus17]

for the moment check the profile (tread dept) of your tires if there is 'only' say 2 mm difference in the front and rear tires then swap them from front to rear etc. keep your wallet closed and enjoy.

if you have lets say 4mm difference then buy the same tires as the front ones for cheap(er) solution or if you got a money tree in your back yard buy 4 new tires and dump the front tires on ebay

OK Bitman will do.

We take it to a couple of local tyre places and get there opinions tomorrow.

Just thought it best to get some idea of what they might be talking about when all the blurb starts :o

I'm afraid the money tree was chopped down some time ago and used for heat on the fire :D

[Mike JD]

for the moment check the profile (tread dept) of your tires if there is 'only' say 2 mm difference in the front and rear tires then swap them from front to rear etc. keep your wallet closed and enjoy.

if you have lets say 4mm difference then buy the same tires as the front ones for cheap(er) solution or if you got a money tree in your back yard buy 4 new tires and dump the front tires on ebay

OK Bitman will do.

We take it to a couple of local tyre places and get there opinions tomorrow.

Just thought it best to get some idea of what they might be talking about when all the blurb starts :o

I'm afraid the money tree was chopped down some time ago and used for heat on the fire :D

Out of curiosity I looked up some tyres on an internet suppliers site as a result of following this thread and read the following:

"PLEASE NOTE : EUROPEAN TYRE SHORTAGE

Due to new EU legislation changing the grade of oil that must be used during the manufacture process of all European tyres there is currently a major shortage on all sizes, especially 4x4. "

Has anyone else heard of this or is a a scam?

Mike D

[Paulus17]

for the moment check the profile (tread dept) of your tires if there is 'only' say 2 mm difference in the front and rear tires then swap them from front to rear etc. keep your wallet closed and enjoy.

if you have lets say 4mm difference then buy the same tires as the front ones for cheap(er) solution or if you got a money tree in your back yard buy 4 new tires and dump the front tires on ebay

OK Bitman will do.

We take it to a couple of local tyre places and get there opinions tomorrow.

Just thought it best to get some idea of what they might be talking about when all the blurb starts :o

I'm afraid the money tree was chopped down some time ago and used for heat on the fire :D

Out of curiosity I looked up some tyres on an internet suppliers site as a result of following this thread and read the following:

"PLEASE NOTE : EUROPEAN TYRE SHORTAGE

Due to new EU legislation changing the grade of oil that must be used during the manufacture process of all European tyres there is currently a major shortage on all sizes, especially 4x4. "

Has anyone else heard of this or is a a scam?

Mike D

I haven't heared or seen anything Mike??

Well we took ours in to be checked to two local tyre places.

The first was the one we usually use.

They said the rear tyres are low but are good for a few thousand more miles yet,and would need changing by winter time.

But they could get us two later today and fit them if we wnated.I think they said they were Matadore make and worked out at £90 fitted???

Then we took it to another one and he said that all four need replacing as they were commercial tyres fitted???

I asked him what the difference was and he just said the weight???

Then he suggested that we have all ours replaced with used tyres that he had.

I asked how much new ones would be and he said about £25- £50.

I said i'll think about it,for a few months.

[Paulus17]

Well folks,i've managed to find a pair of Nexens that match the front tyres on our RAV.

But after doing some more guggling i came across a post that wasn't very much in favour of the tyres albeit on saloon cars mind??

So can i take those reviews in comparrison to a 4x4 type tyre do you think?

The garage where i went the other day said thay are a good tyres and the bloke i phoned today said they are a good all round tyre.

So what d'ya reckon yey or ney. :o

[CharlieFarlie]

I would Never buy budget or cheap brand tyres !!! These black things are Your only contact with the road !! Its just a false economy anyway ........ Go for a decent brand. Yokohamas are the bottom end of the decent stuff. As an example for My T180 on 18 inch rims they can be had for £120 each.. These will outlast crappy tyres by a huge amount and will cost no more in the long run. Plus in an emergency situation say panic braking or hitting a damp patch under trees will give You a far better chance of avoiding trouble !!

Anyone who try s to sell You cheap tyres is doing it for one reason only ..... Its called PROFIT...

Wee Charlie.

[CharlieFarlie]

best to have the newest tires on the rear axle. but since your rav 4 is permanent 4x4 ideal will be same tires all around. on my black gx i had the dunlop tires and i liked them, but that's personal tast...

read here about m&s -> mud and snow

budget tires for £90 fitted a corner isn't the best price imho. i bought 4 brand new general grabbers hts for £350 all inclusive for the hilux last summer... and those tires were a bit bigger then yours

The Rav Or at least My Rav is not permanent 4WD. Its front wheel drive for nearly all of the time. Until the computer calls for all wheel drive that is.. If I select Diff Lock to manually engage 4WD it will switch off automatically when the speed reaches around 30MPH.

Wee Charlie.

[BMH]

best to have the newest tires on the rear axle. but since your rav 4 is permanent 4x4 ideal will be same tires all around. on my black gx i had the dunlop tires and i liked them, but that's personal tast...

read here about m&s -> mud and snow

budget tires for £90 fitted a corner isn't the best price imho. i bought 4 brand new general grabbers hts for £350 all inclusive for the hilux last summer... and those tires were a bit bigger then yours

The Rav Or at least My Rav is not permanent 4WD. Its front wheel drive for nearly all of the time. Until the computer calls for all wheel drive that is.. If I select Diff Lock to manually engage 4WD it will switch off automatically when the speed reaches around 30MPH.

Wee Charlie.

I WOULD ONLY USE TOYO 235X16X60 0N MY RAV THEY ARE TRANPATH A11 THEY CAME ON IT FROM NEW .BRILL TYRE.

[wardude]

My Bro in Laws Rav has Hankook tyres like mine and he has covered 36000 miles and they still have pleanty on them

[crofter]

Whilst agreeing that buying the best tyres is best,I think there may be a case for exceptions.

1 Mileage done in a year,so although slighter cheaper tyres have less tread,they could last as long for a low mileage driver as premium ones do with high mileage,and tyres do deteriorate with time.

2 Your driving manner,high speed,fast cornering and take offs.If these don't apply?

3 You may be on a restricted budget Nuff said,I think in these times!!

Just a devils advocate,thats all

Del

[redlew]

I have replaced all four tyres with Toyos once and am now on Michelin Latitude Hp Tours. Much prefer the Michelins and they seem to be lasting longer.

[Paulus17]

Thanks for your replies everyone

Well we have made a decision,at last,my head hurts :D and after many phone calls to various tyre places getting as much info as we could,we have decided to put the Nexens on to match the two new ones we have on the RAV.

Most places told us that if we are only doing low mileage and not doing high speeds nor a lot of motorway driving,than these tyres will be fine for the driving SWMBO does,she doesn't get above 50 going to work.She does about 7000ish miles a year.

[bitman]

best to have the newest tires on the rear axle. but since your rav 4 is permanent 4x4 ideal will be same tires all around. on my black gx i had the dunlop tires and i liked them, but that's personal tast...

read here about m&s -> mud and snow

budget tires for £90 fitted a corner isn't the best price imho. i bought 4 brand new general grabbers hts for £350 all inclusive for the hilux last summer... and those tires were a bit bigger then yours

The Rav Or at least My Rav is not permanent 4WD. Its front wheel drive for nearly all of the time. Until the computer calls for all wheel drive that is.. If I select Diff Lock to manually engage 4WD it will switch off automatically when the speed reaches around 30MPH.

Wee Charlie.

we ARE not talking about your rav 4 but the 4.2 from OP and that's a permanent 4wd

[bitman]

the Bridgestone tires on our 2003 nrg are still the same when bought new back in 2003 :o

treads between 4mm and 6mm B)

[firemac]

the bridgestone tires on our 2003 nrg are still the same when bought new back in 2003 :o

treads between 4mm and 6mm B)

bitman, is that the NRG that is shown as having 110k miles? If you bought it new and it's still on the same tyres at that mileage, that sounds miraculous. I must be missing something???

[bitman]

the bridgestone tires on our 2003 nrg are still the same when bought new back in 2003 :o

treads between 4mm and 6mm B)

bitman, is that the NRG that is shown as having 110k miles? If you bought it new and it's still on the same tyres at that mileage, that sounds miraculous. I must be missing something???

yes it is, we are the second owner and tires have 03 year in the side wall stamped. we have all the invoices / receipts from the previous owner and she never bought any tires. only the usual service parts like brake pads, filters etc all done at mr t dealers.

now i have told swmbo to buy a full new set by the end of the year as the tires do look a bit 'old' now. we have repaired one tire as it had a nail in it, but that's all on the tire side.

when i had a renault 25 turbo-d i drove 120k km with michelin tires easily. it's the way you drive a car, do it easy and you save not only on fuel... did give that renault away with 550k km on the odo... and my friend had it for years afterwards till his girl friend crashed it and parked it up side down :ffs:

[Roadwrangler]

Hi,

Nexen's are made by Continental and should be a good budget brand tyre. A local tyre place (with lots of years experience in road and race tyres for both car and bike) has recently recommended a set of Nexens to me for my T180, at £105 a corner fitted for 235/55-18's it seems a bargain compaired to MrT's price of £218.40 a corner to retain the runflats.

Regards Austin..

[Paulus17]

Hi,

Nexen's are made by Continental and should be a good budget brand tyre. A local tyre place (with lots of years experience in road and race tyres for both car and bike) has recently recommended a set of Nexens to me for my T180, at £105 a corner fitted for 235/55-18's it seems a bargain compaired to MrT's price of £218.40 a corner to retain the runflats.

Regards Austin..

Thank you Austin

Well i ordered the two tyres yesterday morning and i now have them in my possesion

So that was great service me thinks :D

Just gotta get em fitted now.