Selecting The Right Tyre

Change the tyres on your 4x4 and enjoy a whole new experience.

So what is wrong with the standard tyres on your 4x4 vehicle? Nothing at all is the answer. The manufacturer of your vehicle has worked closely with the tyre manufacturer to ensure the best level of performance and comfort is achieved to appeal to the demands of the average motorist.

The average motorist spends most of their time on the road, so the tyres fitted to a vehicle at the factory are intended to provide a small amount of off-road ability, with the main priorities being stability at speed, good steering and low noise on the road. Some off-road tyres can perform very well on the road but they are by nature slightly noisier and the ride can be less comfortable. This varies according to the specific tyre and the technology used in the tread design.

So these perfectly good road tyres are not the ideal product for those motorists who have more individual needs. This includes owners of ultra high performance vehicles who need the highest levels of grip possible, or 4x4 owners that need to venture off road.

Whether you are venturing off road to enjoy leisurely jaunts across green lanes or scrambling across specific terrain, for work or sport, correct tyre selection suddenly becomes very important and a whole host of new factors need to be considered. Remember that road surfaces are tarmac. Off-road surfaces can be hugely different, from damp fields, peat bogs to chalky ridges.

MAKE SURE YOU GET IT RIGHT

Selecting the wrong sized tyre with an unsuitable tread design can spell danger as well as being costly on your wallet and will reduce tyre performance. For example fitting a mud terrain tyre to your vehicle will give excellent levels of grip in extreme off road conditions, but will cause a massive increase in braking distances and reduce steering responsiveness.

It is not always possible to fit the most appropriate tyre for your needs by using the original tyre size fitted to the vehicle. There are certain proven conversions for 4x4 vehicles that our experienced 4x4 technicians can advise you on. If you need help with tyre selection then the 4-site 4x4 technical team can make selecting the right kind of tyre a painless job. We can also source your chosen tyre and arrange fitting through one of our several hundred independent 4-site 4x4 specialist tyre dealers.

It is strongly recommended that tyres on 4x4 vehicles are used in identical sets of 4, (same size, make, pattern, load index/speed symbol). The vehicle manufacturers’ recommendations should also be followed.