[4x4addict]

Kurien from Road and Track Kottayam can source it for you. They have a 7.00x16 and 7.50x16 NDMS. I don't think it is available from MRF or JK easily.

[VEA]

Originally Posted by 4x4addict

Kurien from Road and Track Kottayam can source it for you. They have a 7.00x16 and 7.50x16 NDMS. I don't think it is available from MRF or JK easily.

Do you have his contact details? if so, please send me a pm. thanks

[khan_sultan]

These days 4x4 tyres from Indonesian/Malaysian and east asian companies are available in the market and at times they are priced some 50% less then the 'renowned' brands.

Some of the brands available are: GT, Forecum, Apollo, Silverstone, Dominator etc. The pattern of these tyres is almost always smililar to other renowned A/T or M/T tyres. for example, the GT Radial M/T tyre, Forecum M/T tyres are very similar to BFG M/T pattern or even MAXXIS Big Horn pattern.

Can we have a compilation of which such east asian tyres are available, their sizes, where to buy from, what price, feedback from people who have them on their 4x4's..

That will help lots of people here who might be thinking of buying such tyres.

I am looking for aggressive M/T pattern in 31" or 33" size at a BUDGET price (~4K - 4.5K MAX /Tyre).

[vishwaschettri]

A few months earlier i met a common friend who works in R&D department of a tire manufacturing company. He was complaining how his trade has been doubly affected by recession as well as invasion by Chinese and malaysian tires. How the govt. was not reducing excise that can help them compete with these foreign players.
I suggested tapping niche users and gave example of us off roaders buying 11k a piece of mudzillas since the good old NDMS is not available in 7.50-16. I explained how there is a market for decenly priced MT and AT tires.
One thing led to other and he took a detailed account of my need from an off road tire. In the end he remarked that they used to make front tires for 4x4 tractors in R1 tread in 7.50-16 size (R1 is the universal trade term for tractors rear tire tread as I learnt later).
These tires he said might fit my need and they still have the dies for this tire somewhere with them. Since they are anyway not manufacturing to full capacity these days he promised to get a set of 5 made for me some day. We all cheered and toasted to it and I forgot it as a drunk guys promise.

Fast forward three days back, i'm sitting with this heap of tires in front of me and wondering what on earth to do with them. Normally I would have never bought such tires and it was just a drunk and stupid discussion. But since this guy got them specially made for me I couldn't refuse and coughed up the money.
I tried selling them to a few tire dealers I know but none of them had even heard or seen these tires let alone buy them. And these guys have been in tire business for decades.
Finally to save my investment I took the bite and got them installed in my jeep today.

-ves
- ride has gone from bad to worse
- Speed rating?? Duh!!
- One can mildly feel the khatar khatar of the grooves.
- they tend to dig into sand and get stuck
- Quality is not over the moon. Just about acceptable.

+ves
- awesome grip in slush as expected. They just dig in and make mince meat of everything.
- steering has become lighter.
- these are 8 ply agricultural tires meant to take a lot of side wall abuse.
- grip is better than my worn out sand grips.
- Look killer mounted on jeep.

On the whole these tires have performed better than I expected. But than my expectations with them were really low. Cant wait for the next OTR to have others comments on it. Till then it's khatar khatar all the way.

cheers
vishwas

p.s. sorry for the lengthy post. Few pics are attached.

[Samurai]

Oh gowd, how's the braking, these tyres may not be street legal. Sand need flotation and goes best with fully bald tyres.

[harjeev]

Vishwa
post some pictures with the tyres mounted on the jeep!!!
And how much did you pay for these tyres???

[randeep04]

Originally Posted by vishwaschettri

In the end he remarked that they used to make front tires for 4x4 tractors in R1 tread in 7.50-16 size (R1 is the universal trade term for tractors rear tire tread as I learnt later).
These tires he said might fit my need and they still have the dies for this tire somewhere with them. Since they are anyway not manufacturing to full capacity these days he promised to get a set of 5 made for me some day. We all cheered and toasted to it and I forgot it as a drunk guys promise.

Hi Vishwas,

Brutus has mentioned in his earlier post of an Indian Manufacturer of the same R1 tyres, Speedways Tyres in Jalandhar, Punjab. These tyres are available in Punjab and I have seen the same on many tractors there.

SPEEDWAYS TYRES

One thing is for sure your Jeep's going to be one of a kind. With these tyres on you would be the King of slush. Looking forward to seeing you at the next OTR.

Cheers !!!!!!!!!!!

Randeep

[kittigadu]

aah,
this is the exact setup i was planning for my jeep for the slush otr's in and around coorg.

my plan was to buy a set of rims for these and then take them to the otr and change them there.

+ves
- awesome grip in slush as expected. They just dig in and make mince meat of everything.
- steering has become lighter.
- these are 8 ply agricultural tires meant to take a lot of side wall abuse.
- grip is better than my worn out sand grips.
- Look killer mounted on jeep.

On the whole these tires have performed better than I expected. But than my expectations with them were really low. Cant wait for the next OTR to have others comments on it. Till then it's khatar khatar all the way.

vishwas, please some pictures of the jeep with all four of them on.
Please let me know how much you paid for each.

Regards,
Krishna.

[IronWolf]

Originally Posted by vishwaschettri

-ves
- ride has gone from bad to worse
- Speed rating?? Duh!!
- One can mildly feel the khatar khatar of the grooves.
- they tend to dig into sand and get stuck
- Quality is not over the moon. Just about acceptable.

+ves
- awesome grip in slush as expected. They just dig in and make mince meat of everything.
- steering has become lighter.
- these are 8 ply agricultural tires meant to take a lot of side wall abuse.
- grip is better than my worn out sand grips.
- Look killer mounted on jeep.

p.s. sorry for the lengthy post. Few pics are attached.

Vishwa. Those tires should look killer on a jeep. How about some pics of it when you tried those on?

This Tractor thread is used mainly for the slush and for ploughing our slushy fields.

All your +ves and -ves make perfect sense. However I dont think this could be the only tire set one uses on a jeep. Unless they live in a very slushy and wet area. Or plan to use their jeep for ploughing.

I am sure, if the price is right, some of our eminent 4x4 gurus, would not mind picking up the extra set just for those slushy days.

[Gypsy-Boy]

Originally Posted by IronWolf

Vishwa. Those tires should look killer on a jeep. How about some pics of it when you tried those on?

This Tractor thread is used mainly for the slush and for ploughing our slushy fields.

All your +ves and -ves make perfect sense. However I dont think this could be the only tire set one uses on a jeep. Unless they live in a very slushy and wet area. Or plan to use their jeep for ploughing.

I am sure, if the price is right, some of our eminent 4x4 gurus, would not mind picking up the extra set just for those slushy days.

I agree with you Ironwolf.
If the price is right, and subject to availability, I am sure some Gypsy owners too would look at these tyres on a spare set of rims
Cheers
GB

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by randeep04

Brutus has mentioned in his earlier post of an Indian Manufacturer of the same R1 tyres, Speedways Tyres in Jalandhar, Punjab. These tyres are available in Punjab and I have seen the same on many tractors there.

I wasn't talking about these tires, buddy, though you are right that they do make these too. I was talking about the normal 07.00x16 NDMS military tires, like the ones used on the Jonga, or one size up from the 06.00x16 NDMS CJ3B tires.

[vishwaschettri]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Oh gowd, how's the braking, these tyres may not be street legal. Sand need flotation and goes best with fully bald tyres.

Street legal?? You must be kidding me. Here in India we have tractors and JCB's running around on roads with registration "legally" though in most countries these are "farm only" vehicles. These tires are definitely road legal.
Braking is surprisingly good and better than NDMS and sandgrips. I guess this is because NDMS is practically slick at the center where as these have break in tread. Haven't tried braking on wet though.
btw I thought rule 11 was about drinking and driving. dint knew it applied to drinking and talking about driving as well. Will watch out in future.

Originally Posted by harjeev

Vishwa
post some pictures with the tyres mounted on the jeep!!!
And how much did you pay for these tyres???

Price is the best part. my friend told me ashen faced that these turned out to be much expensive than he had anticipated. On hearing the price I couldnt suppress a smile. Maybe they are expensive by agriculture tire standards but for jeep tires they are a loot. I paid Rs 17300 total for a set of 5 tires. Tubes I bought separately. Compared to mudzillas which were the other tires I had in mind it's almost a saving of 33k. I can buy a new set of rims and road tires in this!!

Originally Posted by randeep04

Hi Vishwas,

Brutus has mentioned in his earlier post of an Indian Manufacturer of the same R1 tyres, Speedways Tyres in Jalandhar, Punjab. These tyres are available in Punjab and I have seen the same on many tractors there.

SPEEDWAYS TYRES

One thing is for sure your Jeep's going to be one of a kind. With these tyres on you would be the King of slush. Looking forward to seeing you at the next OTR.

Cheers !!!!!!!!!!!

Randeep

Dunno about me being king of slush but your ride is sure going to be big daddy of all pimped up rides. Looking forward to the final product.

Originally Posted by kittigadu

aah,
this is the exact setup i was planning for my jeep for the slush otr's in and around coorg.

my plan was to buy a set of rims for these and then take them to the otr and change them there.

vishwas, please some pictures of the jeep with all four of them on.
Please let me know how much you paid for each.

Regards,
Krishna.

Thats the idea. Only problem is I invested in offroad set first. On road will have to wait a few months.

Originally Posted by IronWolf

Vishwa. Those tires should look killer on a jeep. How about some pics of it when you tried those on?

This Tractor thread is used mainly for the slush and for ploughing our slushy fields.

All your +ves and -ves make perfect sense. However I dont think this could be the only tire set one uses on a jeep. Unless they live in a very slushy and wet area. Or plan to use their jeep for ploughing.

I am sure, if the price is right, some of our eminent 4x4 gurus, would not mind picking up the extra set just for those slushy days.

sorry buddy dont have access to a camera. Will post pics soon.

Btw I lowered the tire pressure to 25 and ride is better now. Though handling's gone worse but than it never use to handle anyways so no sweat there.

cheers
vishwas

[vishwaschettri]

Hi everyone,
we had an NIOC OTR in badshahpur in gurgaon on sunday where I got to comprehensively test the tires. The OTR was a small one with 7-8 vehicles there.
It had five stages, the first highway driving of 50 kms, then second jungle/dirt trail, third rocky terrain, fourth sand dunes and fifth deep sticky slush. Below is a report of each stage.

Highway
Bad is the word. Though I reduced the pressure to 25 but still there was this mild khatar-khatar felt. Road noise above 60 is unbelievable. Sounds like a jet taking off. Braking on dry is adequate, better than sandgrips. Took the vehicle upto 120kmph. There is a tendency to wander at high speeds due to these sharp lugs. But I dont intend to make land-speed record on it anyway. Normally I stick to 60-70 on my jeep and these were just adequate for that.
5/10

Jungle/dirt trail
Here it was a 4x2 affair and can be done in a soft roader as well. Only observation here was that these tires have a tendency to follow the trail in comparison to sandgrips. One has to hold the steering tight else the vehicle turns to the direction of ruts/depressions.
8/10

Rocky terrain
Here they performed fine with 8 ply agricultural tires taking all the abuse. I purposely drove it on 4x2 and spun the rear tires mercilessly on sharp rocks. On closer inspection today found a few corners of lugs chipped off but no serious damage.
9/10

Sand dunes
Sand dunes were a whole new dimension. Earlier my sandgrips use to effortlessly float over sand but these tires tend to dig in and put a lot of load on engine. But they hold good in shallow sand. Where others had to fly and rev through, I could just crawl my way in second low. In deep sand I could fly through like rest. Only problem was taking a fast start up. Then the vehicle would dig in and get bogged down. Like when I lost momentum on a upward slope these just dug in I got stuck. But overall I would rate 8/10 on sand. Sandgrips would get 10/10 closely followed by bullets.
8/10

Slush
i have to apologise to everyone here as I provided you wrong information when i said in my earlier post that these tires are awesome on slush. I had tried them in a little slush near my place and that does not even comes into picture when compared to NIOC OTR slush. Sorry mates these tires were not awesome on slush......
They were awesomely awesome!! These are the tires to be had on slush. Period. We had another Cj3b with mudzillas with a very capable and enthusiastic young driver but these tires beat the crap out of them mudzillas. One of the mods called them godzilla tires and I like the name. I tried deeper and deeper every time and these tires came up trumps. Only when my vehicle was soo deep into slush that it was sitting on its chassis that I got stuck. And boy was I stuck.It took 2 550 towing in a row, 2 broken towing straps and one bumper almost ripped off my jeep to get me out. Below are a few pics.More pics can be found on NIOC yahoo group.
12/10

And when I think that these cost less than 1/3rd the cost of mudzillas I cannot stop smiling.

cheers
vishwas

[Samurai]

Very nice report on the tractor tyres. I am impressed with the report, but not with the tyres. It did exactly what a tractor tyre should do.

Originally Posted by vishwaschettri

And when I think that these cost less than 1/3rd the cost of mudzillas I cannot stop smiling.

Originally Posted by vishwaschettri

2 broken towing straps and one bumper almost ripped off my jeep to get me out.

Now you can deduct the cost of 2 broken straps and cost to fix the bumper from the saving you made.

Whatever advantage you get in slush, the ride quality on road will negate it. Considering that most of us have to drive a lot on road to reach the offroad terrain, this is a not a practical option unless you are willing to carry second pair of tyres just for offroad.

[ex670c]

Originally Posted by vishwaschettri

Slush
i have to apologise to everyone here as I provided you wrong information when i said in my earlier post that these tires are awesome on slush. I had tried them in a little slush near my place and that does not even comes into picture when compared to NIOC OTR slush. Sorry mates these tires were not awesome on slush......
They were awesomely awesome!! These are the tires to be had on slush. Period. We had another Cj3b with mudzillas with a very capable and enthusiastic young driver but these tires beat the crap out of them mudzillas. One of the mods called them godzilla tires and I like the name. I tried deeper and deeper every time and these tires came up trumps. Only when my vehicle was soo deep into slush that it was sitting on its chassis that I got stuck. And boy was I stuck.It took 2 550 towing in a row, 2 broken towing straps and one bumper almost ripped off my jeep to get me out. Below are a few pics.More pics can be found on NIOC yahoo group.
12/10

And when I think that these cost less than 1/3rd the cost of mudzillas I cannot stop smiling.

Hi Vishwas,

I doff my hat to thee!!!! This is a brilliant innovation.

But please, be extra careful with them, as the provide very high traction, hence more strain on the axles and steering system, and as you have seen dig in easily.

Regards,

Arka

PS - Go easy on the OTRs, you can very easily rip up the trails/obstacles.