[GoSlow]

The Maxxis Trepador look great!

I was planning to upgrade the tyres of my gypsy as well as I have GoodYear AT 215/75/R15s but was not sure what to go for.

The senior guys at the NIOC always tell you to go for the NDMS type tyres but the look skinny and quite ugly... though I agree that they are more practical in off road events and the jeeps with those tyres perform much better than the ones with radials.

I am quite confused as I use my gypsy on road as well and dont want to slide on the tarmac in the rains. Will wait for an update on your new acquisition.

Cheers

[dwaraka]

Originally Posted by GoSlow

The Maxxis Trepador look great!

I was planning to upgrade the tyres of my gypsy as well as I have GoodYear AT 215/75/R15s but was not sure what to go for.

The senior guys at the NIOC always tell you to go for the NDMS type tyres but the look skinny and quite ugly... though I agree that they are more practical in off road events and the jeeps with those tyres perform much better than the ones with radials.

I am quite confused as I use my gypsy on road as well and dont want to slide on the tarmac in the rains. Will wait for an update on your new acquisition.

Cheers

GoSlow,

Gypsy behaves well with AT/R. No need to change back to NDMS type. AT/R gives good grip on rocks, sand, slush and on highways too.

Do not change the grade

Dwarak

[khan_sultan]

A quick update on the maxxis after driving ~200 kms in the city:

• Can't feel any kind of noise from the tyres. Have driven only in the city with max speed of 60-70 so can't say much, but if most of the driving is in the city then road noise is for sure not audible there.

• Ride is for sure more bumpy than before. Even the smallest pothole & smallest speed breaker is felt and the tyres do not cushion those. However, on good roads the ride is perfectly ok.

• The braking is spot on -- even hard & emergency braking is 100% spot on

• The grip on tarmac is spot on.

Will be doing approx ~1000 kms of highway driving this weekend so would update after that.

Originally Posted by GoSlow

...I was planning to upgrade the tyres of my gypsy as well as I have GoodYear AT 215/75/R15s but was not sure what to go for. ...

Geo's are one of the best A/T (after Michellin) you can have for your Gypsy. You don't need anything else. If, I had not got maxxxis in 235 size, I would have put in the Geo's.

Cheers,

[Vid6639]

Maybe try lowering the tyre pressure to improve ride in city. Since the tyre size is different you may try a lower pressure and see if it helps.

[GoSlow]

@ Dwarka , Khan_Sultan - thanks for yur advice guys. Will stick to what I have!

[Walterdee]

Originally Posted by DesertKing

PS :: Never share your address to any of the BHPian as the next day morning you may find your Gypsy stolen.

DesertKing, get thee behind me! If Khan-Saheb's Gypsy is going to get stolen, I am first in line !!

Khan-Saheb, sorry to bring it up again, but your chassis is riding that high simply because of the 235 tyres?

Awesome looks man, why do you need front bumpers.

[Samurai]

Can we have the review on this tyre after the Munnar event...

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by Walterdee

... sorry to bring it up again, but your chassis is riding that high simply because of the 235 tyres?..

No. I have an extra leaf in the front suspension setup. That for sure makes it a bit higher in the front + the tyres and the absence of the bumper makes it 'appear' even more higher.

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Can we have the review on this tyre after the Munnar event...

Here is the review:

OTR Trail:
Worth every penny on the trail They were surefooted at EACH part of the trail. Dwarak/Shams were in the Jammy's jeep n front of me and they also can pitch in with their observations. NOT once did I encounter slippage or loss of traction on ANY kind of surface. (I I did notice tyre slips/loss of traction in jeep in front of me with Michellin A/T tyres -- jammys jeep)

Am delighted that these tyres do compliment the 'lockers' that I have put very well.
We did not encounter heavy slush/mud so still need to check out in 'coorg rains' about traction there.

NOTE: This is based on some 60-70 kms of OTR trail driving

Highway/Tarmac Driving:
On NH kind of Highway roads, the ride quality is just like H/T tyres and no issues with Grip/Braking, NO road noise, etc etc. I did speeds of 110+ and had no issues with braking/handling etc.

On SH type of roads the ride quality is a good, no noise, but with a little bumpy ride.

On not so good roads, the ride quality is not so good. One can feel all the undulations at speeds of 60+

On bad roads, the ride is very bad.

NOTE: I drove some 1000 kms on road during the munnar event

Other Aspects:
The Mud terrain tread needs to be cared for and one can't abuse the tyres. I realized that when in Bangalore city, under the under construction elevated e-city road I made a mistake and ended up in cutting few treads of my left front tyre. It was my mistake and I was driving at 80+ speeds and literally drove at an angle from the road onto the side road which was atleast 7-8 inches above the road I was traveling on.


Cheers,

[DirtyDan]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Highway/Tarmac Driving:
On NH kind of Highway roads, the ride quality is just like H/T tyres and no issues with Grip/Braking, NO road noise, etc etc.

Other Aspects:
The Mud terrain tread needs to be cared for and one can't abuse the tyres.

Let me warn you. The tyres have extra tread. This will make them hard to keep in balance. This and the wear you will get LATER after many kilometers will make them very noisy by the time you are half way thru the life of the tyre. Maybe sooner. You will also get excessive wear and rounding of the leading edges of the lugs with hwy usage. This will cut down their effectness off road eventually. Hopefully the light weight of the Gypsy will keep the wear down to where you get many useful and enjoyable Kilometers out of them. Suggest you try hard to keep them in balance for as long as possible.

I drove many, many hwy miles in North America. Because I was in the snow belts I tried M/Ts in the winter. But when I had to drive a lot of hwy miles and it did not snow so much, I just flat tore up the M/Ts with hwy wear. And I took care of them, too.

Good luck with them!

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

... Right now it is set in the direction of the right hand side tyres -- as that's the side I have had punctures in past( so going by experience).

Let's see if my luck holds or not. Also, as these are tubeless, so can drive for some time in emergency also.

As luck & Murphy's law would have it, I have a puncture on these new Maxxis tyres and that too on the Rear LHS. The spare tyre I had got set for the RHS direction .

The nail is size of a 'coat hanger' and managed to wedge itself between the extra tread and the tyre base. Will have to get it repaired now.

Originally Posted by DirtyDan

Let me warn you. The tyres have extra tread....
Hopefully the light weight of the Gypsy will keep the wear down to where you get many useful and enjoyable Kilometers out of them. Suggest you try hard to keep them in balance for as long as possible.

..

DD, I would agree on most parts here. These tyres have to be taken care of and I already mentioned 1 mistake I made and me breaking some of the 'extra tread' on the front RHS tyre.

On the wear part, Even if these tyres last me 3-4 years, I am happy. In the last 3 years I have driven a total of ~15K kms -- both on/off road. So even considering ~20 - 25K kms over next 3-4 years, I am very happy if these tyres last that much time.

Also am hoping that the light weight of the Gypsy will help in reducing tyre wear.

Cheers,

[LKCRUISERS]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

No. I have an extra leaf in the front suspension setup. That for sure makes it a bit higher in the front + the tyres and the absence of the bumper makes it 'appear' even more higher.

Coil Conversion, will do a large dose of steroids for your Gypsy. By the way what is an OTR ??

Cheers.

[badboyscad]

Originally Posted by LKCRUISERS

By the way what is an OTR ??

OTR = Off The Road

[khan_sultan]

An update on the tyres (~1800 KMs of driving):

• The wear/tear, if driven carefully, has been minimal. There is no evidence of road noise as yet.

• At one place I drove at speed of ~80 from main road to service road and went over a concrete seperator. That damaged quite a few of my FR tyre lugs

• Because of the soft compound, be ready for some minor damage to lugs on sharp rocky surfaces. However, if driven very slowly then this should not happen.

Finally, even though they are mud terrain tyres, even they can get stuck. Here is my Gypsy stuck. The front/rear diff was sitting in mud -- the tyres had dug in so deep.

[Rudra Sen]

That's pretty deep Khan! So who pulled it out?