Member Since: 02 Jan 2005
Location: Germany... Not far from both the US and Hard German rock...
Posts: 1089
New kit for my D3...
Hello everybody...
I went to a charity event this week-end. In exchange for a small fee toward a donation for research on certain rare diseases, we got to drive in a field that had been "enhanced" for off-roading fun...
The only problem was that I got stuck once ! And that, due to the fact that the mud was quite sticky and the washing station quite closed, I had to drive home with a lot of vibrations in the steering above 60Km/H.
This morning, enjoying some holiday, I went to a station equipped with some high pressure washing machine and thus was able to remove probably over 10kg of mud from the suspension...
I also realized that at 40.000km my Pirelli P Zero are quite worn out...
Finally, I also realized that I had destroyed the two fixed mud-flaps on the right hand side...
Thus, it will be time to spend some money...
As far as the mud is concerned, and keeping in mind that I want to go to Iceland one of those days, I was wondering about buying a full length underbody shield. But cleaning all that mud made me wonder... Thus first question : what is your thought about those full length underbody shields ? Is mud the reason why Mantec and LR went for something that goes ONLY to the front wheel suspension ??
As far as the tires are concerned, I guess that I will switch to Goodyears MTR. Any cons ? I know the Pros and I have done my homework researching the MTR on this website. I know that I should expect some added road noise but that does not seem like too much to expect...
Now, coming to the mud-flaps, did someone made a "custom made" mud-flap for his vehicle ? I was thinking of something made in soft rubber but fixed on the normal mud-flaps installation...
While waiting for your comments, I'll give you some pictures to ponder...
All this has been done in "slicks"... Georgia On My Mind...
11th Dec 2006 2:34 pm
AndrewS Tarquin of the Desert
Member Since: 06 May 2005
Location: Y...... because I can
Posts: 10438
Member Since: 02 Jan 2005
Location: Germany... Not far from both the US and Hard German rock...
Posts: 1089
Thanks...
I will try to go down that road too for the mudflaps...
After still doing more and more research about the Goodyear MTRs, I am still indecisive... Everybody says that I will get more noise. I can probably live with that.
But where I am not clear is how they handle highways and normal road and city conditions. After all this is what I do most !
As far as keeping a second set of wheels for off-roading is concerned, that is a no-no for me due to lack of space... Georgia On My Mind...
13th Dec 2006 7:19 pm
10forcash
Member Since: 09 Jun 2005
Location: Ubique
Posts: 16534
I thought the same about MT/R's - I now leave them on all the time, handling is just as good as the Pirelli's with no unpleasant suprises on corners (except for the volvo coming the other way ) There is a slight degredation in performance in the wet, but it is slight and you probably wouldn't notice unless you're 'making good progress' Tyre wear doesn't seem excessive either...
13th Dec 2006 8:20 pm
Gurvan
Member Since: 02 Jan 2005
Location: Germany... Not far from both the US and Hard German rock...
Posts: 1089
Thanks for that information 10FC...
My wife is a bit stressed at the idea of such tires, but she'll come around I guess/hope... After all, SWMBO, drives it too ! Georgia On My Mind...
13th Dec 2006 8:49 pm
AndrewS Tarquin of the Desert
Member Since: 06 May 2005
Location: Y...... because I can
Posts: 10438
I have a set of 19" road wheels/tyres and a set of 19" off road wheels with MTR's on. The intention was to swap to the road wheels/tyres when not off roading. But the MTR's are quite acceptable on road and do a lot more miles than the standard road tyre. I have at times pushed the car and the tyres have never let me down.
13th Dec 2006 9:42 pm
CFB
Member Since: 02 Dec 2005
Location: Bradford, West Yorkshire
Posts: 6100
The MTR's do rumble a bit though and I reckon MPG may be a shade down.2020 BMW X1 18d XDrive X-Line Auto
I ran MTRs as the daily tyre on my Discovery2, and had Simex JT2s for off-roading. They take a little bit of getting used to, but the MTR is a great tyre - behaves pretty well on road, and is a great off-road (though not extreme) tyre off-road.
All the best,
SimonD3 - Buckingham Blue, SE, TDV6, 06 model; chipped; underbody armour; Mickey Thompson ATZ 275/65-18 AND MAXXIS Bighorn muddies; rear wheel carrier from 4x4intelligence.com; iPOD aux connection! GME 3200 UHF - aerial mounted on wheel carrier ; LR roof rails/cross bars; Autosafe cargo barrier, Safari Snorkel; Traxide - aux battery; ARB bull bar with Tigerz11 winch; Lightforce 240 XGT driving lights (mitchell bros tow hitch to come)
13th Dec 2006 11:05 pm
Gurvan
Member Since: 02 Jan 2005
Location: Germany... Not far from both the US and Hard German rock...
Posts: 1089
Thanks guys !
All your indications seem to be more optimistic than the ones I get from French fora...
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