Dunlop AT3G and tire chalk

[Witbobbejaan]

I got the Dunlop AT3Gs I was considering here:

viewtopic.php?p=116912#p116912

I went from 285 to 265 width to save some money. I was surprized by the amount of increase in power to the car.

Off the bat, the tires are deflating nice, and interstingly I have a softer ride at normal pressures over speed bumps, potholes, and gravel roads.

One thing I hated though, is the protective green/blue tire chalk on the white lettering! I've read elsewhere people struggle to get this off, but sweet cheeses it's ridiculous. The shop guy told me it'll wash off "with a bit of water and soap", so I asked him to wash it off while he was fitting the tires. He tried for 5 minutes then gave up. After several weeks and no fading, I tried various soaps, boiling water, brushes, and an eraser . I found paint thinners worked in the end. Yes, I know it's bad for rubber. Still, it took me 1-2 hrs to do 5 tires with thinners (granted by then I had a beer for every swear word I had to keep from uttering). If I ever buy a tire with chalk on again, I'll insist they remove it before I pay.

Cost per tire was R3,835 incl VAT.

dunlop grandtrek AT3G - Copy.jpg (130.09 KiB) Viewed 9411 times

[Dewald]

Good evening Dion.

They are great tyres, I also fitted a set recently, not to my Patrol but to my Navara and it still has the blue stuff on, i washed it a bit and then just left it and thought I will give it a go again with stronger soap when I have time but clearly its not that easy then. I fitted Lt265/65/17's and paid R2200.00 inc each. I got a Price on the 16" ones also and they where R300.00 more per tyre.

When they finished fitting the tyres and I inspected them I saw they fitted only one Lt and the rest were normal 265's when i showed it to them they played dumb or maybe were really clueles. Then they tried to convince me they are the same etc. When i did not want to except that they just wanted to swap the Lt for a normal 265 but i did not want them as I paid for Lt's and thats what I wanted to fit. I ended up spending half the Saturday at the place as they did not have any other Lt's so had to get 3 from another branch. I think they did not expect that I would know the meaning of the codes and index numbers etc, they got a bit fed up with me.

I think because most people don't know all that details they often sell people bakkie tyres or 4x4 tyres but they are actually tyres for a soft roader suv etc. that just looks the part and are not always suitable.

Regards
Dewald

[Witbobbejaan]

Hi Dewald,

Thank you for that comment.

These are 265/75/16.

You know, these are not LT. I asked for LT, and the shop owner told me that there is only one version of the tire and it is basically an LT but not marked as such. I'm going to double check his statement with Dunlop and see what they say.

[Dewald]

Its a pleasure.

Yes i saw they are not Lt's, but they are still very good as their 116T load index is 1250kg.
I think in the 265/70/16 is also a Lt, not every size of them has the normal and Lt version.
These ones we have on with the white leters on the side walls are the latest AT3G's (WLT) they only have a two ply sidewall but its still a strong sidewall tyre.

The original AT3G was the one with the 3ply sidewall, They were not available with white letters, just plain black, they are now called the AT3Gm still 3ply and black only.

Regards
Dewald

[Witbobbejaan]

Yes, I see on Errols Tires online that the 265/70/16 is available in LT, but not the 75s. I just assumed everything had an LT equivalent. But like you said, no. But I mailed sumitomo rubber to be sure.

Errols pricing is consistant with the price difference between your tires and mine, in that the 75s in normal rating are much more expensive than the 70s in LT. Eish.

I had planned to get the 70s in LT but then changed my order last minute on the phone to 75s to retain some advantage in clearance lift. That's when the dealer told me not to worry about the LT story. Hmmm I'll pay more attention next time.

But like you say 116T is not a disaster. We actually have the 3ply sidewall version on our other patrol (fitted 2.5 years ago in R15 size), in LT, and that only has a 109S rating!

Thanks Dewald.

[kyzah]

Fitted a set of 31/10.5r15 of AT3Gm couple weeks back, based on reviews you guys have done. Thank you. 5 tyres @ R2742 per tyre. Not bad for a 3 ply tyre.

[Dewald]

Yes, I see on Errols Tires online that the 265/70/16 is available in LT, but not the 75s. I just assumed everything had an LT equivalent. But like you said, no. But I mailed sumitomo rubber to be sure.

Errols pricing is consistant with the price difference between your tires and mine, in that the 75s in normal rating are much more expensive than the 70s in LT. Eish.

I had planned to get the 70s in LT but then changed my order last minute on the phone to 75s to retain some advantage in clearance lift. That's when the dealer told me not to worry about the LT story. Hmmm I'll pay more attention next time.

But like you say 116T is not a disaster. We actually have the 3ply sidewall version on our other patrol (fitted 2.5 years ago in R15 size), in LT, and that only has a 109S rating!

Thanks Dewald.

Yes its interesting that there are such a price difference between some sizes and ratings.

I agree a bit more clearance is always welcome.

Yes that is another interesting factor. On the 15's the rating doesn't go very high and its on all the brands and sizes. I have Maxxis Trepador's on the Patrol, also Lt and they are 109Q think its only 1050kg.
It seems like 33's and 35's LT's in 15" are mostly between 108 and 113 and 6ply rating.

@ Charles
I personally think these Dunlops are very good and cost a lot less than other big brands. I also haven't heard complaints about them yet.

Regards
Dewald

[Russ Kellermann]

The LT spec is a great tyre and used among MANY of the PH (professional hunters) in the eastern cape.

[NoPressure]

Small world. I fitted AT3G non-white letter LTs 120 load rating for 2900 incl on my bakkie 265/65R17 last week.

Would also state that initial impressions are that they deflate well and road holding feels better than my previous tyre. Decided to ditch the Pirelli Scorpion ATRs after 35k km - they don't like dirt roads. Picture attached was after last weekends trip (Pirelli)

[NoPressure]

I thought I might give some feedback on these tyres after 6months and 8700km, 60/40 tar/dirt and about 35/65 towing/not towing.

Disclaimer: This is my 1st 3ply sidewall on my bakkie, 3rd set on said bakkie overall.

Soft sand (beach, dunes)
When I took them out on the beach the first time I almost got stuck four times on 1.8bar. This was not hectic soft beach sand, the issue came with making 90degree turns. My previous 2ply's (other brands), use to give no problems at 1.8bar.
I started driving them on 1.5bar and have had no issues with getting stuck. Even when towing a trailer through dry riverbeds 1.5bar seems to work reasonably well - taking into account how well I know my car and it's capabilities in different soft sand circumstances.
Deflated them (and trailer) to 1.3bar a couple of weeks ago next to the Kwando and did very very well.

Rocks:
We have done Damaraland and Gamsberg areas that are known to eat tyres. These areas have given us no issues, fully laden or empty. Grip and confidence in the sidewall is growing. The high shoulder does give nice bite on the rocks.
I have unfortunately not had the chance to try them on wet rock, but I am assuming they would perform good for a AT in those circumstances as well.

Tar:
Road handling is great.
Tyre noose is minimally more than my previous less aggressive ATs
Wear seams equal all round and good.
Tyre installs confidence with the feeling of good grip it has

Unsealed roads (start at 1.8bar, driving 4H):
Again, one has this feeling of a tyre that has a good grip on these surfaces. As with most tyres when one hits a soft patch of soft sand with one side and the other is on hard corrugation there is a bit of tail-whip, but it settles very quickly.
The tyre does through rocks on corrugations, but again it flings out mud in muddy terrain which I like.

Mud:
Had only a couple of 100 meters of experience thus far, but they performed well in Nkasa Rupara in mud, not getting excessively clogged.

So overall, I am very happy with the tyre. I have adjusted my "normal" pressures to compliment the tyres abilties.
The only issue I have, that could possibly cause me to not buy this tyre again is the heat build-up at speed (unsealed & tar). I do not know how this will affect their durability and reliability in the long run.

The explanation:
I travel with internal tyre monitors in all my vehicles. Usually with 2ply tyres (various brands) I would normally achieve about ambient plus 25degrees temps inside the tyres. Thus on a 30dgree day, the monitor would read 55degrees Celsius.
With the Dunlop AT3G (non-white lettering) I regularly obtain ambient plus 35degrees and up. That means I regularly see them hitting above 60 degrees. With a slow leak (through the valve's side) I reached ambient plus 45 degrees (78 degrees Celsius). I have read somewhere that you don't want to be going over 90degrees Celsius with a tyre, but information regarding 4x4 tyres are non-existent it seems. I'm sure the stronger sidewall materials could give more friction and thus more heat.

It might be that I am running them too deflated, as the increase in tyre pressure from coast to inland trips also seam to be more than 0.3 than I regularly got with 2plys.