Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

A mate of mine has a printing business, so I did the design on Photoshop, and had it printed on vinyl with UV protected inks, and then laminated the vinyl so when washing the car it won't damage or remove the inks over time. Then took it to a local upholstery shop in Alberton that did some work on my lounge suite and had him make the wheel cover up with black vinyl. He put a 10mm foam between my print and his backing vinyl to make the cover sit nicely over the tyre and stop it from showing the tyre tread pattern through to the print over time.

Sadly my dogs (when they were puppies were clearly also Iron Maiden fans) chewed the bottom of that cover, so a had to remake mine, but it really holds up 100% with the laminate over the top of the printed vinyl.

And he made it to suit 33" muddies

Spike wrote: ↑02 Dec 2021 09:02 I have mixed feelings about tyre covers. Have you ever sat inside a canvas tent in the sun? It's extremely hot.

As for "tyre shine/wax/paste/spray etc", I've yet to find one that doesn't have chemicals in it that are bad for tyre rubber. If anybody knows of a product that is actually good for tyre rubber, not just cosmetically, I'm keen to hear about it but I have my doubts it exists

So I'm really undecided on the best option for tyre life. Maybe just change them often and sell the old ones on facebook for an inflated price to recoup outlay. It seems to be popular to do that these days

For what it's worth, I think the spare should be rotated through. You pay a hell of a lot of money for it, and most of our vehicles travel little enough that a set of tires reach the age where they become suspect around the same time they wear out, so I can't in clear conscience sell it on. Thus, may as well use it.

I agree with Peter.

I rotate my spare when I rotate tyres every 10k km.

S P to R R,
R R to R F,
R F to L F,
L F to L R,
L R to S P.

Ideally all 5 tyres should be the same make, tread pattern and roughly the same age. That also gives you at least 20% more life out of the set and you do not after 5 years have to get rid of a virtually unused spare.

Then when it comes to replacement time, I will buy 3 new tyres when they have 2 or 3 mm of tread left, specifically if they are MTRs., two for the rear and a new spare. 10k km later I will buy two more, and fit them on the rear while rotating the three others.

That way all 5 tyres' treads are roughly wearing the same all the time. It is a lot more affordable and economical than replacing 4 new tyres and chucking a "brand new" spare every second time you replace tyres.

The trick is not to buy directional tyres if you rotate as I described above. A lot of people do not like or believe in rotating LH side tyres with RH side tyres, but if you rotate the spare, you have no option. I have never had an issue swopping L and R side tyres. When you use your spare when you get a flat, you do so in any case.....

I will also then keep the best 4 tyres. One goes into the garage/store room in case I need an extra spare and the other three I fit on the trailer and it's spare. Trailer tyres hardly ever wear, they normally just die of old age, so a tyre with 3 mm of tread left us perfect for a trailer. Then trailer tyres also keep relatively "fresh". You do not end up with 15 yo tyres on the trailer.

That is also why I always fit the matching size rims on my trailer as on my tow vehicle. It serves a double purpose, a home for old tow vehicle tyres and an extra spare when towing on long overland trips.