Choosing 4WD tyres is very difficult. There are so many parameters that you want to maximise that it was very hard to decide on the best compromise. On bitumen roads I want a quiet ride, good cornering and stopping ability in both wet or dry weather conditions.

I also want good tracking to avoid driving fatigue for highway driving and good balance to avoid any vibration. Off road the requirements are very different where I want an open tread for good self cleaning properties in mud, resistance to punctures with a heavy duty construction and plenty of all-round grip. In all cases I want my tyres to be as low cost as possible and to last as long as possible before needing replacement.

Unfortunately many of these requirements are contradictory. Big open treads that are great in the mud tend to be noisy on the bitumen. Hard compounds that last a long time tend to have worse wet weather cornering and stopping ability. Basically good on-road tyres tend to be poor performers off road and vice versa.

Types of 4WD tyres

So when it came time to choose my tyres I had to decide which of these features was most important. I use the vehicle 90% of the time for driving to work or driving the family around town on weekends.

Even driving to a camping location or where a 4wd track begins is usually highway driving so on-road safety, performance and comfort are the most important features. The Pajero has a reputation of suffering a little from increased road noise. I believe this is because it does not have a separate chassis so there is less padding between the suspension and the body of the vehicle.

Because of this choosing a low-noise tyre is even more important than usual as any noise will be noticed even more. When I am off road most of the terrain I encounter is beach sand or gravel track. With all this considered I decided that an All Terrain type of tyre was the best choice with its bias toward on-road conditions but still with better off-road performance than a normal road tyre.

Brands of 4WD tyres

The next question is which brand of all terrain tyre? Some of the brands that claim to have a harder compound seem to have reviews that suggest that when they get a little older their grip levels can drop significantly for bitumen driving.

In my opinion I would rather my tyres wore out a little quicker but always gripped well, its not worth saving a little bit of money for the sake of safety. I also wanted to buy a tyre exactly the same size as the standard tyres.

This is because I don’t want any effect on the speedometer accuracy or performance of the traction and stability control systems. A different size tyre may or may not effect these however I just don’t want the hassle of trying to fix it if it does. These points ruled out a lot of tyres making the decision a little easier.

So in the end after much debate I decided to give the Pro Comp range a try. Pro Comp had quite a few great reviews showing that the whole range has an excellent mix of on-road performance while still maintaining top off-road ability. I have had them for quite a while now and they have definitely lived up to expectations.

The biggest thing I have learned about choosing four wheel drive tyres is this: choose what suits YOU. Don’t fall for the hype that says your HAVE to have a light truck, 35 inch, mud terrain that will last 10 years. Look at how you use your vehicle and buy what makes sense for you.

Making tyres last longer

The last thing I have to say is: rotate your tyres! My previous tyres would have lasted a lot longer if I had have rotated them every 5000km or so. Instead, at about 15000km they developed a horrible whirring sound that really sounded like a blown diff or worn wheel bearings.

It took a while to work out it was just the tyres, after much concern. To rotate your tyres move the rear tyres straight to the front keeping them on the same sides they were on. Move the front tyres to the rear but swap sides so that they are actually rotating in the opposite direction.

In a full cycle of rotation this will mean that every corner of every tread block will get the same wear and this will hopefully reduce uneven wear that causes excessive noise.

The other thing I would say is to look out for tyres designed to avoid humming noise by having variable block sizes as these can develop this pulsating whiring noise that in my opinion is worse.

4 wheel drive vehicles and SUV’s usually arrive equipped with general road tyres, or at least a combination on road and general off road tyre. The tyres that your 4×4 came with are not necessarily the best ones for the applications that you want to use it for.

Any time you want to have a chat about the best 4WD Tyres for your vehicle, just call us or drop in to our showroom . . . the coffee’s on us!