Freelander 1 Question About Cheap tyres...I mean really cheap

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
F

Fritz

Active Member
Posts
183
Location
Surrey
So usually I run Michelin Latitudes (about £ 90 a wheel) and I need two for the front. Rear are probably 50% worn so don't need replacing just yet but obviously I would prefer to change all of them if I could afford it.

Anyway I've been offered five cheap tyres by a mechanic mate of mine who's having a clear out. When I say cheap I mean really cheap at £ 30 a wheel fitted (he's basically doing them for cost to get rid of them). He's the first to admit that they are a budget brand tyre (Evermax AF7 by Crown Tyres) but they are 107T rated.

What do you think, worth a punt or not because I'm really tempted but then again they're tyres.
 
Do you know about Freelander tyres?
The fact that new are ONLY to be fitted to the rear, unless a full set?
What is your spare?
have you got V deep pockets?
 
If the tyres are all the same make and all new then go for it. I mean....... What could possibly go wrong? :p

LOL, I had cheap Chinese tyres on my MGF and never had a problem with them but some here will probably roast you for
A. Suggesting only replacing the fronts (This genuinely is the worst thing you can do to a Freelander and the main cause of so many having an untimely early death)
B. Even thinking about buying cheap tyres.
 
Why not just get the front 2 replaced with identical Michelin Latitude tyres. Swap the 50% worn Latitudes to the front, fitting the new pair of latitudes to the rear? That's acceptable for the FL1 4X4 system, and won't cause damage .

You'll keep the tyres within the LR spec, and you won't need to worry about cheap tyres giving issues.
 
for £150, go for the 5 new cheap ones, even if you only get 2 years out of them it's about £6 / month
if you change used to front and get 2 new ones for the back in a couple of years you'll have the same dilema
 
My mate works in a tyre depot and said there are no really bad tyres these days
EU dont allow it.
But you get what you pay for when all said and done, plus you aint going rallying in a Freelander
 
baptista said:
for £150, go for the 5 new cheap ones, even if you only get 2 years out of them it's about £6 / month
Click to expand...

Crown Tyres are garbage, so can't be compared to Michelin Latitudes,. Regardless of the cost per month, they're simply not worth having.
 
The difference in performance in my FL1 when I got rid of the cheap Sunny tyres in favour of Cooper tyres was immense, there are enough reviews out there to show the difference in tyres designed and tyres copied.
 
TSR2 said:
The difference in performance in my FL1 when I got rid of the cheap Sunny tyres in favour of Cooper tyres was immense, there are enough reviews out there to show the difference in tyres designed and tyres copied.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Cheap Chinese tyres will be miles behind top brand tyres, and Michelin Latitudes are among the best in the business.
 
Hey thanks guys.

TBH I would infinitely prefer 5 new Latitudes and keep rotating but at £ 450 it's not an option at the moment.

And yes I know new need to go on the rear so the next plan was for the new two to go on the rear and move the existing rear to front.

The spare looks old but un-used but is an Event ML698 so doesn't match any of them in any kind of way other than size (215/65/16) so I was going to keep the least worn front as the spare.

5 new matching tyres sounds like a good move (and cheap in this instance) but I keep getting that buy cheap buy twice phrase popping into my head.

I guess the question is will 5 cheapies last longer than the part worn latitudes.

Decisions, decisions. I think i'll go and have a look at them to see what i think.
 
Fritz said:
TBH I would infinitely prefer 5 new Latitudes and keep rotating but at £ 450 it's not an option at the momen
Click to expand...
There's no need to buy 5 new latitudes, as you have two 1/2 worn ones already.
Fritz said:
And yes I know new need to go on the rear so the next plan was for the new two to go on the rear and move the existing rear to front.
Click to expand...
Buy 2 new latitudes, to match the 1/2 worn rears and fitting the new tyres to the rear and move the 1/2 worn to the front. ;)

Fritz said:
The spare looks old but un-used but is an Event ML698 so doesn't match any of them in any kind of way other than size (215/65/16) so I was going to keep the least worn front as the spare
Click to expand...
You could do that.;)

Fritz said:
5 new matching tyres sounds like a good move (and cheap in this instance) but I keep getting that buy cheap buy twice phrase popping into my head.
Click to expand...
And it's very relevant in this case.
Fritz said:
I guess the question is will 5 cheapies last longer than the part worn latitudes.
Click to expand...
Very unlikely to last longer than the Michelin tyres, which are known for there longevity.
 
Last edited:
I used to have Goodyear Wranglers on mine... until the sods decided not to import the 195/80R15s any more.

After that, and with the thought of the next 'premium brand' leaving me with mismatched tyres as well, I just went 'cheap'. Haven't slid off the road yet.

Having said that, I do have some standards. I didn't go cheap cheap. I got GT Radial Maxmilers - if they're good enough for 'White Van Man'....
 
I had a
set of landsails on mine ,said they were mud and snow.wouldnt go round a corner in snow just went in a straight line.
but I suppose money and preference.have continentals on now much better.
 
No longer needing my BFG AT's, I recently started using Jinyu, fully expecting them to be crap. I must say they are quiet, economical and grip well. No complaints thus far.
 
What size are you running currently.

When times where tough I'd of rather run a decent set of British made remoulds than a set of Chinese cheap crap tyres on a car.

However 4x4 tyres I'd be much more careful compared to a old citroen ax.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/143099178522

Look towards kingpin van tyres for example. Will have a much stiffer side wall than a none commercial tyre, will offer reasonable wear and also value for money.

Yes kingpin are remoulds but remounds have come on massively in last 20 years, I used to do build remouldable van tyres for Michelin until I got laid off.

And even if you only get 10k out of them they will be better than chinese crap that will do tread separation over any long distance at high speed.

Might I add before I had kingpin remoulds on my rover 75 when I got laid off, 12k and where fine as road tyre. But at 12k they where totally done.
 
I have a really simple view on tyres that is, If you have the ability to manufacture a tyre with the complexity of production then your a capable large company employing modern technology not someone making them up out of old cheese in the garden shed or simplified I suspect the big names are behind a lot of the budget operation.Just my view but never had any problems other than faster wear on budget tyres.
 
That's true. But give you an example. I used to do a lot of the tyres for America yellow school buses. You know what the difference between making them rated to yellow bus and UK hgv was, 2 inches of thin thin rubber.

However this rubber went rock rock solid when boiled and is on just about every Michelin lorry tyre on the road in last 10 years.

It took them over 80 million (according to our vreif on the production) getting the right ratio of rubber component and design to change one tyre to another without redesigning the entire tyre.

Madness
 
There are 3 important things to spend money on, on a car. Tyres and brakes and steering. Everything else can degrade quite a bit, without becoming a serious safety issue, with the exception of those 3 items.

I personally wouldn't let my kids in a vehicle if the tyres, brakes or steering were at all suspect.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Aflyingduckling
Hifly Tyres 7.5r16 ?
Replies
4
Views
528
300bhp/ton
300bhp/ton
rob_bell
Freelander 1 Wheel bearings - where is the best place to buy the kits?
Replies
8
Views
1K
rob_bell
rob_bell
lightning
Steel wheels on the new Defender
Replies
6
Views
2K
lightning
lightning
O
Freelander 1 Tyres, coolant, filter, sunroof: Qs about the FL1, please assist!
Replies
3
Views
986
GrumpyGel
GrumpyGel
N
Rear diff issues
Replies
5
Views
777
niko-h
N
Back
Top