I was talking to my local friendly garage about tyres for the FL2.

He tried to move my thoughts away from General Grabber AT's and the like to the more common brands including the 'Goodyear Wrangler' and 'Continetal Cross Contact'.

His argument was that if I had a puncture or other tyre damage I'd need to be able to get a replacement quickly.

With the advent of online tyre ordering what do you think of his opinion???? 2002 Honda VFR800
2002 Toyota Celica 140 Silver (mid life crisis - again!)
2007 FL2 GS Manual Army Reconnaissance Green + freel2.com sticker
2004 Toyota Celica 140 Black - Gone
2000 Toyota Celica 140 Silver - Gone
1998 Toyota Celica ST Pearl Green - Gone
1996 Nissan Primera 1.6 - Gone
1994 Rover Montego 1.6 Auto - Gone

i thing he may be talking out of his backside most good trye dealers will get the same make of tyre the same day or within 24 hrs may be he makes more money on what he stocks because he gets a better discount from the supplier if you have a spare this should tied you over till he gets the right tyre for you shop round and buy what you want not what he wants to sell you  rainy-city
xs

More than likely he will get a better discount on stocked tyres, he will order in bulk and get a little sweetener for his trouble.
Personally i would shop around and look especially at local mobile guys, they very often can get the tyres you want and decent prices and come to you.

simont wrote:

I was talking to my local friendly garage about tyres for the FL2.

He tried to move my thoughts away from General Grabber AT's and the like to the more common brands

whether or not he likes grabber A/T's he's is going to try and sell you what suits him!
I have run the new Grabber A/T's for nearly a year now and unless BF Goodrich start making A/T tyres in my size i'll be buying grabbers again.

Last edited by D99 on 13th Mar 2012 10:21 pm. Edited 1 time in total

You didn't mention what tyre size you're using but, judging by the photo, it's probably 235/65 R17.

There have been some supply issues in this size recently, so there may be some truth in what he's saying.

However, of much greater importance, these tyres are not the same thing. The Wranglers and Continentals are more road biased (but still highly capable) M+S tyres, while the General Grabber AT's are (fairly obviously) All Terrain tyres which will trade some road ability for unspecific off road capability.

So, really, it entirely depends what you actually need. Only you can answer that one.

Yes - i'm running 235/65/17 tyres.

Really fancy the General Grabber AT's - although I have no plans to go "real" off-roading - but like the look of the GB AT tread patterns (but is that reallt a good reason to buy them!!!)

Still have a few miles to run with my current tyres though.

Don't think the garage stock many tyres - think it's more what their supplier has to hand. 2002 Honda VFR800
2002 Toyota Celica 140 Silver (mid life crisis - again!)
2007 FL2 GS Manual Army Reconnaissance Green + freel2.com sticker
2004 Toyota Celica 140 Black - Gone
2000 Toyota Celica 140 Silver - Gone
1998 Toyota Celica ST Pearl Green - Gone
1996 Nissan Primera 1.6 - Gone
1994 Rover Montego 1.6 Auto - Gone

Even if you are planning on going properly off road, the standard M+S Continental Contacts or Goodyear Wranglers will do extremely well. I know! Infact, all of the Freelander 2's (and Range Rovers and Discos) used by LRE Centres use these standard issue tyres for their off road training.

Unless you are planning to start towing trailers through muddy fields, I would suggest that you're not going to get any benefit with the AT's, though you will get more noise, lower MPG and worse grip in the wet at speed.

Mona Geeza wrote:

simont wrote:

I was talking to my local friendly garage about tyres for the FL2.

He tried to move my thoughts away from General Grabber AT's and the like to the more common brands

As long as hes not trying to get rid of his huge stock of Khum Ho No Roaders and the like on you, you should ok

Nothing wrong with Khumo's, I can highly recomend the AT KL78's as an all terrain/winter tyre, plenty of grip, silent & wareing well, over 11k miles in 3 years of winter driving (take them off for summer) and still looking nearly new .