Tyres for the BT

The 4WD Monthly article that Anthony referred to gave the best overall rating to the Bushranger compressor - as I recall. overall performance (which included tests on continuous operation) was signifcantly better than the ARB unit which came 2nd, out of a field of about a dozen or so units. Phil

Thanks Phil ! I was getting paper cuts bad .... flicking pages !! Kept getting side tracked by other articles and a good bottle of red !! [ShirazSmile] Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Anthony , how big a cable size will the Anderson plug accept ? Cracker

I have the BFG long trail fitted to the Toyota and have recently clocked up 100,000 ks on them. When choosing tyres look at the tread wear info on the side. I think the long trail are 340 - which is pretty good. But Brian is correct they are a highway tire. The high performance chewy gum type "boy racer tyres" are 130 - drive out turn around, go back and get new ones ! Cracker

Cracker, The common ones found in Aust are : 50 Amp - terminal wire max diameter is 5.46mm 175Amp - terminal wire max diameter is 10.74mm 350Amp - terminal wire max diameter is 12.90mm You might see them as "SY" Connectors on some shelves. Obviously you can work out cross-sectional area with those diameters and then work out cable loop runs and voltage drop from there. The 175 will shine as the one to use ..it is large though !! Regards Anthony (Bach SAE-MW) Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ... Tow a Bushtracker

Cracker, I might just qualify that the one to use is the 175 .... that was early in your posts with possibly big amps going down a cable ... in your final outcome you might get away with the 50. Most of us do .... I only have a 50 on mine but have a 30amp circuit breaker to limit the current over the length. Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

clisby in south oz make a light industrial 12 V air compresorfor about $800. pumps at about 71 l per minute (unsure at what presure) which is about 3 times the rate of an arb unit.It has a 50% cduty cycle at 50 deg C at 40 psi ie 20 minutes on 20 minutes off. claims it can inflate a 750 X 16 tyre to 25 psi in less than 2 minutes. draws 32 amps at 40 psi. the unit is big and robust with no plastic parts.clisby phone number 08 8341 1999 or u can have a look at one on bigballsoffroad,com. a less expensive option to get hi volume air is to use two cheap compresors in paralel. re resting the bead on tubeless tyres . you can use an overinflated spare wheel to supply a rush of hi presure air to the deflated tyre.a short length of hi presure air hose with apropriate fitings each end is needed for this. works best if the valve is removed from the deflated tyre first.use a bit of lubricant like washing up liqid on the bead to asist the proces. re tyres. i like hi way patern tyres on both van and vehicle. but those of you with f 250 might consider changing to 16.5 inch aloy rims a fit big bf goodrich a/t tyres. these look great but am unsure if they would fit under the gards of a standard f 250. vidas

Anthony........thanks for the connector info - now the all important "where from" thanks for you help P.s I expect to use the Zena external output 200amp alternator with 35 square mm wire so the 350 amp may be the go - especially as I have just learned that the concorde lifline bateries have no limit as to the amount of amps in the bulk charge stage. So the more I can get from the alt - the better / shorter the charge time Cracker

Cracker, Below is a pic of aux batts in F250. That is 35 sq mm cable connecting them to main batts. Also enclosed is a pic of the crimper I have to do batt cables this neat ... after crimping, the ends are sealed with epoxy lined heat shrink. Makes for a very neat job. I use Carroll Terminal "terminals" they are a quality terminal matched to the crimper. The Andersen Plugs ....I get them from a marine supplier ...Whitworths etc. Check around for a good price. Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

"This thread will expand faster than a python eating a small fox puppy. [smile]" Guilty as charged!! How did a tyre - properly spelled tire - jump to pics about batteries? tgintl/jay

Jay, Its called "thread hijacking" and boggers are good at it !!! [smile] And "tire" is what happens to the body after a long bike ride !!! Confirmation is spelling "Austraylin words" improperly because of melted brain lipids. [GlycolipidGrin] Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Hi All, Thanks for the advice about the tyres and compressor. BFG Long Trail sound like the go. Keep on Tinkering Peter

Peter, Sorry about the thread hijack .... some tyre musing to follow ... I dont think you'll have a problem with BFG ..they are fitted to two of my 4x4's one for about 5yrs and 30k one for 4 yrs and 50k. Had a good run with them. The Goodyears on the F250 are excellent as many with effies will back up. Bob has done some serious k's on them with very little or no trouble. As you probably have read no tyre manufacturer other than Goodyear has tyres good enough to match the tyre loading needed for effies. This might have just changed in recent weeks. I'm not sure if BT are still fitting Bridgestones to the vans ..they were fitting BFG but changed just after I purchased mine. You might want to check with them why the change and how are they holding up compared to BFG. The BT stresses a tyre more than a vehicle can .... 3500kg all day long on 4 tyres and no steer axle as we screw them around with this weight on ... I think all the popular brand Light Truck tyres are very good for the money outlaid and looked after and inflated right give good grip and wear for type selected. If I was in the outback more than road I'd go for some tougher Mickey Thompsons or Simex but on road these would wear quick and be noisy. I'd mount these on steel rims ... easier to use beadbreakers etc, marks alloys too much. Tyres are a compromise with 4x4's and BT's ... if I was 90% on road I'd go H/T ..if half dirt half road I'd go A/T and mostly dirt M/T all in LT construction. Tyre manufacturers sometimes have trouble keeping up with rim diameters. The rims are getting larger because brakes need to be larger as the weight of the vehicle climbs. As an example Cruiser, Prado and Lexus have moved to 17 inch rims with A/T and M/T not available for these for some time after the vehicles were released. Hard to build a tyre in this size in an LT that is not too noisy on road or as quiet as a dedicated road tyre. Dont forget a good torque wrench if you want to tighten nuts evenly and to the right compression for the nut seat. Regards Anthony Explore this Great Land ...Do it Easy ...Tow a Bushtracker

Hi All, Just purchased a compressor from CAMPMART after looking at several similar compressors at the Camping and Caravan Show at Southport where prices were about $20.00 dearer than CAMPMART. I am told that it is made at the same factory as the Bushranger compressor. It certainly looks the same. Only the deflater on the hose is different. Even has the same words on the box. Cost was $179.00 verses $380 for the Bushranger. Comes complete with the same carry bag but with 12VOLTGEAR written on the flap. A quick look in side revealed an alloy piston/rod. Head seals are O ring. Ring is PTFE Only used it once to top up a tyre 5 PSI so far. Looks like good value to me. Already put an Anderson plug on it. Keep on Tinkering, Peter

Ok ANthony - I tried Carroll terminals / diamond crimpers etc, without any sucess........where do I get these parts etc Just a ph will be fine. thanks mate, Cracker