SIMEX tires
- Thread starter Winky
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TSL radials are not an equivalent tire to the bias. How they work will depend on terrain, and I don't know if they have the same degree of puncture and cut resistance as the bias ply. I do know that on slippery surfaces, like greasy trails, the radial TSL's skip over terrain with little traction, where the bias will dig. Without science to back me up, I think this has to do with carcass compliance. The radial is more compliant and the tread offers less resistance to deflection from terrain. Tread is very similar, and so I think is the rubber, so I am left to think it is the carcass design. On road they have better manners. Off road they don't perform the way the bias will.
I have seen and heard better reviews of the Irok if you want to go radial.
I have seen and heard better reviews of the Irok if you want to go radial.
Hilux_Max
Adventurer
alot of the competition trucks use simex tyres over here in OZ. competitions such as winch challenges and cross country hilly terrain type of comps. They work well, are pretty bloody tuff and have heaps of traction.
madizell, I dont know how you think they do not grip well in mud?
They use the simex in the Malaysian rainforest challenge competition, and that is comletely full of deep gooey mud.
that being said, the Australian Tuff Truck competition competitors prefer to use various types of Swampers and TSL type tyres.
Its horses for courses, depending on what your doing.
The guys I know that have the simex centipedes fitted to their trucks all say that it throws the steering left to right all over the place when driving on bitumen roads.
yes, to the point of being dangerous, which is why many blokes run a normal mud terrain for daily use, and then change to a second set of simex when going out to a trail on the weekend.
The price is very steep here for the simex, I cant understand why, because they are cheap as chips in malaysia....someones making a big mark up profit on the prices.
swamper's are cheaper here in OZ than simex.
madizell, I dont know how you think they do not grip well in mud?
They use the simex in the Malaysian rainforest challenge competition, and that is comletely full of deep gooey mud.
that being said, the Australian Tuff Truck competition competitors prefer to use various types of Swampers and TSL type tyres.
Its horses for courses, depending on what your doing.
The guys I know that have the simex centipedes fitted to their trucks all say that it throws the steering left to right all over the place when driving on bitumen roads.
yes, to the point of being dangerous, which is why many blokes run a normal mud terrain for daily use, and then change to a second set of simex when going out to a trail on the weekend.
The price is very steep here for the simex, I cant understand why, because they are cheap as chips in malaysia....someones making a big mark up profit on the prices.
swamper's are cheaper here in OZ than simex.
Hilux_Max said:
If the price of Swampers is now below Simex in Australia, then times have surely changed in the past 5 years. That would pretty much make up my mind if I were choosing a mud tire.
If Simex are not stable on the road, and I assume that they are not, then consider the Swamper on the road. While not a road tire per se, I have driven mine up to 95mph with total stability. Even my Boggers have been up to 95 without steering issues. I don't recommend the practice, but as it is a racing vehicle, I needed to know what would happen if I did, and how it would handle at that end of the spectrum.
My opinion regarding Simex as a mud tire is by side by side comparison. I have driven against those who use them, and we always got better traction in mud. We also got far better traction in sand. At Denian, we climbed the sand hill, which that year was a straight shot up 110 or so meters of sandstone sand at about 40 degrees of slope, maybe a bit more, with no run up at the bottom. Others sunk in the sand, some could not even winch to the top due to burying their tires. We drove to the top, for the record in 14 seconds, and for fun, in 9.2 seconds. The first time, for the record, we actually were pulling so hard at the top the front tires left the ground and I could not turn into the stop box, which cost us the extra 5 seconds backing up and pulling in. No one else that I ever saw got that kind of traction out of a Centipede. Maybe I missed it.
I have seen the Malaysian Rainforest Challenge in video, have driven against lots of guys who have raced there, and our team mate in 2003 came 10th overall in 2000 in the Rainforest Challenge. So, we do have some exposure to the race and the terrain. For that terrain, if I had to use a Simex, I would choose the old style Jungle Trekker, which is a superior tire in mud to the Centipede. If I could use any tire I wanted, I would probably use custom cut Boggers in Malaysia, and failing that, TSL's cut or not.
Anyway, I say that Centipedes don't perform as well as TSL's in mud because I have watched time after time, three years in a row, while guys with Centipedes struggled in mud I knew I could drive, and did drive on more than one occasion, with a lot less trouble. It's a matter of personal experience. I know a lot of folks use the Centipedes to compete. Some also use Baja Claws. Doesn't make the Claw a good mud tire.
laurie-the-lorry
Adventurer
I was lucky enough to get the second set of ET two's available in the UK a few years back.
My opinion is that they are hands down a fabulous mud tyre, And look "The dog's Bollocks"
Here they are mounted to my Nissan GR Patrol axles, in the office! And they still look sweet!
My opinion is that they are hands down a fabulous mud tyre, And look "The dog's Bollocks"
Here they are mounted to my Nissan GR Patrol axles, in the office! And they still look sweet!
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laurie-the-lorry
Adventurer
I would add that the axles and tyres in this instance where built up to hang on the bottom of my Tomcat Bowler, (landrover derivative).
This vehicle whilst it was road legal was built as an extreme challenge truck. And not your expedition or daily driver machine.
Horses for corses
This vehicle whilst it was road legal was built as an extreme challenge truck. And not your expedition or daily driver machine.
Horses for corses
In mud, the only part of the ET tire that will be pulling you is the outer lugs. The inner tread is essentially a street or all terrain tread, similar to a trials motorcycle tire. It will pack with mud and offer little traction. I used to have a set of Goodyear AT's and later Michelin AT's that had an almost identical tread overall to that of the center section of the Centipede. Fine on the road, no better than fair in dirt, and hopeless in mud. I also raced motorcycles for years, and can attest to the difference in traction between a block tread trials tire and a void tread motocross tire.
TSL's by contrast to the ET have a large void center section that diverts mud away from the center, and except that the outer lugs are bi-directional, the outer section of the TSL and the Centipede are similar. Because the TSL is a displacement tire in its full tread width and the Centipede is not, one might expect a bit more performance in mud out of the TSL. That has been my experience.
If the directional lug is important, try the Irok bias ply. It has a similar tread to the TSL, perhaps a bit more aggressive in its slip angles, more like the LTB, and the lugs are directional.
The sidewalls in your photo appear to have more bulge than the older style Centipede. I would think that a good thing.
TSL's by contrast to the ET have a large void center section that diverts mud away from the center, and except that the outer lugs are bi-directional, the outer section of the TSL and the Centipede are similar. Because the TSL is a displacement tire in its full tread width and the Centipede is not, one might expect a bit more performance in mud out of the TSL. That has been my experience.
If the directional lug is important, try the Irok bias ply. It has a similar tread to the TSL, perhaps a bit more aggressive in its slip angles, more like the LTB, and the lugs are directional.
The sidewalls in your photo appear to have more bulge than the older style Centipede. I would think that a good thing.
mauricio_28
Adventurer
They are not uncommon here in Indonesia, which has more Malaysian-type mud and terrain than Malaysia. Just two days ago, I stumbled upon a Land Rover restoration garage in West Java. Many Landies there had Simex on them. As cool as they look, I'd never install a pair on my rig. Off the muck and away from competition, they are simply not a practical tire.
4Rescue
Expedition Leader
Used both Tyres and frankly the Simex's ARE all they're cracked up to be and more... Frankly the TSL can't hold a candle to them IME. Personaly I hated my TSL's and sold them after a mere 3 months. Yeah they've got big open center lugs but that does you ver littel good when you're floating in soup. The Simex's by comparision clean out well and with all the side bite lugs they claw like nothing else (Except the Bogger's) The only Tyre I can think of that can is the Bogger, and they're not nearly as streetable as the Simex. I think from your description that you're thinking of the Thornturds, and let me assure you that the Simexes are nothing like those pieces of garbage. Honestly aside from a Bogger and the Simex, the old BFG MT's are about as good an overall tyre as it gets...madizell said:
The Simex's RULE in the nasty though, I just can't express enough how massivly great they are. Normaly you learn to think you're going to get stuck in certain places, but with a locked F/R rig + the Simex's we got in and out of EVERY nasty Mud hole we encountered.
Cheers
Dave
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Alaska Mike
ExPo Moderator/Eye Candy
I can assure you Madizell is not confusing a Simex with a Thornbird. He knows the difference. He also knows what it's like to float in bottomless soup- that's what most Alaska bogs are.
I may be wrong, but I think most of his experiences with Simex tires (and those of others I know) were in the Australian Outback and Rainforest Challenges. Everyone pretty much had the same opinion of the Simex tire vs the TSL or Bogger.
I may be wrong, but I think most of his experiences with Simex tires (and those of others I know) were in the Australian Outback and Rainforest Challenges. Everyone pretty much had the same opinion of the Simex tire vs the TSL or Bogger.
4Rescue
Expedition Leader
I guess I didn't realize he was from AK...Alaska Mike said:
I've got family in Homer and I've been up there in the spring/summer so I know what you mean about soup .
My expereince with the Simmy's is in the Australian bush after a particularly un-common rain storm flooded everything and turned the hard clay into the stickiest nastiest soup I've seen in a long time... And I'm from Oregon so I know mud better than most eh
Out on property we just had like 37x8.50 (???) NDT Ex-Mil spec tires on all our Utes when it got nasty. THe Simmy's were on a purpose built truck although my Ute wasn't ever far behind it, when I got back in it I felt I had to work it harder to get it to go. Wheeling in OZ was alot different and alot of times it was for work. When I drove the truck with teh Simex's I really liked how they transitioned between the nasty stuff and the hard pack and never left me stranded or wishing I had different tires. THey are IMO the best all-around 4x4 Tyres on the market. Yet another thing we don't get here in the states... YEAH US!!!I hated my TSL's, here in Oregon we have a realy unique mix of rock, roots, mud and everything in between plus it's really hilly (it's a wheelers heaven for sure) and my TSL's just didn't perform very well. Add to that the fact that they were too wide and tended to float and I was just not happy. I belive in Tall and skinny so these just weren't for me. If I go to a dedicated trail rig again I'm going to go with 34x10.50 LTB's I love these tyres ALOT. Friends with Boggers never have problems (although they don't have the lateral traction that other tires do), but the TSL's just felt hard and slippery. I'm sure a custom cut job would have changed that, but I never got that far.
Cheers
Dave
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Alaska Mike
ExPo Moderator/Eye Candy
Your "too hard" comment I found interesting. I used to have TSL SSRs, but they deflected too much in the heavier mud and slick rock. The bias ply TSL was actually light years ahead of them in terms of performance. The radial TSL was also comparable in performance. The Bogger is a great tire, but as you mentioned laterally it does have problems at times. I haven't used the LTBs yet.
I was a BFG man for years before I moved up here, but I'd much rather run Super Swampers (TSLs or Boggers, depending on the vehicle) in this environment than any tire I've seen. If I was still desert rock crawling, I might consider a different tread pattern or compound, but the Swampers and Boggers seem to do fairly well there as well.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, the current offerings from Simex look like they have a fairly closed pattern compared to older models. Anyone with first-hand experience between the two?
I was a BFG man for years before I moved up here, but I'd much rather run Super Swampers (TSLs or Boggers, depending on the vehicle) in this environment than any tire I've seen. If I was still desert rock crawling, I might consider a different tread pattern or compound, but the Swampers and Boggers seem to do fairly well there as well.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand, the current offerings from Simex look like they have a fairly closed pattern compared to older models. Anyone with first-hand experience between the two?
4Rescue
Expedition Leader
I didn't have the SSR's, although I really liked the option of 35/10.50 option they provide. Please understand that the "hard" comment was an on trail feel cause after a very short period of use they were wearing kind of quickly IMO. What ever it was, I did not like the Standard TSL's.Alaska Mike said:
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