Cooper Discoverer A/Tł

[Totally4x4 Corporate Member Find all posts View Profile Close Totally4x4]

we sell quite a few maxxis tyres.. like any tyres some people love them and some people hate them. We have found that you get decent kms out of them.. the AT's have good offoad ability, the MT's however are very noisy on the road..
they certainly arent the worst and not quite as good as other brands but value for money they are OK.

Let me know hoe you go as we do discounts for PP members and like you we are in Perth

[hulbyw Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hulbyw]

Thanks Symo, are flow cracks just a superficial problem or are they more serious? Did they resist swapping your tyres like most business would or was their customer service good? Sounds like I need to contact them and see what they have to say.

I also have several cracks / splits between the tread blocks as shown below.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18093[/ATTACH]

I wasn't prepared to risk failures so I had them looked at by a Cooper rep. He offered 25% discount on new tyres (which were only half worn) so not happy.

[Symo Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Symo]

Flow cracks are cosmetic, the cracks in the treads I'm not sure about.

Flow cracks are a manufacturing fault, whereas the cracks in the tread I think are a design/use issue.

I'll be looking hard at bridgstone for my next set.

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

I have contacted Cooper tyres about my AT3's which I am having some issues with the sidewalls wearing through and showing the white underneath. Below is my email to Cooper Tyres and their response.

My email
"Hi, As per our phone conversation I have attached a few pictures of the side walls of my Copper 265-65-17LT AT3 tyres. They are approximately 2 years old and have travelled around 40,000km. Our main usage is road driving, approximately 3-4 day trips to Stockton beach and 5-6 weekend trips to our local Chichester State Forest per year. My tyre pressures for road driving is approximately 38-40psi, beach 16psi and off road 20-25psi. Both beach and off road speed is limited to approximately 60km/h maximum. The main problem I have been having is the degradation of the sidewalls with quite a bit of white showing through. Any suggestions on what may be causing this would be greatly appreciated,"

Their response.
"In the pics, it appears the veneer has been scuffed off the tire in areas other than what was originally removed in the plant. This can happen due to tire curbing or other forms of mild abrasion. I have seen white sidewall tires that have been curbed to the point where a 360 degree band of white stick was visible in a tire that had been designed with raised white characters. The tires in these pics are not nearly that severe. Provided the tires have not been subjected to any significant sidewall impact, this condition is typical of the minor sidewall abrasion that occurs when white sidewall tires are curbed or otherwise scuffed in service and should not be a concern."

Does this sound right or is there an underlying issue with the tyres? I imagine if you were running into curbs frequently this might cause issues however I live in rural area and mostly commute to work, no curbs in either location. It would be very rare that I would scrub tyres on the curb through normal driving.

I believe that my typical usage is well within the expected range for these tyres however what is sold as a premium tyre does not seem to be living up to that reputation.

[Green dog Member Find all posts View Profile Close Green dog]

would you mind showing me the pictures??
I can get an expert to look at them

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

I've seen a few coopers and other brands with the white layer peel of the outer layer to make them lok like white walls. I was watching one guy going through some ruts and you could see the outer layer peeling of as he went. Structurally I imagine they would be fine but it looks like crap.

Cheers Andrew

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

would you mind showing me the pictures??
I can get an expert to look at them

Hi Green Dog the pictures are in up a bit in post #24 and 30.

Thanks for the offer.

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

I've seen a few coopers and other brands with the white layer peel of the outer layer to make them lok like white walls. I was watching one guy going through some ruts and you could see the outer layer peeling of as he went. Structurally I imagine they would be fine but it looks like crap.

Cheers Andrew

Thanks Andrew, not wrong they do look a little crappy, I expected better. I have been thinking about having the tyres removed and spun around so the white is on the inside. I thought this would also help with even tyre wear as currently the outside edge is a little more worn than the inside.

I have been looking for some decent internal tyre pressure sensors which require the tyre to be removed so they can be installed, so might do them both at the same time. Just need to find the right system.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Can't believe you guys are shocked by the performance of your Coopers!

[grizzly63 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close grizzly63]

Can't believe you guys are shocked by the performance of your Coopers!

Sarcasm, bushbasher?

[sunchaser Member Find all posts View Profile Close sunchaser]

Hi Kev,
keep a very close eye on those "cosmetic blemishes" as I've had the same issue a couple of years back with three out the four cooper AT3's which I took in to my dealer who said they were fine and only cosmetic, but a couple of months later when towing my van at around 90km/h one of those "cosmetic blemishes" suddenly blew out and I had to come to a rather quick and undignified stop on the side of the road for a wheel change.
After I complained Coopers did a pro rata deal based on amount of wear on a new set.
Moral of the story, they are the weakest point of your tyre and I would'nt be turning them around so they face inside where you cant keep an eye on them

Cheers Gary

[Green dog Member Find all posts View Profile Close Green dog]

I couldnt agree more

[kevdebbi Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kevdebbi]

Hi Kev,
keep a very close eye on those "cosmetic blemishes" as I've had the same issue a couple of years back with three out the four cooper AT3's which I took in to my dealer who said they were fine and only cosmetic, but a couple of months later when towing my van at around 90km/h one of those "cosmetic blemishes" suddenly blew out and I had to come to a rather quick and undignified stop on the side of the road for a wheel change.
After I complained Coopers did a pro rata deal based on amount of wear on a new set.
Moral of the story, they are the weakest point of your tyre and I would'nt be turning them around so they face inside where you cant keep an eye on them

Cheers Gary

Thanks Gary and everyone else for all the feedback, looks like I will have to live with the dodgy looking tyres. They were the first set of 4WD tyres I had ever brought and have learnt a lot since then (new to 4WDing). Yes you do hear some negative things about Cooper, but these days with the internet you can find negative comments about everything. It certainly makes cutting through the crap and selecting the best product very hard. I do believe you get what you pay for which is why I didn't skimp on my tyres. However it seems my set of Coopers have not lived up to my expectations and to say I am unimpressed is an under statement.

Next time I buy a set more research, research, research, I will buy the best tyre that I believe is available, but till you have it and start using it seems like a lucky-dip to me. Which tyre will it be? Who knows, but it won't be Cooper.

[macaroon1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close macaroon1]

I badly scraped the sidewall on one of mine (now the spare) and there is a fair amount of white now showing through compared to the other four, although not as bad as Kevdebbi's. I was unaware Copper used a white rubber whereas others used white glue. I reckon with the layering effect once that exposed thin black outer is rubbed off it may make the sidewall slightly more vulnerable compared to others i.e it's not one continuous big fat black chunky monkey rubber!!!

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

My MT ATZ's are the same as these with the white coming through where the sides have been badly scuffed albeit not as severe as kev's