I need some new drive axle tyres, 295/60 x 22.5.
Looking for recommendations for something giving good grip in the dry and the wet, excellent fuel consumption and long life.
Thank you
This is probably better in the owner driver section
Lost in France:
I need some new drive axle tyres, 295/60 x 22.5.Looking for recommendations for something giving good grip in the dry and the wet, excellent fuel consumption and long life.
Thank you
Not possible. You can either have good grip or you can have fuel consumption/long life but you don’t get both.
New Goodyear K-Max Gen-2 is supposed to tick all those boxes.
Or Dunlop SP446 or 442. Cheaper than the Goodyear and made by the same company. The Goodyear is aimed at big fleets using tyre contracts (pence per km) and the Dunlop at owner-drivers and small fleets who buy and maintain their own tyres.
However, all these tyres will be more expensive than a Hankook or whatever. You can buy retreads of the European premium tyres at a more competitive price and these are claimed to offer comparable performance on drive axles to the same tyre as a ‘new’ cover. I suspect some drivers may not agree with this claim!
The EU tyre rating also applies to trucks: Tyres are rated A - G for fuel economy and wet grip (with G being worst).
There are currently very few A grade truck tyres, but lots of choice in the B - D range. As said above a tyre with B for economy will usually be D for grip and vice versa.
Some ‘fuel economy’ tyres have shallow treads and stiff carcases, and can wear out quicker than expected. This was true of first generation fuel economy tyres from the premium manufacturers, and is still true of some of the more obscure makes.
You can look at the various specs on-line. The tyre grades can vary with size, as each size is tested separately.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
reply of the week 
Cheers…I’m a real wow done the pub.
My neighbour just asked what the difference between synthetic and mineral engine oil was…the poor sod.
your welcome, mines a pint of aspalls cider…
My Good year k max drives have just been cut after 240k. Brilliant for mileage, but useless for grip. The continentals that Volvo usually fit as standard (unless customer wants different) offer great grip, but you’ll be cutting them around the 100k mark. I’ve always found the old Bridgestones to be the best (the old M729 pattern) giving around 300k with good grip. But the new R drive replacements start with such little tread, you’ll be lucky to see half that
Goldcoin. Got 12 of them )))))
OVLOV JAY:
My Good year k max drives have just been cut after 240k. Brilliant for mileage, but useless for grip. The continentals that Volvo usually fit as standard (unless customer wants different) offer great grip, but you’ll be cutting them around the 100k mark. I’ve always found the old Bridgestones to be the best (the old M729 pattern) giving around 300k with good grip. But the new R drive replacements start with such little tread, you’ll be lucky to see half that
Interesting…
Goodyear acknowledge the lack of grip with the old K-Max drive, and it was one of the areas they worked to improve with the Gen-2.
These are now graded B or C for wet grip depending on size and also have 3PMSF rating for alpine conditions.
They are C or D for fuel economy.
There are ‘buried’ grooves in the tread which become exposed as the tyres wear, and Goodyear claims that the wet grip rating is achieved through the life of the tyre until it is worn enough for regrooving.
I don’t think they will be particularly cheap, though, although some of the cost is rebated if they are suitable for retreading when worn out.
They’ve been on sale for a couple of months, so it would be interesting to hear if anyone here has tried them.
GasGas:
OVLOV JAY:
My Good year k max drives have just been cut after 240k. Brilliant for mileage, but useless for grip. The continentals that Volvo usually fit as standard (unless customer wants different) offer great grip, but you’ll be cutting them around the 100k mark. I’ve always found the old Bridgestones to be the best (the old M729 pattern) giving around 300k with good grip. But the new R drive replacements start with such little tread, you’ll be lucky to see half thatInteresting…
Goodyear acknowledge the lack of grip with the old K-Max drive, and it was one of the areas they worked to improve with the Gen-2.
These are now graded B or C for wet grip depending on size and also have 3PMSF rating for alpine conditions.
They are C or D for fuel economy.
There are ‘buried’ grooves in the tread which become exposed as the tyres wear, and Goodyear claims that the wet grip rating is achieved through the life of the tyre until it is worn enough for regrooving.
I don’t think they will be particularly cheap, though, although some of the cost is rebated if they are suitable for retreading when worn out.
They’ve been on sale for a couple of months, so it would be interesting to hear if anyone here has tried them.
They have plenty of grooves on the original tread. The retread pattern has less groves in it, as they only cut the primary grooves. Tbh, grip wasn’t as much of an issue pre cutting. Only severe weather would cause a break in traction. Now they seem to spin if there’s a mist in the air but not visible on the ground
In damp conditions, the critical tread pattern is the ‘siping’…the narrow slits in the main tread.
As you say, they aren’t a part of the recut pattern. Perhaps someone should invent a ‘re-siping’ tool?
GasGas:
In damp conditions, the critical tread pattern is the ‘siping’…the narrow slits in the main tread.As you say, they aren’t a part of the recut pattern. Perhaps someone should invent a ‘re-siping’ tool?
Before i ever got involved in lorry driving i used to recut lorry tyres, (could replicate a Pirelli Carriload tread almost perfectly 
), and always cut some side grooves into a tread if the original tread had them to help with water clearance, and i’m disappointed this is no longer done, probably no longer allowed.
The best wet gripping set of drive axle tyres i’ve ever experienced was a set of Kenprest remoulds many years ago, those things gripped like billio, more recently a set of Encore remoulds proved far better than nearly anything new i’ve used in recent years.
As Conor mentioned above, you tend to get either good grip or good mileage, the two seldom go together especially once the tread gets down to half way or lower.
I wanted some Michelin XDA2+ as that’s what I had before. Good fuel economy, grip and mileage. I got talked in to getting some Goodyear Fuelmax D, Fuel consumptions up 3 litres per 100km! 
That’s expensive over the life of a tyre.
Sorry, I have only just seen that last post.
couple of questions
-
Are we comparing like with like?..tyres get better on fuel as they wear, so an end of life tyre will outperform a new one, even if they are the same make and model.
-
Are the Goodyears the new ones …with Gen 2 on the sidewall?
I don’t work for Goodyear or any other tyre maker BTW, just interested in people’s experiences.