Because the Project 12K Jeep will be used as much on road as off tarmac, we needed a tyre with reasonable road manners as well as one which provided good characteristics and traction off-road.

Basically this ruled out any of the serious and niche brands/tyres such as Simex leaving us to concentrate on more mainstream mud terrain (M/T) radial tyres.

The other consideration we gave to the choice of tyres was the size. We wanted to increase the size from the current 31x10.5x15s fitted to standard Jeep steel rims so were settled on a 32-inch tyre.

New rims, especially 16-inch were out of the question due to cost, but research showed that the original Jeep 16-inch alloys, from a Grand Cherokee would fit and we found a set of four with worn tyres on Trade Me in Christchurch which we eventually won at auction for the princely sum of $58.

For tyres we chose Achilles Radial Desert Hawk XMTs in 265x75x16 as the size would give us the desired height and kept width to approximately 10.5-inches, and looked at what options were available.

The Desert Hawk XMT is promoted as having a specially formulated compound which maximises off-road performance and road mileage while at the same time being a super-aggressive off-road tyre featuring incredibly rigid high load construction and a unique block design.

Side blocks and a self-cleaning pattern also show that the Desert Hawk XMT means business, a feature that fits well with Project 12K.

We are pleased with the wheels and tyres both in looks and performance on and off-road.

To read the full story in the December 2015 issue of NZ4WD go to Zinio.com (on sale November 16) or purchase your own hard copy at the Adrenalin store.