needayota

hey all,
i took my spare off today (1st ever it looks like)
and i have a bridgestone desert dueler and i was wondering if i have a rare find or something cause ive never heard anyone talk about them. its not a regular spare tire or anything

are they a good tire or just a plain old discontinued model?

thanks guys

Tacoma Dude

Maybe it's just common in other countries?

http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/...reads/604v.asp

needayota

sweet. to bad i only have one that looks like it was from 1986

they look like a good tire.

4x4Lamm

I got one on my 92 Runner

Lamm

kyle_22r

you call that old, my spare was a dunlop snow crusher bias tire in the h78 size

then again, my truck came with bias tires from the factory

SLC Punk

The Desert Dueler was discontinued when the Dueler 684 series came out. I think it was in 1994 or so..

BeaterToyota

Those are the OEM tires for mid-'80s trucks. My '88 had the original 225/75/15s when I bought it 12 years ago. They were good tires for on road and packed dirt driving, but they kind of sucked for anything else.

Flamedx4

My 85 pickup and 85 4runner came with Desert Duelers. As memory serves the regulars and deluxes had Dunlops and the SR5s had Desert Duelers. All were 225/75R15s. There were exceptions. (I remember some of this stuff so well because my father was a Toyota dealer in those edays.)

Ilovemountains

Yeah, my 88 has a Desert D spare, I actually have it on the passenger side front now, some A$$hole ran me off the road and I smaked a rock causing a large buble to form in the side of my new Revo, thank god that Costco offers free road hazard warranty! The Desert Dueler looks like a decent tire, I know they were on my truck when it was new, but dont remember how they handled! I know I only got about 35,000 miles on them before they were toast. Matt

mp101v

my 93 has a desert dueler spare. Still has the green and red lines over the tread. Brand new.

Rick F.

My '90 4Runner came with Desert Duelers (or did I put them on at some point? Too long ago...). I didn't care too much for them...

KevyWevy

my spare is a desert duelar (94) and it still has the colored lines too. is it just me or is the spare a pain in the kidnies to get out? its hard to get the little hook into the little slot. im considering just leaving it off cause if i get a flat, my bottle jack isn't big enough any more and i probably wouldn't be able to get it out anyways.

tsamis

some jerk slashed one of my desert dueler 33x12.50 r15 tire and i'm having a hard time replacing it as they are discontinued. Does anyone know anyone who is looking to sell one or more of these tires? my other 3 are like new. I would hate to have to replace them all!

hellfire

I'm running 31" Desert Duelers, it might be just my SAS or Diff gearing, but I tear through alot of stuff that 100 Series Landcruisers running 35" Extreme Muds have trouble with..

DarksydeDragun

I still have the 225/75/15 desert duelers on my 92 4runner that came on it from the factory, along with the original spare that also still has the red and green lines on it. Surprisingly they don't have any dry rot and still have 6/32nds left on the tread. Although the fact that my runner only has 110,000 miles on it and I ran a set of 265/75/15s on it may have something to do with their longevity heh.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

good advice

-replace them before you hurt some one or yourself...I would be curious to read the DOT code on the side

did you guys happen to notice how old this thread was?


When i bought my '86 4Runner in '86 with 1700 miles, it too came with desert duelers.. biggest POS rubber I have ever had on a vehicle. They sucked in the rain and snow. Replaced them after 5000 miles

86bedlesstoy

I had the same on my spare. Thinking I like that tread for pushing out water and snow.

MaK92-4RnR

1 year thread bump?

DRTDEVL

Necromancing the thread and profile... I was searching to find when Desert Duelers were discontinued when I ran across this gem.

I have a 1st gen Montero these days, with a bad engine. I was rebuilding a core in my garage for it, and went to my friend's property where it had been stored, outdoor, for the last 4 years. The tires were pretty new when it was parked, but one of them died during the 35 mile trip to the house (flat-towing with the tow bar setup I made to take it to the oilfield when I bought it in 2014. No big deal, just began leaking, and I was flagged down before it was fully flat. I put the spare on... it was "questionable" when the rig was parked. I made it 2 more miles, before it unceremoniously exploded, forcing me to ditch the Montero on the shoulder and bring a wheel and tire into town to get a replacement.

The spare that was "questionable" in 2014? A Desert Dueler, mounted in the sun on the rack on the back. Now I know it was at least 25 years old. I never took the time to check its DOT code, and now there isn't enough of it left to see the run date.

Anyway, I am still alive. I just happened to be forced into selling my 4Runner in 2010. One day I'll get another, but until then I am learning all things Mitsubishi.

DRTDEVL

Yup... its been a while: