Thread: what is the better option 33's or 35's

Originally Posted by jc109

I'm about to order my first Defender after several years playing around with my SIII.

I've been wondering what the best option is re tyres, and am no clearer now after reading all this!

I intend ordering the dual finish alloy wheels with standard tyres as I have Wolf wheels on my 109" with Cooper STs that I've been thinking would make a good swap when I take the 110" out bush.

The Coopers (which I think are great BTW) are 265/75/16s.

How would I find these tyres on the Defender? I'm happy to consider all options. ie:

1) Full swap of wheels and tyres
2) Coopers to alloys on 110" and Grabbers over to 109"
3) Leave Coopers where they are and order 110" with factory MTs of a size TBD
4) Leave 109" alone, order 110" in standard rubber, and buy a whole new set of wheels and tyres in an appropriate size as off-road set

If the Wolf wheels come off the 109" I can either leave her on workshop stands or buy a cheap set of original wheels (I ditched the old set long ago...) with cheap rubber.

Any suggestions?

James

It really depends what you will use the defender for mainly, and how willing you are to put up with the slightly decreased fuel economy and increased tyre wear from driving around on mud tyres.

So what will you be using it for?

Mainly road? Mainly beach? Desert trips? Mud?

I am personally not a fan of coopers, but they should be fine on the 110.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

It really depends what you will use the defender for mainly, and how willing you are to put up with the slightly decreased fuel economy and increased tyre wear from driving around on mud tyres.

So what will you be using it for?

Mainly road? Mainly beach? Desert trips? Mud?

I am personally not a fan of coopers, but they should be fine on the 110.

Can I say a bit of everything?

I live in Freo so it'll obviously see a lot more bitumen than anything else, but my intention is to kit it out for touring, and I'll do a fair bit of playing around in the dirt too. Sand is a given in the west, and my girlfriend will take the beach over all else.

This is why I figured a second set might be the go. I'll consider all suggestions though. It's all new to me since I've spent more time under my SIII than in it...

Not the exact issue, but 88' Series with 35':



109' with 38' (now it have 40's):



Both all stock except steering and suspension..... if that non - mods Santana axles and engine can keep the work at 2600 meters over sea level, I think a Defender have no matters handling any "little" 35'

Originally Posted by deffender

Has anyone got pics of a defender on 255/85/16 and pics of 285/75/16 tyres to compare looks

see my white 110 with 33's (255/85) earlier in the thread.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

I am personally not a fan of coopers, but they should be fine on the 110.

+1 I had very bad experiences with them. They seem to be of inconsistent quality, which I guess is why some people love them and other hate them.

I had terrible splits and huge chunks of rubber kept falling off my STs, until one just disintegrated completely going down the hume.

My summary of 33 Vs 35 is this:

33 will fit a standard Deefer with only a small increase in fuel consumption. Good bang for buck, good looks and extremely capable off road (i'm talking 255/85 here)

35 needs gearing mods, suspension mods, engineers cert. Much more money.. If you really want the look or need the diff clearance go for it. Me? not so much.

Flagg.

Originally Posted by deffender

Has anyone got pics of a defender on 255/85/16 and pics of 285/75/16 tyres to compare looks

Ranga on the left 255/85/16 and me on the right 285/75/16


Heres mine on a set of 285/75/16 Federal Couragia M/T on 16x8 zero offset Dynamic Rims.

Originally Posted by LowRanger

But.....on the other hand
With 7" rims,you will be less likely to roll the tyre off the bead at low pressure,than with an 8"rim.There are a lot of people on this forum that run 285/75/16 on 7" rims without any problems.Probably the preferred size on a Defender

Just about all 285/75-16 require 8" rims with the exception of the Mickey Thompson MTX I think it was that could run on a 7" rim. 8" rims are most definately the preferred size rim for that tyre, not the 7" rim.

Originally Posted by carlosbeldia

Not the exact issue, but 88' Series with 35':



109' with 38' (now it have 40's):



Both all stock except steering and suspension..... if that non - mods Santana axles and engine can keep the work at 2600 meters over sea level, I think a Defender have no matters handling any "little" 35'

A spring over is a fairly substantial modification. Also consider that they are being used in mud, but I bet they still break a lot of stuff! My 37's are a hell of a lot heavier than my 35's. By the way, that 88" has awesome flex!

Originally Posted by Slunnie

Just about all 285/75-16 require 8" rims with the exception of the Mickey Thompson MTX I think it was that could run on a 7" rim. 8" rims are most definately the preferred size rim for that tyre, not the 7" rim.

Slunnie
I wasn't referring to what the manufacturers recommended or what was legal.What I was referring to was what works best off road with low tyre pressure and remained seated on the bead.And there are a lot of other members on this forum that run 7" rims with this size tyre.I think a very much preferred combination on Defenders.
I have run and know quite a few people that run 265/75/16 tyres on standard defender 5.5" rims,just because they don't need to worry about them unseating a bead at low pressure.

Wayne

Originally Posted by LowRanger

Slunnie
I wasn't referring to what the manufacturers recommended or what was legal.What I was referring to was what works best off road with low tyre pressure and remained seated on the bead.And there are a lot of other members on this forum that run 7" rims with this size tyre.I think a very much preferred combination on Defenders.
I have run and know quite a few people that run 265/75/16 tyres on standard defender 5.5" rims,just because they don't need to worry about them unseating a bead at low pressure.

Wayne

Hmmmm.