235/85R16 vs 255/85R16

I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I have to agree with flagg. My Puma now has 16,000 km on it and the General Grabbers look like new! The only reason I’ve not changed them for my preferred 265/75/16 KM2’s is that I’m struggling to justify the expense! I’ve been around in the Pilbara on the red rock and the dunes at Lancelin and almost everything in between (except deep mud, I must admit) and they’ve not let me down once. Not a mark on them and just about all the tread left!
Still looking to buy the muddies, but I honestly can’t badmouth the original Grabbers for what they are!

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Originally Posted by uninformed

you guys running 255's and towing either #1 have some serious grunt under the bonnet, #2 dont tow much weight at all, or #3 never drive on anything but level ground and hwy stuff.....

IMO of course

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Please explain.... :)

How can a tyre size increase of 3.8% kill that much power? :)

Running a 265-75-16 places more rolling resistance on the driveline.

If a defender is struggling to tow etc on 255s it's in need of a mechanical check up.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

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Originally Posted by flagg

I've done quite of a bit off highway, mud, rock etc with these.. and found them to be great. how did they disappoint?

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Sorry, I should have been more specific. The General Grabbers cake up with mud / clay and become slicks. The tread has no gaps in it around the perimeter. Why is this?

They will probably last 80,000km, so my plan is to put them on a second set of rims as they are great for highway driving and towing.

Beckford.

Whats funny is my Puma came with Goodyear Wrangler mud terrains but I really want Conti Cross Contacts that the standard model comes with. Pat

general grabbers.......i threw out my first set at 80,000kms......only because i scored a new set.......
they would have done another 20,000kms.....and thats without rotating the spare in......and pretty much driving like on a racetrack.........
the traction control would even kick in on corners and roundabouts.......so that means lots of abuse and minimal wear......

they got me through all sorts of terrain where others went with muddies and all terrains.....they did struggle in mud......and had to be aired down to 12psi.....but they still got me through.......



as for sizes......i was told that the correct tyre size for a defender is 255 85 R16.....
BUT.....they come out from the factory with 235 85 R16.......which makes the speedo read more than you are actually doing.....so you can blame land rover if you get done for speeding i guess......

i am currently running 33 12.5 R15 on my 03 fender.......and havent had any problems.....it has corrected my speedo.....so i know what speed im doing......
and its the difference in take off is not noticeable........
i do have a mild chip though......but even chipped.....the defenders struggle on take off with the factory tyres..........
i think first gear should be slightly lower......ive always had to slip the clutch more than i like taking off up hill.....especially when towing......
but once moving......theres no stopping......it drives just fine......

Quote:

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Originally Posted by uninformed

you guys running 255's and towing either #1 have some serious grunt under the bonnet, #2 dont tow much weight at all, or #3 never drive on anything but level ground and hwy stuff.....

IMO of course

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Isuzu* :cool:

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Originally Posted by Beckford

Sorry, I should have been more specific. The General Grabbers cake up with mud / clay and become slicks. The tread has no gaps in it around the perimeter. Why is this?

They will probably last 80,000km, so my plan is to put them on a second set of rims as they are great for highway driving and towing.

Beckford.

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Ah fair enough - that is their only weakness really.


* and I'm not afraid to drop it to low range on the big hills.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by uninformed

you guys running 255's and towing either #1 have some serious grunt under the bonnet, #2 dont tow much weight at all, or #3 never drive on anything but level ground and hwy stuff.....

IMO of course

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I have 255/85 on my Puma, we tow a Jayco Swan outback loaded to service 4 children, whilst the Defender carries the 5 of us and a Waeco, I reckon thats a fair load to haul.


Power/torque has not been an issue for me....

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Originally Posted by Tombie

Please explain.... :)

How can a tyre size increase of 3.8% kill that much power? :)

Running a 265-75-16 places more rolling resistance on the driveline.

If a defender is struggling to tow etc on 255s it's in need of a mechanical check up.

Sent from my iPhone using Forum Runner

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3.8% of nothing is still nothing...10 years of towing a 1.8tonne dual axle behind a very light 110 C/C with a stock 300tdi, then modded and now a 2.8tgv tells me better. Yes it will do it but if you consider safety as being being able to move with taffic, merge, climb rises, let alone hills all within reason of todays speeds and ontop of that consider egts and engine temps in summer..............

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Originally Posted by NOZ

I have 255/85 on my Puma, we tow a Jayco Swan outback loaded to service 4 children, whilst the Defender carries the 5 of us and a Waeco, I reckon thats a fair load to haul.


Power/torque has not been an issue for me....

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I have no experince with a puma engine. Im guessing the low first gear and electronic engine management play a part in this. The other things is 2 different people have 2 different ideas of doing a filling a job requirement.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by uninformed

you guys running 255's and towing either #1 have some serious grunt under the bonnet, #2 dont tow much weight at all, or #3 never drive on anything but level ground and hwy stuff.....

IMO of course

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??? I ran 255/85 KM2s for a while and towed quite a bit. Im running a stock 300tdi with a pyro and the High fuel cranked to achieve a max turbo temp of 650 C and Im no rocket ship but I dont have probems achieving any legal speed in a reasonable time/distance and Ive surprised a few people maintaining 100km hr on hills they couldnt.

Im now on 255/100 16s (36inch) but with custom diffs so thats a DIFFerent story :)