Thread: Widest tyres on 300 Tdi

Sorry my mistake, yes 110 steel wheels are 5.5" wide, 130 are 6"
However I think Disco 1 are only 6.5"?! Can anyone confirm this?

Originally Posted by MR LR jnr.

Sorry my mistake, yes 110 steel wheels are 5.5" wide, 130 are 6"
However I think Disco 1 are only 6.5"?! Can anyone confirm this?

D1 Steelies are 7" wide. 130 steelies are 6.5" wide You got 110 steelies right this time

Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

D1 Steelies are 7" wide. 130 steelies are 6.5" wide You got 110 steelies right this time

*facepalm* I meant to write 6.5 for 130 haha
I always thought the D1 steelies were narrower than the alloys though?!

No idea about alloys, sorry.

Thx Guys, had a look at Nugge t's defender in Members Rides and see he has fitted the 285/75/16 on an 8" rim. What are the views on doing this, how much would one need to change to accept this setup.

If the bumpstops need to be changed does that limited travel i.e articulation?

The other size I'm looking at is the 285/85/16 which seems rare but there are a few muddy brands that make a 280/85/16. Any views on this?

If I go 8" black rims what would be the best brand/make to source 2nd hand? Was there a Land Rover with an 8" steel rim?

Nugget has done a LOT of work to his Defender to set it up exactly the way he wants it. I'm sure he will be able to list the details, but its safe to say its pretty well departed from standard.

On Defenders the radius arms limit the amount the inner wall of the tyre can swing inwards. To fix this you can change the offset to move the wheels outward, but doing that has turning circle penalties.

The next problem is your wheel arches and spats or flares. Moving outward brings the outer wall tread into contact with the wheel arches and flares. I followed Nugget's thread on the significant modifications he has done to his arches and flares to accommodate those tyres.

The long and the short is that moving away from the three sizes posted earlier would all require significant modification where the price of second hand steel wheels would be the least of your financial concerns.

The next question would be "why" you are keen on such wide tyres? Except for the "look" they offer very little to improve off road performance. They add very marginally to your low pressure footprint (larger diameter adds significantly more and there are many threads with the math behind this argument), they seriously handicap you in deep mud and they significantly increase fuel consumption both on and off road.

Everyone to his own, but at a $100 for those e-bay Disco 1 wheels posted earlier and with 255/85/16 BFG KM2's fitted would be the way I would go...

Cheers,

Lou

Originally Posted by TonyC

If your Defender is a 110 then standard wheels are 5.5X16" and the standard 7:50R16 are as wide as you can go.

If it's a 130 then you have 6.5X16" wheels and you can go to 235/85R16 (Standard size on new Defenders) or 255/85R16 (taller and wider and will increase you turning circle).

Any other sizes will need different wheels.

Disco 1 steels are 7X16" and open up a bigger range of tyre sizes.

Tony

I put 265/75 /16 on disco steel rims I found that they pubbed on the rear spring hanger , at articulation not happy five new tyers ,big mistake , then had to look at options at minimum $. I ended upgoing 5 new 20mm steel offsets ,they just keep it legal (inside guard)must say no effect on turning circle once stearing stops were adjusted .

Originally Posted by Loubrey

The next question would be "why" you are keen on such wide tyres? Except for the "look" they offer very little to improve off road performance. They add very marginally to your low pressure footprint (larger diameter adds significantly more and there are many threads with the math behind this argument), they seriously handicap you in deep mud and they significantly increase fuel consumption both on and off road.

Cheers,

Lou

^^ This!
Big tyres can and do serve a purpose, but usually big is in relation to height, not width, the width only being a factor of the height.
Land Rovers have traditionally been a skinny tyred vehicle, and for good reason! Wide tyres are usually seen on street cars pushing massive horse power, not stifled little 4 and 5 pot diesels trotting out a dozen underfed ponies under the bonnet. A Defender isn't a v10 Toureg or Cayenne!
I'd happily swap my 255/85/16s for the narrower but taller 9.00x16 if I could get a decent tread pattern at a decent price...