Thread: Defender 110 suspension and tyre recommendations

Originally Posted by manic

I had 285/75 ATs prior to the 255 MTs. The 285 look the goods but 255s drew me in for a go after hearing a lot of praise from defender owners (mostly on here): same height, less rolling resistance/weight, better turning circle, fit nicely in the guards. Also the 285 really should be on a 7.5"+ wide rim, saying that no problems at low PSI when I had them on a 7" but could be an insurance problem in event of accident.

MT treads are supposedly not as good as ATs on the sand but I have found sand driving better on the 255MTs than the 285ATs and I put that down to less rolling resistance. Both 33s have the diameter to float well on the sand when aired down but a skinnier 33 will have less to push through when you start to get a build up ahead of the tyre. At least thats the feeling I get with the 255s on the beach - less resistance.

And then on mud. The 255MT cuts through and digs in. Its fantastic in mud!

Great to know and very surprising. As good as the wider tires look, I'm sold on 255 MTs for the practicality. Thank you for the great info Manic!

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Traction comes from length, not width. To get more traction a tyre needs to be taller not wider. More width just increases the mound of sand or mud being pushed in front of the tyre.
More height increases the length of tread in contact with the surface during each revolution. If you compare two tyres with the same width but one is taller, the taller one makes a longer footprint for each revolution.
Widening the lower tyre just increases the rolling resistance which has to be overcome for the tyre to turn. That's good if you want to float on snow, but bad if traction is your aim.
Maximum traction comes from a tyre which is tall and narrow, like the 235/85/16s on Defenders.

That's so unexpected but fascinating. Thank you for the great explanation Mick!

Read this great paper that went into more detail explaining the science behind it and I'm sold on 255/85!

Originally Posted by Shoogs

I have 255/85's on both Defenders, TOYO's on the 300tdi and BF Goodrich on a Puma as they were on when i bought it, BF's are noisier I think and that's saying something going from a 23 year old vehicle to an SVX... same same on road I think, I will probably replace with TOYO when the time comes...

KM2s?

Originally Posted by manic

This guy has run Toyo MTs for 40k, gives them a reasonable review, my guess is he is going KM3 next. Hopefully he is not disappointed!
YouTube

Anyway moving on to something perhaps more relevant to the topic. Suspension.

Whats a good quality shock for a 2" lift? I was quite keen on the Koni Raids but they appear to offer less travel than stock, and the closed length is longer than standard which suggest it needs extended bump stops or relocated shock mounts to avoid bottoming out!?

Ronny ended up testing the new Maxxis Razr MT. Andrew is testing the KM3s on a trip across Australia. Interested to hear his review at the end but also got to take it with a grain of salt, as he is an ambassador for Bfgoodrich.

This guy was impressed with the Koni shocks. What about other suspension brands like old man emu, ironman, dobinson , etc? Anyone had experience with these brands or others? Got any recommendations on what suspension setup to go with, that works well on the defenders?

I’ve just put a set of Kumho AT51’s on my Defender. $260 each. I wanted something less aggressive and quiet with good on road grip as well as dirt roads. So far they’re quiet and definitely better on road than more aggressive tyres, which is good considering the 80% on road I’m doing these days. We’ll see how durable they are, only time will tell. They saved me $120.

i have Koni Raids, which are brilliant, especially with a load and over corrugations. Big bore, no fade. OME are light duty in comparison. Dobinsons sound good but I haven’t tried them. But I think the only others I’d go with are Bilsteins. They are also HD but a little more compliant than Koni’s for everyday driving IME.

I've just bought a pair of BFG KO2's to see how they go and I've never found the need for a tyre bigger than 235/85 and have done a lot of off track k's in the northern Simpson etc. Never had a drama with the 750's on my old Stage 1 either for that matter. I will admit that I absolutely detest mud lol.

Recently put King Springs +50mm and +500 kg's with Koni Raids on the rear of the 130 too as it's fairly heavy.

Originally Posted by Zeros

I’ve just put a set of Kumho AT51’s on my Defender. $260 each. I wanted something less aggressive and quiet with good on road grip as well as dirt roads. So far they’re quiet and definitely better on road than more aggressive tyres, which is good considering the 80% on road I’m doing these days. We’ll see how durable they are, only time will tell. They saved me $120.

i have Koni Raids, which are brilliant, especially with a load and over corrugations. Big bore, no fade. OME are light duty in comparison. Dobinsons sound good but I haven’t tried them. But I think the only others I’d go with are Bilsteins. They are also HD but a little more compliant than Koni’s for everyday driving IME.

Recently went with new OME coils with Koni HD Raids and while I paid a bit dearly for them, could not be happier after ~500km. Will be doing a cross country trip in June and will report back should anything change, but for now I couldn't be happier.

I'm probably going to replace my Konis (not Raids, but adjustable) with Superior Engineering remote reservoir adjustable shocks - nugget's Defender 130 build. Nugget is impressed with them so far. Should be great for my 130 which is either fully laden or empty in the tray. The quick adjustment should be very handy.