Fitting your spare 265 65 18

[Turtle60]

Have just purchased a set of compomotive rims with the Goodrich ko2 in the 265 65 18. The car looks totally transformed. But has anyone had success getting these underneath in the existing tyre hole?

Other threads mention that the 285 60 hangs low but it obviously went in and they are the same rolling diameter.

Have tried airing it down but still no good. Has anyone removed or reshaped the guard between the exhaust and tyre? It looks like if this is gone it might work. I plan to use them off road and would carry one up top but a second one underneath for insurance. Cheers Steve

[tonyci]

I can not offer help from actual experience, however I think Gordon from GOE has on his site (or at least used to) what tyre sizes fit and what modification if any was required.
Removing the heat shield I think was one such option.
Cheers
Tony

[Crofty]

Have just purchased a set of compomotive rims with the Goodrich ko2 in the 265 65 18. The car looks totally transformed. But has anyone had success getting these underneath in the existing tyre hole?

Other threads mention that the 285 60 hangs low but it obviously went in and they are the same rolling diameter.

Have tried airing it down but still no good. Has anyone removed or reshaped the guard between the exhaust and tyre? It looks like if this is gone it might work. I plan to use them off road and would carry one up top but a second one underneath for insurance. Cheers Steve

Hi Turtle60.
I successfully fit the 265/65/18 in the spare wheel cavity. Leave about 5PSI in the tyre, and use your scissor jack to squash it up.
Start by fitting the tyre up towards the rear of the car and then jack up the tyre towards the front (exhaust guard)

I have the coopers stmaxx so a bit bigger too

[plusnq]

As Crofty said. Deflate the tyre and it does fit. I have Compis with that same tyre. It is a tight fit.

[shamirj]

Have the same size tyre following the GOE recommendations that it would fit but it does not explain how difficult it is to get into its cavity and that you must deflate. When i had my new tyres fitted i was watching the tyre fitters struggle to fit the spare and then they called me out and said 'wont fit', i assured them it would, so they deflated the tyre completely and then managed to get it in. the problem with this set up is i have a useless spare unless i carry a air comp. (i do have a perm set up air comp supplying air) but if something goes wrong with the air comp, i would be without a usable spare. kinda like driving around without a spare, if your in a remote area... next time i think i will stick clear of these bigger tyres and ensure any tyre fully inflated can fit in the spare cavity. lesson for next time...

[DrOsteo]

Contemplating getting the same size. Just wondering how much rubbing people are getting? Is it really worth the hassle? Do you get a much greater tread depth? Heading up the Cape soon.

[LRD414]

My personal opinion is not worth it having driven back to back on my 265/60 KO2s and D697s before that. Never had any issues compared to my mates with 265/65 and 285/60 in KO2 in quite technical terrain.

Scott

[Turtle60]

Thanks all for reply’s. I bit the bullet and removed the heat shield and deflated the tyre and with the the help of the jack it’s in. Not stoked but at the end of the day it is bigger so can’t blame landrover for this. It will be difficult to remove too I suspect. But as per comments above a compressor is a must now at all times.
I do think though a tough “big” tyre is better than a tough “small” tyre. I will suck it up for now and if these are anything like my last set I’m hoping I won’t have to change a tyre for the next 50000 Kim’s. we’ll see. For our cape trip in July a sixth tyre will be on the rack after reading on here how difficult they are to obtain.
Perhaps by the time these tyres are done some other choices will be out there.
Cheers one and all.

[specwarop]

So just so I understand, why wouldnt it fit the spare tyre well easily, because of the bigger tyre size, or the different rims?

Reason I ask is I was hoping to get 265/18s on LR rims shortly, curious whether I will be affected here too...

[LRD414]

Bigger diameter is the only issue.

Consider that the cavity is designed for 255/55/R19 or 255/60/R18. This is smaller than even 265/60/R18 which still fits easily. But as you go bigger diameter it gets increasingly difficult above that. The issue with width is how much it hangs down and drags on steep ditches in comparison to 255. The 285 width is noticeably lower and drags more.

No show stoppers here but just worth understanding all factors before deciding.

Scott

[DirtyDrifters]

I have 265/70R17 on my D3 using BMW X5 wheels and needed to remove the dust/heat shield and deflate the tyre to fit in the spare wheel well.

I was able to wind it up with the spare wheel winch and didn't have to use a jack, just required a bit of gentle persuasion with the foot while you raise it up.

Having noticed the exhaust does not get particularly warm near the back of the car, even being petrol powered, I am not worried about the lack of plastic shield.

136870

Not the clearest of photos, but you can see the spare fits well enough and does not hang down too much.

[Tombie]

Now put the heat shield back in...

It’s does get quite hot there under load - you know, when you can’t get under there to feel it..

That extra heat is age hardening patches on that spare...

I certainly wouldn’t trust it after a while..


The second benefit is it stops frontal staking of that tyre.
Doesn’t protect the bottom (sidewall) but stops the leading edge getting caught.

[dirvine]

After my big trip recently and towing a van, I rotated my tyres what I have found is that the rear KO tyre that is now the spare, fit in the spare cavity without deflating. It is still a "snug" fit but at least I now dont need to carry the air compressor around with me all the time.

[Deck]

Just wish to chime in. I also have the BFG 265 18 with the GOE rims which by the way has been my best investment. I found it a bit of a challenge to fit the spare however if I removed the cast hitch block which was no real trouble and then angle the wheel slightly forward it would fit snuggly but without a problem. That was with the tyre inflated.

So from my my own experience the spare does fit.
i hope this helps
regards
derick

[Stuart02]

Has anyone had trouble getting new 265/60r18 into the spare tyre well (cos I am), with the towbar on? I don't want to take off the plastic shield if I can help it, even if logic suggests it can't get very hot if the shield is plastic.... (and also take Tombie's earlier point about potential staking...)

Aaaand of course the '**** tow bar is jammed on...

[DiscoDB]

Stuart02 - I found the same with the 245/70R17 which is more or less the same diameter as your 265/60R18. Have to remove my D4 tow hitch receiver to fit and remove spare.

I regularly remove my receiver so not an issue.

[loanrangie]

Needs to be deflated to fit, once I swap to this size I'll investigate ways to fit it inflated.

[dirvine]

As I posted before once the tyre wears down it does fit ok without deflation. The real pain in the neck is the OEM tow hitch gets in the way. I have also solved that with a mitch hitch.