235/85R16 or stay with 31x10.5 R15 on County?

[I Love My Landy!]

G'day all! :)

I am in the market for new tyres atm, and i was just wondering what people believe is the better tyre size for a County:

31 x 10.5" tyres or 235/85 R16 tyres?

The reason i am asking is that i have 31 x 10.5" tyres on my County on 15 x 8" rims, however running smaller than standard height rubber is annoying me so i have been contemplating on getting some D1 steel wheels (because they are cheap) and running 235/85R16 tyres (because i believe they are the widest tyre you can fit to these rims without them scrubbing).

Btw, i know i can get 32 x 11.5" tyres to fit a 15" rim, but they are too wide for my liking.

Thank you in advance!

Edward :)

[weeds]

i cureently was running 235/85/16's, i currently have 7.50/16's fited, considering 255/85/16's which i believe do not rub

i use disco steel rims

[Treads]

considering 255/85/16's which i believe do not rub

i use disco steel rims

They don't rub any bodywork unless your front springs are sagging. Also your steering stops need a fair bit of adjustment.

I might be speaking from experience ;)

[long stroke]

We ran 235/85/16s with d1 rims on the countythey rubbed on the radious arms abit, not to bad though;)
Then we went with 31/10.5/15'' mudies they were alright but to small, then on to 32/11.5/15" muddies they did the job well for a while!! stuck out from the guards abit;) and currently on 33/10.5/15" muddies very good couldn't be happier, slight rub in the rear on full flex due to sagged springs:angel:

TIM.

[I Love My Landy!]

They don't rub any bodywork unless your front springs are sagging. Also your steering stops need a fair bit of adjustment.

I might be speaking from experience ;)

Thanks for that!

I was under the impression that wide tyres on disco rims rubbed the shock tower at full articulation, as well as the radius arms at full lock. I am not too keen on adjusting my steering stops as the turning circle of the county is woeful enough!

Also, i don't know if this helps but i have a 2" lift.

[I Love My Landy!]

currently on 33/10.5/15" muddies very good couldn't be happier, slight rub in the rear on full flex due to sagged springs:angel:

TIM.

I wouldn't actually mind this size tyre, however BFG is the only company that makes tyres in this size, and they are too pricy for me.

[long stroke]

I wouldn't actually mind this size tyre, however BFG is the only company that makes tyres in this size, and they are too pricy for me.

Yep they arn't cheap the best price we found was $360 each, way to pricy for us also, lucky we found a set of three on black powder coated rims with only afew kms on them for $400 the lot:cool:
Just the one tyre almost cost more than 4 rims and 3 tyres:eek:

CHEERS TIM.

[rijidij]

.......... considering 255/85/16's which i believe do not rub

i use disco steel rims

It's quite common to off-set Disco rims by 25-30mm to run 255/85/16's on a County / Defender. This avoids having to adjust the steering stops.

Murray

[I Love My Landy!]

Out of interest rijidij, how much did it cost to get your disco rims off-set? Can it be a DIY job or is it a professional only job?

Cheers!

[rijidij]

Out of interest rijidij, how much did it cost to get your disco rims off-set? Can it be a DIY job or is it a professional only job?

Cheers!

It's funny you should ask that as I've just had a go at off-setting a Disco rim myself for the first time. After grinding out the welds, I drifted the center out, cut some of the shoulder off the center and made up a jig to hold everything in the new position before tack welding it together. Spun it on the hub of my Landy to check it for true and welded it up.
It cost $60 per wheel when I had my first set done years ago, and now I know why.........it's a lot of work, well, mainly the grinding.
I only attempted it because I recently bought a good quality welder.

Cheers, Murray

[Top End Rangie]

Mate,after 11 4X4's,and over 100,000km of true offroad work,including shale,black soil,sand,mangrove swamp,bulldust and rock~hopping,I can only recommend ONE tyre.Believe me,I have tried them all.
Once you stake the sidewall,throw it away,once it bubbles,throw it away.The 40-50 bucks you save by going budget will come back and bite you in the the posterior when you really need to rely on your tyre....in the middle of nowhere.:(
Don't skimp,go for a BFG All Terrain KO,I recommend 7.50/16's for your application.Do what ever you need to do Rim~wise to get them on your vehicle and still enjoy good articulation and 'acceptable' turning circle.
As a bonus,they perform well on the highway as too,and quiet.(compared to a Cooper anyway).
BFG's,I don't know much,but I know I luv 'em.:)

PS~The only other tyre that comes close,is the old Yokahama Super Digger,I have driven these literally into the ground,bald as my own shiny skull,across the Gulf Of Carpentaria,without failure after blowing and staking both of my Kumho Muddies.They are a bit hard to find nowadays though.

[nzlandies]

I have standard land rover alloys which are the same width and offset and disco steels. I went for 265/75/16s bfg all terrains (equiv of a 32-10.00-16 235/85/16 and 7.50-16 are also 31.8)which as other have said are brilliant. They do not rub at all with the lock stops as per factory. In fact I adjusted them so they turn even tighter than standard with the big tyres on. These tyres I feel suit the car really well and make it much steadier.

[I Love My Landy!]

It's funny you should ask that as I've just had a go at off-setting a Disco rim myself for the first time. After grinding out the welds, I drifted the center out, cut some of the shoulder off the center and made up a jig to hold everything in the new position before tack welding it together. Spun it on the hub of my Landy to check it for true and welded it up.
It cost $60 per wheel when I had my first set done years ago, and now I know why.........it's a lot of work, well, mainly the grinding.
I only attempted it because I recently bought a good quality welder.

Cheers, Murray

Hmm, works out to be a quite a lot of money doesn't it. I often see second-hand sets of 5 disco steelies sell for $250, and add to that the minimum of $60 per rim to offset them, it all works out to be $550 for the set! I reckon you could buy set of brand new Sunraysia's with the right offest for that price!

[I Love My Landy!]

Mate,after 11 4X4's,and over 100,000km of true offroad work,including shale,black soil,sand,mangrove swamp,bulldust and rock~hopping,I can only recommend ONE tyre.Believe me,I have tried them all.
Once you stake the sidewall,throw it away,once it bubbles,throw it away.The 40-50 bucks you save by going budget will come back and bite you in the the posterior when you really need to rely on your tyre....in the middle of nowhere.:(
Don't skimp,go for a BFG All Terrain KO,I recommend 7.50/16's for your application.Do what ever you need to do Rim~wise to get them on your vehicle and still enjoy good articulation and 'acceptable' turning circle.
As a bonus,they perform well on the highway as too,and quiet.(compared to a Cooper anyway).
BFG's,I don't know much,but I know I luv 'em.:)

PS~The only other tyre that comes close,is the old Yokahama Super Digger,I have driven these literally into the ground,bald as my own shiny skull,across the Gulf Of Carpentaria,without failure after blowing and staking both of my Kumho Muddies.They are a bit hard to find nowadays though.

Thanks for your comments Top End Rangie!

Yes i have heard a lot of great things about the BFG AT KO's, however they are hard to afford for a full time student like me!

I am currently running Michelin tyres and they have held up very well! They have done about 120,000km's and i'll probably get at least another 20,000 out of them, although a couple are worn on the insides from bad alignment (my fault) and one has a massive patch in it which makes it hard to balance. The only downside is that it has taken almost 10 years to do those kays, and the tyres have hardened up a bit and there are little cracks everywhere! Oh and they cost $310 per tyre in a 31 x 10.5 R15 size! So therefore i'm not sure if it is worth paying big bucks on tyres which i might not do that many kays on before they start to harden and crack.

Out of interest Top End Rangie, what has been your most favourite 4WD out of the 11 you've owned?