Thread: Tyres...how big "should" I go? NOT how big "can" I go :)

Thank you for that, great recommendation, the temp monitor is definitely going to be an essential thing before setting out. I've already got an EGT gauge but I need a proper temp monitor. Cheers for the Watchdog plug, I wasn't sure where to start with them but you've saved me a thread

Originally Posted by Young Angus

Thank you for that, great recommendation, the temp monitor is definitely going to be an essential thing before setting out. I've already got an EGT gauge but I need a proper temp monitor. Cheers for the Watchdog plug, I wasn't sure where to start with them but you've saved me a thread

rather than temp monitor, i firstly would get an engine saver. the temperature may not rise until it's too late. where as when water leaves your engine the engine saver will tell you instantly and you can put it in parc ferme. if theres no water around your temp sensor it will just give you a bogus result. still good to get temp sensor but secondary to engine saver in my opinion.

I have a feeling I've already got an engine saver...I need to find the list of things this car has that the previous owner installed. He was very careful and loved this car well so he did some great work on it, I'll track down the list...my mission is probably just going to be going through everything to make sure it's working properly.

There is also a battery issue, there's a twin battery setup and I'm pretty sure there's a pretty decent drain coming from somewhere...we digress

Originally Posted by Fausto79

rather than temp monitor, i firstly would get an engine saver. the temperature may not rise until it's too late. where as when water leaves your engine the engine saver will tell you instantly and you can put it in parc ferme. if theres no water around your temp sensor it will just give you a bogus result. still good to get temp sensor but secondary to engine saver in my opinion.

In my terms you're referring to a low coolant alarm. Useful bit of gear, but won't stop you cooking an engine that is full of coolant.

I use these: ENGINE WATCHDOG Audible Engine Overheating Alarm, Gauge & Sensor. I currently have the TM2 and TM4 on different vehicles, but prefer the TM2 as its much easier to read now my eyes are getting on a bit.
They sense engine temperature directly and don't rely on contact with coolant.
They've saved me a couple of times with thermostat and water pump issues (still full of coolant), and I'm confident that I'll see an increase in temp and get the alarm before any damage is done if I lose the coolant somehow.

At the end of the day, you can happily run an engine without coolant for a short period as long as you don't get it hot. Its getting hot that kills them, not the lack of coolant directly.

The key is the audible alarm though, since even a good a gauge is only useful when you're looking at it (which you're not 98% of the time).

Apologies for hijacking your tyre thread

Steve

Not at all, I think I partly hijacked it myself...tyres were getting boring anyway

Mine is definitely an audible one so I'll have to find out what it is.

if its just a red LED with a speaker (hidden) that beeps for a second when you turn ignition on, then its probably an engine saver. the TM2 will be a display screen i believe.

i have a madman 2. i get from it:

EGT
coolant temp (at top of the head, in coolant) so not as Steve G has.
oil pressure
Voltage
oil temperature. can hook up to engine but mine gives me tcase oil temp

i have separate vdo boost gauge and engine saver.

Just getting back to tyres quickly, I really like the 265/75/16s that I just got put onto the work ute (new BT50) and I'd love it if I could somehow put the same size onto my Disco, for many reasons. I can get one size snow chains to use on both cars. I really think that size is a great size for all round use and stability. One size tyre across both my cars. You know...but my questions is now what will I have to do to the Disco in order to make it possible to run that size tyre? Not only to make them fit, but also gearings? Is there actually a gear ratio mod that I can do which will make it drive like it drives now with smaller tyres or will there always be a struggle of some sort with a 300TDI when increasing to a size like that even if you can make them fit???

Hmmm been reading a bunch all over the net and it sounds like the jump to 265/75/16 is just too much hassle...but, a change from 245/75/16 to 265/70/16 is pretty much the same everything except wider. I'm thinking that unless this too presents too many problems with having to cut bits out or put on offset rims then this is looking alright...check out this good link to a tyre calculator to compare different sizes that I found:

Tire size calculator