Thread: D2 tyre Q : 16 to 18 inch

18's overall diameter stays at around 29 inches.

plenty of tall 16's around
235 x 85 x 16
I think?

The big deal with big wheels is to allow the fitment of big brakes (generally), and lower profile tyres designed for on road performance rather than off road scabbling.
The overall wheel & tyre diameter remains the same.
This allows the final gearing and ultimately the speedo readings to be accurate across the range.
You could fit larger profile tyres to those recommended for each wheel size, however, your speed reading will be completetly disfunctional.
This: Tire size calculator will allow you to play with various wheel and tyre options and will indicate the % difference in speedo accuracy.

Not sure how much height if any you will gain by putting 18s on, but it will mean you will generally run lower profile tyres which will cost you heaps more, your ride comfort will go out of window and it will probably be useless offroad.
The easier and much better way to gain a bit of height would be... umm.. fit bigger tyres?

If you still want to go down that path I'm sure any of the HSE owners here that have 18's will swap for your 16's for free, no questions asked.

Personally, I'd rather have 18's for onroad use.

They are a much more stable and better handling tyre and the tread face is wider than a normal 255 tyre. With the pressures run on the road I doubt there is a lot of difference in the ride.

I'd have to disagree Slunnie. Before I bought my 2000 D2 I took a 2001 D2 for a spin (classic town edition) with 18's and it tram-tracked everywhere. Every bump in the road transfered through the steering and the car wanted to follow cracks in the road. Took the 2000 D2 for a spin straight after and no such problem. I checked the tyre pressure on the 2001 but it was spot on. It had just been over the pits too so no obvious wear in steering etc to cause the tracking. My landy mechanic at the time said a lot of people dont like the 18's because of the tram tracking issue so I dont think it was isolated to that one car.

In regards to more height shamirj, what are you chasing? More clearance under the diffs for offroading or wanting to fill the wheel arches a bit more? As the others have said, 18's with low profiles are the same height as 16's with 235-70's (although a bit wider)

The more rubber you have, the more cushioning effect off road (on rutted roads), hence why I have gone the 235/85 size in an all terrain type tyre. The one downside is that they have a much taller side wall than standard which means the tyre moves around a bit more under the car during on road driving. Standard it was better on the road but the bigger tyres transform it off road.

Originally Posted by gusthedog

I'd have to disagree Slunnie. Before I bought my 2000 D2 I took a 2001 D2 for a spin (classic town edition) with 18's and it tram-tracked everywhere. Every bump in the road transfered through the steering and the car wanted to follow cracks in the road. Took the 2000 D2 for a spin straight after and no such problem. I checked the tyre pressure on the 2001 but it was spot on. It had just been over the pits too so no obvious wear in steering etc to cause the tracking. My landy mechanic at the time said a lot of people dont like the 18's because of the tram tracking issue so I dont think it was isolated to that one car.

Thats an interesting issue and I think that its not necessarily an 18" wheel issue. I've found the 16x8 rims and OE tyres do that also and it's quite noticable. I'm not sure if it has to do with the tyres perhaps although they are also different tyres fitted to the 18x8 and the 16x8's.

You are probably right slunnie. Having only driven one D2 with 18's I'm no expert. Be interesting to hear if others have had problems with 18's or 16's tram tracking as it might be possible to narrow it down to specific tyre companies. I have sinced changed mechanics from the one that told me about the issue with 18's because I found out they were dodgy as


Sent from my iPhone using telepathy....