Thread: 19" wheels off-road - wise?

Sorry if I upset any one with my " generalisation" ( not my intention ) But Im sure on club events there would be plenty of spares around. Try getting a 18" or bigger at Ilkurlka , not going to happen. Only one truck in and out per month, IF they need to more fuel (diesal only) and supplies I for one would not risk it. gghaggis hope your good luck keeps going sounds like you are having a great run.

connock

It appears that the modern day 4WD's are heading down the 18" to 20" path. As they do, the tyre companies will accomodate.
I have had my D4 3.0 almost two years now and have noticed that there is now a wider choice of tyres and the prices are better.
From what I hear from others, the 19" and 20" are a better tyre for handling and towing. We do spend most of our time on the black stuff.
Can't speak for the 18" as I havent had them.

Cheers, Craig

I have read with interest that having 20's on a D3/4 makes them handle so much better and I'm sure they do, but I'd really like to get the chance to find out exactly how much better some day compared to D3 fitted with decent shocks.

After fitting the Koni's to our D3 the way it handled on 18's dramatically improved for the better. Even with the 265x60x18 AT3's fitted the handling is great and I bet AT3's are not in genral described as a good handling H/T tyre. Even just because of their larger then standard size, let alone the thread pattern. Still the D3 handles incredibly well at any speed on nearly any surface even when driven agressively.

So as I see it we now have the best of both worlds which is truely a surprise, a really good handling D3 that also has reasonable large and agressive A/T tyres. Sure the 20's look great but I personally would not want them just because of how much they cost to replace when they wear out.

If anything because of how good it handles on the AT3's I went the other way and recently brought off of PCH his BB6 17's with STT's fitted. Funnily enough I now see the AT3 A/T's as my good handling highway tyres, I'm sure this would not be the case if I still had standard shocks though.

cheers,
Terry

Originally Posted by gghaggis

Hmm

I don't believe your generalisation holds, at least not for the 18" rims.
Although I've certainly damaged my 19" rims and tyres when I had them, I've never damaged the 18" alloys I sell - and I don't exactly hold back ....

In the year I've had them I've:

- lead12 full day off-road classes (sand/hills/rock climbs)
- lead 2 advanced 4WDing classes (mud/rock climbs)
- run the CSR, Cape Levique, Gibb River, Israelite Bay

- never damaged a rim and had a grand total of 1 puncture.

Cheers,

Gordon

Hey Gordon,

Can I ask for more clarification pls? The damage to the 19" wheels was caused why?.....their size or the fact that the alloy is soft?

Obviously there is less rubber between rim and road/track, which will leave them prone if the tyre gets pinched or you 'wade' through gravel, etc but I've got chips all over my LR wheels and quite a few are so close to the axle, it wouldn't have mattered if I was running 16"s. They seem to chip and flake pretty easily.

Just wondering...

Cheers,

Kev.

Originally Posted by TerryO

I have read with interest that having 20's on a D3/4 makes them handle so much better and I'm sure they do, but I'd really like to get the chance to find out exactly how much better some day compared to D3 fitted with decent shocks.

After fitting the Koni's to our D3 the way it handled on 18's dramatically improved for the better. Even with the 265x60x18 AT3's fitted the handling is great and I bet AT3's are not in genral described as a good handling H/T tyre. Even just because of their larger then standard size, let alone the thread pattern. Still the D3 handles incredibly well at any speed on nearly any surface even when driven agressively.

So as I see it we now have the best of both worlds which is truely a surprise, a really good handling D3 that also has reasonable large and agressive A/T tyres. Sure the 20's look great but I personally would not want them just because of how much they cost to replace when they wear out.

If anything because of how good it handles on the AT3's I went the other way and recently brought off of PCH his BB6 17's with STT's fitted. Funnily enough I now see the AT3 A/T's as my good handling highway tyres, I'm sure this would not be the case if I still had standard shocks though.

cheers,
Terry

Hey Terry,

Great to hear that you are chuffed with the new shocks. Do you know anybody locally that you could swap wheels with...for a trial? I think you'd find that the same tyre type but with less side wall would create a more direct ride. The whole race car world probably stands as an example.

But of course, with every pro, there is a con....the ride gets stiffer as the sidewall decreases. Guess it's a matter of preferance.

Drop in the next time you're in town...we'll give it a whirl!

Cheers,

Kev.

Originally Posted by Celtoid

Hey Gordon,

Can I ask for more clarification pls? The damage to the 19" wheels was caused why?.....their size or the fact that the alloy is soft?

They do seem to be quite soft - in combination with being that close to the road surface, and the fact that the spokes stand proud of the outer rim, all 4 rims have damage to the alloy.

Cheers,

Gordon

Originally Posted by Celtoid

Hey Terry,

Great to hear that you are chuffed with the new shocks. Do you know anybody locally that you could swap wheels with...for a trial? I think you'd find that the same tyre type but with less side wall would create a more direct ride. The whole race car world probably stands as an example.

But of course, with every pro, there is a con....the ride gets stiffer as the sidewall decreases. Guess it's a matter of preferance.

Drop in the next time you're in town...we'll give it a whirl!

Cheers,

Kev.

Thanks for the offer Kev, I'll take you up on it when I'm next in Brisbane for work, which could be quite soon.

cheers,
Terry

I have a D4 2.7L with 265/65x17 D694s and the stock 255/60x18 Wranglers. Having swapped between these two sets I notice that the car feels a bit quicker off the mark with the 18s. I am not sure whether this is due to the slight size variance or whether it is to do with the weight of the total wheel/tyre combo I only notice it immediately after the swap. As for handling i think there is more grip on the bitumen with the 18s but it is very marginal and I am not pushing the D4 that hard that the extra grip is actually required wet or dry. There is also a slight noise difference but that also is very marginal. I think the differences are that small that it is probably possibel to experience the same difference between the same size tyre from two different manufacturers.

Having said that I recently drove a D4 with 19 inch wheels and it felt much more direct in the steering i.e it responded more readily to steering inputs and i put this down to the smaller sidewall. If only I could find myself a set of cheap 19 inch rims and get the other half on the rattle gun I too could ponder which boots I will wear each morning.