D4 standard 19" rims/tyres

On the weekend I was down at Yalwal on my 19" tyres with my trusty Wranglers (haha). Some of the trails are in seriously nasty condition, big washouts, ruts, mud bogs, exposed tree roots and rocks in dangerous places. We wheeled along (knowing the area reasonably well) through trails and thought not much of it until we arrived at an area that is usually teeming with people ... to find the only vehicles there were a bunch of seriously modified nissyotas and a very cool Daihatsu Feroza (modified off it's head) ... we had a chat and they were all very surprised my shiny Disco had gotten that far ... then one took a look at my girly tyres and told me I was nuts ... I got in and out of the area no worries and on my way home I was thinking, not me who's nuts, I'm quiet and comfortable on my trusty Wrangler HP's .... you guys on your Dick Cepek MT whatevers and your 6" raised suspension, maybe not so much (except the Daihatsu guy, I was envious of him).

My only issue of the day is the real problem to me with Wranglers - nasty side slip when at angles on slippery surfaces .... had to be very very slow and careful between various trees and rocks ... but all good because I'm a bit slow anyway !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tombie

You do realise the difference in sidewall for the factory rubber is 6.3mm between the 18 and 19"

And is only 9.35mm if the 18" is running a 265 tyre..

Of competition (Toyota and Nissan) sidewalls are all within 10mm of one another.

Not such a big difference at all.. Just have to wait for manufacturers to Catch up

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Hi Tombie,

no I wasn't aware of the exact difference. My 'mild' gripe is the distinct lack of options in 19in as others posted.

I note you went to 18s probably at a large expense...probably due to lack of rubber choice in 19 vs gaining 6mm of tyre wall height?

While I don't have the background of a Tata mechanical engineer, I'll accept there are huge advantages to larger calipers (especially the way I like to drive :D ) my relatively small whinge - I just want some chunky tread without forking out for changing rims. There, vented and moving on :cool:

I never went 18s - my D4 is 2.7 (there wasn't enough incentive to spend $13k back then to go 3.0l) :D

As I mentioned once before - I think the greatest reason for damage is that the vehicles isolate the driver so well that we are pushing them harder and faster than the other vehicles and any impact is greater to the vehicle but shielded from the occupants.

I know the Cruiser at 70km/h was shaking his fillings out.
I was chasing him down at 120km/h and it was like a magic carpet ride.

Interestingly - the 20" market is better catered for with offroad rubber than the 19" market.. Go figure!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tombie

As I mentioned once before - I think the greatest reason for damage is that the vehicles isolate the driver so well that we are pushing them harder and faster than the other vehicles and any impact is greater to the vehicle but shielded from the occupants.

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And it would seem that most of the issues people are having are on relatively rough, relatively high speed roads.

Conversely, I think I am travelling more slowly on rough surfaces in the D4 than I have in previous 4wds. I have noticed my travelling times on a few High Country tracks have increased. I am certainly far more careful with the tyres than before.

Cheers,
Jon

I'm like you Jon, everyone is faster than me offroad ! I just go at a comfortable speed - respect for passengers, tyres and the vehicle generally. I often **** people off with my slow offroad speed I think. I used to go a lot faster in my older LR's and Yotas ... but I think age may also have something to do with it too ;)

I sent my wife and oldest daughter for a ride in the Jeep on the weekend (so they could experience the 'comfort') - my wife reckons her bra was not working at all and my daughter said it was like a carnival ride.

To keep it in perspective I have been off roading since 1977 with 15 inch and 16 inch wheels and NEVER had a puncture or ruined tyre.

Whoops I lie. I just remembered I was driving across a vacant lot in Riyadh and drove over a bit of rebar sticking out of concrete in 1985.

Compare this with over Christmas/new Year when on the Range Rover Club trip to Geehi, 2 D4s lost 19 inch Wranglers in 2 days. Of course there is the bloke in the Range Rover Club who destroyed 11 Coopers on 18s on his way to Darwin from Sydney so 18s are not a panacea.

I would like to think that LR could engineer 17 inch rims for D4 seeing Toyota manage it on Prados. Maybe it is the necessity to pull up from Vmax on an autobahn which is totally irrelevant in Australia however fashionable it seems.
For all the arguments about 18 and 19 inch wheels IMHO there is no doubt that 17 inch rims would result in far fewer tyre losses and for drivers to not be continually worrying about their tyres.

To me it is just another or maybe the main signifier of the lack of importance that LR gives to Australia and why they lost the genuine offroad market to Toyota.
Regards Philip A

As I pointed out - try doing 100km/h on some tracks in a Prado - you'll change your mind and slow down quick smart... :cool:

In a D4 you wont - you just don't notice how rough its getting... This leads drivers to push equipment beyond what they normally would.

I know in the Defender even, I wouldnt contemplate the pace I run the D4 some times...

I know I was taken by surprise when I went to turn in at close to the state limit on an outback track!!!!! The vehicles in front didnt mind, they were well under that speed due to track conditions...

The guy behind got a great display of 3.2t of D4 trying to defy physics :angel:

The old adage of 80km/h max is a great way to prevent damage (and enjoy the drive)...

And for the record, I've done 8 years on 18s and not a puncture to be seen.. Last puncture I had was in a 16" tyre on a Commodore in 1997 :cool:
I have never punctured one of my tyres offroad.

I generally sat on about 90km/h on good sections of the Oodnadatta and Birdsville tracks on the last trip in the 110 with 16" Goodyear Silent Armours. I got one puncture, easily repaired in Maree.

I think I would be happy doing the same speed in the RRV with 19" ATRs. It would probably feel slower.

IMHO the tyre trouble is no different to any other issue people have in the bush,95% of them are operator error,either the wrong type of tyre,overloading,wrong pressure etc or in my case the tyres were tubed and blew out or like the MTR's were complete crap.Living in northern outback WA we had the bicky dipper migration every winter and plenty arrived in town with bent and destroyed 16-17'' tyres and rims,like Philip posted with the guy who destroyed 11 tyres,people are like that,my mate is like that,he can't go anywhere without breaking something. Pat