Thread: About to change Brakes to fit 17" rims

That kit would be a no brainer by the sounds if there is some extra braking power generated. Probably will work out cheaper.

You can easily buy after market discs & Akebono pads easy enough for the 2.7 which give dust free performance. Then you would only need to find the calipers and brackets 2nd hand. Sounds like you are all over it.

Nothing wrong with the 2.7 brakes.

From someone who did the retrofit to a MY10 D4 when no equivalent size 18" LT tyres were available, I suggest that there is quite a good choice of 18" tyres these days, even over-size ones that will still allow the wheels to turn on MY12+ D4s if the vehicle happens to land on the bump-stops.

You shouldn't need to replace the rear calipers, just the 2.7 caliper brackets and discs. The drums should be the same dia so no need for new shoes.

The MY10 3.0 front brakes may have been based on the performance of 4-piston RRS brakes but they are only 2 piston, sliding calipers.

Discovery 18" wheels | Land rover 18" rims | Tuffant

Considered these?

18" Steel Wheels for Land Rover Discovery 3, 4 or 5. The only legal steel wheel now available in Australia.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Northiam, wow, had not seen these, thanks for the heads up I will give them a call.
Not quite the look I was after, but WAY easier than changing brakes and price seems fair.

PerthDicso, yeah that kit is about $2k once converted though, which seems a bit steep, I've yet to hear back from them though, so who knows.

Graeme, thanks heaps for the input re callipers etc I will discuss that with triumph rover spares.
I guess I see 18" as a small improvement, but 17" as a better improvement, but totally agree 18"range is better now.
Can I ask if you have any more info on what you mean by oversize?
Do you agree with this info from Tuff ant?
Discovery 18" wheels | Land rover 18" rims | Tuffant

Whilst I am generally future proofing for some general camping/touring trips, my main requirement at the moment is very heavy laods.
We are cave divers and I regularily make the 3500 roiund trip from adelaide to the nualrbor and our gear is heavy.
I.e. I am running pretty well at full GVM on the vehicle and a camper trailer with pretty heavy nose weight.
I have to run 48-50psi cold in my 19" pirellie ATR's or they just bag out too much.

My main short term goal was running 17" BFG AT LT tyres was that they would handle the loads better with larger and stronger sidewalls.
But I am not sure if the 17" disco 3 rims are 7" or 8" wide either, still more research to do...

I suppose though that if I can make 265/65 slightly oversized 18" work this is an easy solution.
Although some say you need a rod lift kit for this not keen on this:
LR3, LR4, Tire Size Chart

More thoughts welcomed

I have been through this scoping exercise also. I did it before the Tuffant wheels came onto the scene and that would be your simplest option, even if just for your bush trips.

Next option would be to fit stock fit 2.7l rotors and calipers to the front which would allow running of LR alloy 18" wheels. Stock LR 18" alloys will fit over your existing rear brakes.

Then I suppose you could go the whole hog and downsize the rear brakes also to fit 17" wheels all 'round.

I would stay away from custom kits and retrofit factory setups only.

I'm a speleo also from way back. I always kept air around me though. I don't have gills!

Originally Posted by JamesAdelaide

My main short term goal was running 17" BFG AT LT tyres was that they would handle the loads better with larger and stronger sidewalls.
But I am not sure if the 17" disco 3 rims are 7" or 8" wide either, still more research to do...

Factory 17's are 7" wide

It seems no one mentions the master cylinder in all this. Has a phone confirmed the part numbers are the same across all models as it’s not uncommon for master cylinders to be different across a models to match the different brake combinations. Let’s not mention the potential imbalance by not matching front and rear as a system.

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

It seems no one mentions the master cylinder in all this. Has a phone confirmed the part numbers are the same across all models as it’s not uncommon for master cylinders to be different across a models to match the different brake combinations. Let’s not mention the potential imbalance by not matching front and rear as a system.

I'm fairly sure Graeme did not change the Master Cylinder when he did his conversion. I would have thought that the biasing valve and ABS would deal with any potential brake imbalance.