Thread: New wheels & tyres ???

I agree........

17's are safer.....................how's that; justified?

There are a lot more 18" tyres out there now so unless you're looking for something aggressive there's no need to change.

Pirelli scorpions, General grabbers, Continental crosscontact, Coopers and others. There's some threads in the D3 section on the choices.

I've very happy with my Scorpian ATR's.

Mmmmmm...decisions...decisions...

I have the Dynamic Steel rims with 17" M/T's. My reason for the change was where I drive and the much larger range of rubber available. North Western Australia, large loose rocks especially around Marble Bar / Nullagine and inland from there, and having tyres with good side grabbers and strength. My standard ally rims would of been a big mess by now and having that extra tyre height and steel for strength for impact when you hit that hole that was not seen and travelling at speed. Each individual has an opinion if it is worth the cost, but there is no doubt the rims are stronger and tyre selection available is better. A drawback is extra weight carried and when handling if you have a bung back like me. Only you will know if the change is worth it, as I drive about 40-50% offroad on rough rock/gravel/sand, if your in the rat race predominantly, steel may not be worth the cost. Each to his own, life's too short.

It's an old magazine, but 4X4Australia December 2007 has a good article on tests with low profile tyres. It includes a D3 on 265/60x18's, and others on an assortment of low profile rubber. All Coopers in this case, but there are a lot of other brands available now than when this test was run.

Cut to the chase. 60 profile rubber was found to have no significant disadvantages compared to more conventional ( think higher profile ) rubber, other than the need for slightly lower pressures in soft sand. Tyres with a profile lower than 60, were found to be harsh on rough stuff, but unsurprisingly outperformed the higher profile rubber on smooth bitumen. Chase up a back copy. Worth a read.

I've posted elsewhere a pic of my grabber at2s showing the wear rates. They are getting close to needing replacement now and I've been happy enough with them, we've been to Fraser Island, done the Oodnadatta Track and up to Darwin as well as the Spanish Steps track at Newnes in them with no issues. I think that if I was doing lots of dirt work I'd probably think of 17" rims but for a vehicle that is a family tourer we have no complaints about the 18" rims. I've put 59000 Km on them now and they are still legal so they are wearing OK

Regards,
Tote

Go 17"'s.
Just keep an eye on eBay. I picked up 4 LR 17" alloys for $600.