Thread: 275/55R20 KO2 or LTZ

I have BFG AT's on my Defender.
They were on the car when I got it and I've done 50000kms.
Been pretty happy with them.
But yes It did take some time to get used to the car and the tires after coming out of a Disco 4.
I had to keep bigger distances from cars in front and get used to a feeling of brakes that weren't as good.
My Disco 4 had original Tyres and then I had Pirelli Scorpion ATR's which I really loved. Awesome tyre.
I'm just wanting to go something slightly more aggressive and macho looking.
Yeah I know it should be 100% about performance and road noise etc but sometimes it's also about the look. ;-)

KO2s have been given the nod. They're considerably cheaper than the Nitto TG2 (I didn't want the cheaper original TG) and I became wary of possible tram-lining from the very square edges of the Nittos. I'm undecided whether to fit the 5th to the spare at this time, making the decision once I discover whether or not there is room to fit a wheel in the boot beside the fridge after having ruled-out any possibility of it fitting deflated in the spare wheel well.

I wonder if the KO2 won't fit in the spare tire location in the boot?
Is it a diameter thing or a width thing that makes it too big?

I'll temporarily remove the left side plastic floor support to get the wheel in (valve removed) to test whether the wheel will sit level and low enough. The plastic will be trimmed and spacer blocks fitted for the floor if necessary if the fit is acceptable. The overall well diameter is big enough but the step around the bottom may prevent the wheel sitting on the bottom. If the wheel is sufficiently centred the clamp may do the job but a longer bolt may also be required.

The spare will fit above the floor beside the fridge so all 5 tyres will be fitted to rims, but I'd be looking for another 20" rim to fit below the floor for local use to free the boot space. 1 original tyre is new whilst the other 4 are worn on the o/s edge.

An unfitted LT275/55R20 BFG AT KO2 tyre fits in the spare wheel well if the left plastic support piece removed. The plastic will be trimmed back behind the metal only as necessary and leaving the original floor clip intact. Spacer blocks of about 50mm were needed on the bottom to keep the tyre level. A 20-40 mm aluminium RHS frame will be screwed to the underside of the floor edges to support the floor and to prevent items from disappearing into the well, with the thickness to be determined once a tyre is fitted to a rim. The floor will locate slightly towards the front of the vehicle to allow room for the flap at the base of the lower tailgate when the tailgate is closed.

The BFGs are now fitted. LLAMS extra low whilst in access height mode appears to drop the vehicle to the bump-stops as the ride is very bouncy even when barely moving yet there is still plenty of clearance around the tyres to cater for compression of the bump-stops. The spare is fitted although additional dense sponge blocks for the tyre to rest on will be installed, along with a 50mm spacer of some description (perhaps very dense sponge or similar) around the floor edges.

This is normal height although not particularly informative at this angle.

Graeme, what about the noise........are they noisy?

Rgds
Grant

They're dead quiet under the carport but should get some idea tomorrow.

Today I took particular note of the noise on coarse bitumen produced by the new Hankook RF10s on the D4 19" rims now removed to try to get a fair comparison. I would happily live with the Hankook's noise because of their great traction and steering in the sloppy conditions here at the moment. However I wasn't prepared to fork out significant money for a set of D4 19" rims as the 19" Hankook's carcase isn't known for its strength. I estimated the BFG sidewalls to be 8-10 mm thick when felt prior to fitting.