Thread: 275/55R20 KO2 or LTZ

The bearing is booked to be replaced Tuesday after an aborted attempt by me at Easter due to lack of appropriate tools, which I now have made/purchased but giving the job to the local mechanic anyway. The noise has been getting worse and now could not possibly be blamed on tyres.

The tread-like upper sidewall layer extends to around half the sidewall height thereby giving some protection to the minimal bulge, which is 10mm further out than the rim edge. My rims' spokes curve outwards between the rim edge and the centre resulting in only 7mm protection at their maximum curvature - enough for flying stones.

My K02's are very quiet on the D4. Significantly quieter than the worn D697's. I was a bit worried after your posts of all the noise problems but I am very happy with the ride and the quietness. I think they are a bit stiffer in the sidewall than the D697's and the car handles a bit better, with a tighter feel and less moving around on the road. I am running the same pressures, 36 front and 42 rear most of the time.

Thanks Graeme, I hope the bearing does the trick.
I find original size tyres don't offer much protection for the original rims.
I'm thinking of getting them repaired and painted before putting the AT KO2s on.

Hmm, this morning a rear tyre was pinched against the rim hard enough to leave a nice black mark. A narrow rut in my driveway is normally straddled but my attention was elsewhere so the rear wheel found the rut resulting in an almighty bang from the left rear suspension. Time will tell if these sidewalls will survive as I did not expect the tyre to deform so readily.

Originally Posted by Graeme

Hmm, this morning a rear tyre was pinched against the rim hard enough to leave a nice black mark.

At least you didn't do what I did and take out a chunk of rubber and rim as posted in the D4 section. Mine was also pinched against the rim on a rock but I had about 16 psi in the tyre coming off a soft beach. I replaced my 500 km old tyre but the sidewalls are very thick and there was no damage inside and no belts visible under the flap of rubber. I will probably use it for a spare when I get around to putting it on a rim.

No visible damage but cords could be fractured so I'll have to monitor it, but not in the same league as slicing chunks out of the sidewall.

Unfortunately replacing the FR wheel bearing made no difference so I'm back to looking for an un-dampened resonating panel, similar to how the spare wheel well floor was. I've not previously considered the disc stone/dust shield which although doesn't have the typical rattle when one of the bolt holes has cracked, does vibrate to some extent when flicked and it also sounds slightly different to the left one. Hence it will get a patch of sound deadening material.

Edit: No, not the shields.

How well balanced are the wheels? I know some tyres are near impossible to balance.