There has been talk for years about being able to fit 17" wheels on the LR3. 17" wheels were never available in the US, but they were sold on LR3's in the UK/Europe and Australia.
I really wanted to get a set of 17's for 2 reasons: 1) Due to the welded on frame bit in the back of the front wheel well, a 32" wheel won't fit without some cutting and welding. and 2) I really don't like running a 32" wheel if the suspension fails. So I ended up with 265/65/18 BFG TA/KO. But what I really wanted was a true MT.
As luck would have it, a set of LR3 17" wheels came up for sale in the US.
The thought was all that needs to be done is convert the front brakes to v6 spec to clear the wheels. And this is true. The only difference from the v8 brakes are 1) The caliper carrier, and 2) the rotor. So a quick trip to Land Rover for a set of front carriers (Part # SEH500012) for about $120. Then a stop by Atlantic British for a v6 brake kit. Installation is super easy. You need to take the carriers off to change the rotor anyways, so the process is the same as changing the rotors, just put the new carriers on instead of the v8 ones.
New shinny v6 caliper carriers and rotors
Now for the problem.......... I tried to put the rear wheel on and found this:
I had never heard that the rear brakes were larger than in the UK/ROW vehicles that came with 17's........ Bugger. So what to do. I started grinding on the calipers to see if it would get better.. and it did, but it would not be safe to remove the amount of material necessary to get them to fit. Wheel spacers are the only answer.
I then got a set of 30mm Terrafirma wheel spacers.
Slapped those suckers on and........... still no good. It is very close but still touches the rim. So out comes the grinder and a flap wheel. A good amount of material needs to come off in several spots, but overall not 'that' much and 1) its the rear brakes and 2) they are way over built out of solid steel
Since my rear brakes are brand new, the caliper is pushed out as far as possible. As the pads wear the caliper will move further in reducing the contact. Therefore the only way to get them to fit with v8 brakes is some grinding and 30mm spacers. I'm not happy about running the spacers offroad and the fact that it has pushed the wheels out too far (in my opinion) but it will be a good enough temp fix until I can research the correct rear brakes to fit.
And here they are. 245/75-17 BFGoodrich KM2 on Land Rover 17" wheels. Finally a true mud terrain in <32" and a GOOD sized side wall. And yes I like my pizza cutters
If anyone knows the part numbers for the smaller rear brakes please let me know.
Normal Height
Off Road Height
I really wanted to get a set of 17's for 2 reasons: 1) Due to the welded on frame bit in the back of the front wheel well, a 32" wheel won't fit without some cutting and welding. and 2) I really don't like running a 32" wheel if the suspension fails. So I ended up with 265/65/18 BFG TA/KO. But what I really wanted was a true MT.
As luck would have it, a set of LR3 17" wheels came up for sale in the US.
The thought was all that needs to be done is convert the front brakes to v6 spec to clear the wheels. And this is true. The only difference from the v8 brakes are 1) The caliper carrier, and 2) the rotor. So a quick trip to Land Rover for a set of front carriers (Part # SEH500012) for about $120. Then a stop by Atlantic British for a v6 brake kit. Installation is super easy. You need to take the carriers off to change the rotor anyways, so the process is the same as changing the rotors, just put the new carriers on instead of the v8 ones.
New shinny v6 caliper carriers and rotors
Now for the problem.......... I tried to put the rear wheel on and found this:
I had never heard that the rear brakes were larger than in the UK/ROW vehicles that came with 17's........ Bugger. So what to do. I started grinding on the calipers to see if it would get better.. and it did, but it would not be safe to remove the amount of material necessary to get them to fit. Wheel spacers are the only answer.
I then got a set of 30mm Terrafirma wheel spacers.
Slapped those suckers on and........... still no good. It is very close but still touches the rim. So out comes the grinder and a flap wheel. A good amount of material needs to come off in several spots, but overall not 'that' much and 1) its the rear brakes and 2) they are way over built out of solid steel
Since my rear brakes are brand new, the caliper is pushed out as far as possible. As the pads wear the caliper will move further in reducing the contact. Therefore the only way to get them to fit with v8 brakes is some grinding and 30mm spacers. I'm not happy about running the spacers offroad and the fact that it has pushed the wheels out too far (in my opinion) but it will be a good enough temp fix until I can research the correct rear brakes to fit.
And here they are. 245/75-17 BFGoodrich KM2 on Land Rover 17" wheels. Finally a true mud terrain in <32" and a GOOD sized side wall. And yes I like my pizza cutters
If anyone knows the part numbers for the smaller rear brakes please let me know.
Normal Height
Off Road Height
