A little overwhelming...

StreetsofCompton

Adventurer
Hey Silmarillion, thanks for reaching out. Do you ever go to the Solaros meetups?

Jim, I just double checked the size on the tires. You're right, I was off a hair. 245/60/18 on LR3 wheels. Guessing this is why the ride quality seems so much worse than when the 19s were on it.
 

morrisdl

Adventurer
...you will not even know the UCA is cutting the tire until it's too late ...

With the 275/65 r18 Duratracs it was immediately evident when my tire was rubbing the upper control arm. When my wheel bearing gave out I stopped within 50 feet because of the rumble. No tire damage, but I was stuck until towed. A spacer might be a good insurance policy.
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
I never rubbed the UCA with 285/60/18 Cooper Zeon's. I probably had 1/4" or so clearance :)
 

Jwestpro

Explorer
With the 275/65 r18 Duratracs it was immediately evident when my tire was rubbing the upper control arm. When my wheel bearing gave out I stopped within 50 feet because of the rumble. No tire damage, but I was stuck until towed. A spacer might be a good insurance policy.

Interesting. I had that tire (275/65x18 Duratrac) on for a short time and do not recall there being UCA rubbing. I also had the Nitto Terra Grappler (285/60x18) on the first LR3 but these tires are different molds and have different shoulders so who knows! Vehicles are sometimes a little different too as I found with a 285/50x20 on RRS wheels fir just barely on my 06 lr3 but rubbed the UCA on the 07.
 

Silmarillion

Observer
No, I've never been... And Damn, just missed this year's event! Last time I saw the site, I didn't think they were still active.

I'm torn between going to the overland expo, but it's the same weekend as the Georgia Alabama game... Very tough decision.
 

nwoods

Expedition Leader
I'm torn between going to the overland expo, but it's the same weekend as the Georgia Alabama game... Very tough decision.

Let me make it easy for you. One of them will be recorded in High Def with slo-mo rewind and all the stats you could possibly want.
 

StreetsofCompton

Adventurer
Well said NWoods!

Well, as promised, got the new shoes on today. I'm simply amazed how much the ride improved over the ****e tires that came with the 18's. Something just felt off with how it drove, but as soon we drove away from Kauffman I kept telling my wife how good it felt to drive. Makes it's handling almost car like, as opposed to feeling like a fragile monstrosity.

Many more of these to come for sure but here's an update pic...

LR3tiresoldnew.jpg
 

StreetsofCompton

Adventurer
Update pic and fuel economy question

bajaracknew.jpg

Added this rack a few weeks ago. While I do love how it looks and it has served a functional purpose over MLK weekend as we traveled out of town, loaded to the gills, my MPG's have really suffered. I'm assuming the rack isn't solely responsible, but thought I'd post here and see what you guys think.

So after I put the KO2's on back in October, my avg economy was between 11.6-12.5 city and usually hovered between 15-16 on the highway. But ever since I put the rack on(the week of NYE) MPG's have slowly gotten worse. I figured it would dip a little bit, but not this much. The computer is now showing <10.0mpg in city and on a pure highway trek back from Ohio I couldn't get it above 12 :Wow1:

I figured that could have been explained by the weight, as we were loaded down, 4 adults, one baby and a **** ton of stuff. Coupled with running the heat most of the trip and the roof rack. But even since we've been back, its maintained awful numbers. Here are some things that have changed.

1.The last time I went to the local indy Rover shop, they suggested a throttle body cleaning given the age and mileage. I googled this and sure enough found a youtube DIY video. I completed this "repair" as well as cleaned the MAF sensor, the day before we left for Ohio. My understanding was that doing those two things would lead to an increase in MPG, even if just slightly.
2. I finally ordered a Gap tool. Have had it for 2-3 weeks now. At one point or another while going through all of the menu stuff, I selected the "fuel priming" function. Not really knowing what that did, it sounded like it would have a positive impact on MPG's? Naive and/or dumb on my part?
3. Also, since returning from the trip, I've been riding at +25mm. Really like how this 1" lift looks for the truck.
4. Obvs, I mentioned the roof rack.
5. It's due for an oil change.
6. Its finally been cold (by ATL standards) and I run the heat, seat warmers, etc most mornings and anytime the wife/kid are in the car. Could the heating system really penalize me so much?

Look, I knew the thing wasn't great on gas to begin with but given how little I've done in terms of adding weight to the vehicle compared to others on this site, Im baffled with how bad the mpgs have gotten. Am I just being paranoid? Drop the ride height back down, get the oil changed and see if it goes back up or could it be something more serious?

Thanks for your time, as always gents!
 
Last edited:

zelatore

Explorer
View attachment 327034

Added this rack a few weeks ago. While I do love how it looks and it has served a functional purpose over MLK weekend as we traveled out of town, loaded to the gills, my MPG's have really suffered. I'm assuming the rack isn't solely responsible, but thought I'd post here and see what you guys think.

So after I put the KO2's on back in October, my avg economy was between 11.6-12.5 city and usually hovered between 15-16 on the highway. But ever since I put the rack on(the week of NYE) MPG's have slowly gotten worse. I figured it would dip a little bit, but not this much. The computer is now showing <10.0mpg in city and on a pure highway trek back from Ohio I couldn't get it above 12 :Wow1:

I figured that could have been explained by the weight, as we were loaded down, 4 adults, one baby and a **** ton of stuff. Coupled with running the heat most of the trip and the roof rack. But even since we've been back, its maintained awful numbers. Here are some things that have changed.

1.The last time I went to the local indy Rover shop, they suggested a throttle body cleaning given the age and mileage. I googled this and sure enough found a youtube DIY video. I completed this "repair" as well as cleaned the MAF sensor, the day before we left for Ohio. My understanding was that doing those two things would lead to an increase in MPG, even if just slightly.
2. I finally ordered a Gap tool. Have had it for 2-3 weeks now. At one point or another while going through all of the menu stuff, I selected the "fuel priming" function. Not really knowing what that did, it sounded like it would have a positive impact on MPG's? Naive and/or dumb on my part?
3. Also, since returning from the trip, I've been riding at +25mm. Really like how this 1" lift looks for the truck.
4. Obvs, I mentioned the roof rack.
5. It's due for an oil change.
6. Its finally been cold (by ATL standards) and I run the heat, seat warmers, etc most mornings and anytime the wife/kid are in the car. Could the heating system really penalize me so much?

Look, I knew the thing wasn't great on gas to begin with but given how little I've done in terms of adding weight to the vehicle compared to others on this site, Im baffled with how bad the mpgs have gotten. Am I just being paranoid? Drop the ride height back down, get the oil changed and see if it goes back up or could it be something more serious?

Thanks for your time, as always gents!

1- cleaning the TB and MAF are good and easy things to do and could help mileage a tiny bit but really tend to help with a bad/rough idle more than anything. I wouldn't really expect any change in mileage.
2- fuel priming is for when you change a fuel pump or perform other service on the fuel system that might lead to air in the lines. Basically it just runs the pump w/o starting the motor to purge the lines of air. No effect in your case.
3- Riding higher will impact mileage as it causes more air to go under the truck leading to turbulence. This would primarily be at highway speeds of course and shouldn't be a massive change but it is a slight increase in drag.
4- yes, a rack will hurt mileage as well, again more at highway speeds. I can't say exactly how much but maybe 1 mpg? I didn't log the change when I installed mine.
5- certainly won't hurt the mileage to do a change but any increase would be minimal at best
6- running the heating system(s) shouldn't have much if any noticeable effect on the mileage. The electric units like the seats would draw more power from the battery and lead to the alternator doing a bit more work but the chances of seeing that on the trip computer are slim. Running in extremely cold weather would have the truck running rich longer during first start-up to get up to temp, but I can't imagine Atlanta would ever get that sort of cold. Alberta maybe, Atlanta not so much.

However, your mileage does seem a bit lower than I'd expect. Your biggest hit would be the tires - larger, heavier, and higher rolling resistance than stock. Next the rack, and lastly the increased ride height. Still, I would expect you should be able to get around 14-15 mph on the highway at around 70 mph assuming you weren't in the mountains or something. Around town it's just going to be miserable. I don't even want to know what mine does in stop and go, but I'd be it's single digits. With all my mods I can get about 14 mpg in gentle highway driving, though the computer shows lower. My tires are 10% larger than stock (33.3") so my computer is a bit off as well as my speedo. BTW, if you increased your tire size it's a good chance your speedo will be about correct - pretty much every new vehicle reads high by a couple mph stock as a CYA by the manufacturers. You can easily check with a GPS or your phone. Mine currently reads about 5 mph slow. With my old 275/65-18s I was about 2 mph slow. Stock I was about 2 mph fast. At least I think so...it wasn't stock for very long.
 

A.J.M

Explorer
Generally, it would be good to give a full service, change all filters, plugs and fluids. Good quality items and not cheap rubbish.
The air filter needs done every 10-15k. LR say 45k for the diesel which is far too long.

Tyre pressures can help a touch,
 

zelatore

Explorer
Generally, it would be good to give a full service, change all filters, plugs and fluids. Good quality items and not cheap rubbish.
The air filter needs done every 10-15k. LR say 45k for the diesel which is far too long.

Tyre pressures can help a touch,

Agreed. Tire pressure can help a bit. I don't know what load range your current tires are but they likely want more pressure than the stockers did. As for the service, a poor air filter is more likely to have an impact than an over-due oil change so also a good call to do that. I run my truck in a lot of dust during the summer months here in the west and it's absolutely shocking how much dirt collects in the filter. I often clean it mid-trip and replace it at least once a year.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
186,502
Messages
2,886,727
Members
226,515
Latest member
clearwater
Top