Rim size and tire choices on LR3s

[pixelcodex]

Hello, I am in the market for an LR3 and am looking at an HSE for which the owner swapped the 19s for 20s. He claims that when it was time to get new tires the "odd size" made them expensive and/or had fewer tire choices, and that the shop guy told him he could get 20s and rims (nothing fancy/ugly) for a little more than the cost of 19 tires alone. The car is his wife's and she admittedly wanted a RR but could not afford it, so that could be the reason for the odd swap. He still has the 19s (tireless), they would come with the purchase, so I could swap when it is time to get tires and sell the 20" rims.

Now, is the tire option/price really an issue? Having never owned a Rover before I never heard of such a thing. I'd appreciate the advice of the collective Rover family.

 

[dcwhybrew]

I think the problem you will have is 1) with the 19s, as you stated already, not many options in that wheel size, and 2) what you probably will find is that there arent very many 20" options that will fit your LR. 20" is a popular option for the high end 1/2 american ton trucks and SUVs (ie Tahoe LTZ).

If you have both sets of wheels, sell them both and move down to an 18" and your options will open up for you slightly. That may be a tough choice if you have the HSE trim that came with the 19s.

Personally, I have enjoyed the General Grabber AT2s in 255/60-18. Others have found that all terrain tires in 265/60 18s work well. The biggest seems to be 265/65-18, but I may be wrong.

 

[rmuller]

Here's a great link with a lot of tire size comparisons, and which you can run with and without a lift;

http://johnsonrods.com/johnson_rods_2_004.htm

 

[pixelcodex]

I guess that list speaks volumes for what is available in terms if sizes. Of course all if this is hypothetical since I don't have the truck yet but it would be a good idea to go down to 18 as suggested.

On a related topic, do you loose the 3 different LR3 height settings if you buy something like those johnsonrods lifts?
Edit: Nevermind this question, I read more about this on their site.

 

[Dave Legacy]

Wouldn't hurt to start looking for a set of 18s right away because it might take a while to find them.

 

[nwoods]

Some more helpful info:
http://lr3tips.wordpress.com/2007031446-2/