Tire decision block!

[brickpaul65]

275/70 R18

Has anyone other than floda ran 275/70 R18's?

How did they perform. I sent him a PM a while back to talk to him about trimming and rubbing because his LR4 looked great and his decriptions made it sound like he was able to trim to eliminate the rubbing.

Just curious. Daydreaming about the duratrac's in 275/70 instead of 275/65...probably a stupid idea...but I am not the smartest dreamer

 

[mpinco]

Some thoughts ............

While this started out as a LR3 discussion. all should consider the take-aways in the "Overland Journal Project Land Rover Discovery 4 (LR4)" posting/discussion. As Scott pointed out one of the critical factors for making the LR4 tire selection work was the narrow section width AND tread width. A 275/65-18 has a section width of 10.8" and a tread width of 8.7". In addition the LR4 project added 1.25" spacers that moved the inside clearance out by 1.25". Point of reference - a 265/65-18 section width is typically 10.7" with a tread width of 8.5"

A 285/60-18 tire like the LTZ has a section width of 11.43" and a tread width of 9.46". For LR3 owners that use 285/65-18's, you have lost almost 0.4" on the inside, if not more over 265/65-18, plus reduced turning radius and full lock rubbing.

As for LR4's that use a 30mm spacer to accommodate LR3 wheels 285/60-18's are actually .9" further out on the inside. The issue then becomes, as noted by Scott, the clearance to the exterior body panels. The Falken 275/65-18's have a section width of 10.8", virtually the same as 265/65-18's at 10.7". For LR4's with spacers the question then becomes, will 285/60-18's running stock lift (no Johnson Rods) actually stuff?

For my LR4 I've found 18" LR3 wheels and do not plan on permanently lifting the truck with rods. The spacers have been ordered. The tires are ........... TBD.

 

[David.gamble]

I have BFG ATs on my Defender. I've taken them through snow in scotland and deep mud in devon, plus all the motorway driving in-between. Can't fault them. Theres a solid second hand market for BFGs here in England (got a brand new one the other day for £20), not sure whats its like else where.

 

[D110]

Just switched from BFG ATs to Goodyear Duratracs (E load) on the 90 and am very pleased. I always thought the BFGs were too hard and didn't give very good wet pavement/ rock traction. So far I find the Duratracs actually quieter on the freeway and good on the wet pavement. Only had them on a trail once so far, but they seemed very capable.

 

[Eniam17]

Has anyone tried the new Goodyear A/T Adventure with Kevlar? Some of the guys in my club are very happy with the MTR's with Kevlar for off road use, but I DD my LR3 so the A/T with Kevlar appeal to me as they should have lower road noise, get decent mileage, but be strong enough for anything I'll throw at them off road. Any thoughts? I am really overthinking this tire thing at this point!

 

[JAK]

275/70 will require trimming in the rear fender wells. If you have rear AC you will have to relocate the refrigerant lines. Up front you will have to relocate the height sensor wire harness. You will have to trim the front bumper liner. If you run sliders you may have to trim those. The 275/70 is typically 33.2-33.6 tall depending on the brand, usually about an inch bigger than. The real issue when running a 33 inch tall tire is that if the air suspension fails the tires will contact the wheel liners in the front and in the back will touch the body. This will literally stop the truck from moving.

I just put on 285/65 which are just shy of 33 inches tall. I replaced 275/65's. I run wheel spacers and have done a lot of trimming up front and in the back. I have also changed the bump stops to keep everything from bottoming out. I have lost about an inch in upward articulation. I am willing to give up the upward articulation as my experience with getting hung up has to do with the wheel base of the LR3. When I get stuck it is because I have high centered.

My last thought is this. E-Rated tires are a must for the LR3 that will see trail and camping use. Weight shift while on the trail will load up a C or D rated sidewall too much especially if aired down.

 

[mpinco]

A couple of items:

Cooper acquired Mickey Thompson / ******** Cepek in 2003
http://www.rockcrawler.com/features/newsshorts/03march/mickey_thompson_cooper.asp

Per board discussions the A/T3 is the first Cooper branded tire developed by that team. Looking at the A/T3 performance assessment on Coopers web site it beats the LTZ across many categories. The only place the LTZ ourperforms is dry traction. The LTZ is really a SUV tire.

Me, I'm still looking ...................

 

[Mack73]

275/70 will require trimming in the rear fender wells. If you have rear AC you will have to relocate the refrigerant lines.

Just to clarify - it is the heater hoses you need to move. The refrigerant lines aren't really in the way of bending over the body seam. So you don't have to worry about discharing/recharging the AC. Just topping up the coolant.

 

[Flocker]

Has anyone tried the new Goodyear A/T Adventure with Kevlar? Some of the guys in my club are very happy with the MTR's with Kevlar for off road use, but I DD my LR3 so the A/T with Kevlar appeal to me as they should have lower road noise, get decent mileage, but be strong enough for anything I'll throw at them off road. Any thoughts? I am really overthinking this tire thing at this point!

I just mounted the Goodyear A/T Adventure with Kevlar in 255/60/19. Love them so far. Quiet, no fitment problems or vibration concerns, and have handled pastures and sandy roads without issue.

 

[axels]

Hey Flocker,
Some people seem to worry about the load rating on these tires. It's "only" 109.
What are your thoughts on this? How about when going off-road?
By the way, the 20s on the LR4 are rated at 109.

 

[Flocker]

Hey Flocker,
Some people seem to worry about the load rating on these tires. It's "only" 109.
What are your thoughts on this? How about when going off-road?
By the way, the 20s on the LR4 are rated at 109.

Oh, I don't know. I guess let me know if i'm missing something. I just figured 2,271 x 4 = 9,084, and its easy nowdays to keep tires properly inflated with TPMS, etc., and I when I air down, I am travelling sub 25 mph in loose dirt/sand. The Gross weight of the LR4 is 7,143, and the curb weight is 5,623 lbs, so 1,941 lbs to spare. The maximum payload including a driver is 1,484 lbs, which still doesn't exceed 9k lbs.

I try to avoid using the hitch receiver for much beyond plugging a hitch haul basket (which is awesome for extended trips that require muddy gear and tools, etc), So if I need to trailer much, I can always put the 111 street tires back on (nearly brand new BS Duelers, for sale cheap if anyone wants them!)

Beyond simple math, I haven't given this decision much thought. Do people not trust the load index on premium tires made in the USA?

 

[Eniam17]

Picture off camber rock crawling, coming down hard on two wheels. Not making it up over an obstacle and bouncing backward, coming down hard on 2 wheels, etc, you end up with almost all the vehicle weight plus energy from the movement of the vehicle on 2 of the 4 wheels. Or slamming on the brakes going 70 with a fully loaded 6k lb. SUV suddenly transferring a lot of the weight to front two wheels.

Then again, you could argue that if a high % of the weight is transferred to 2 tires in the situations above, you're over the limit regardless of if you have 109's or 112's.

All this being said I have 112's on my LR3 that I offroad with and 109's on the RR Sport that is primarily highway.

 

[Flocker]

Never thought about the rock crawling, but the tire itself would be about 10th on my list of things that may break when the front of the truck slams down like that.

Now hitting the brakes hard at 70? I'd hope the LR engineer who lets the 20" wheels go out with 109s thinks it can handle that.

 

[Eniam17]

it's not that hard to blow out a sidewall offroading, it's probably something that would happen a lot sooner than 9 other things on the LR3 breaking. I'm not disagreeing with you, just presenting a few things I've heard others say when discussing the load index. Personally I am not worried at all about the 109's on my sport. For heavy/frequent off road use or towing, I prefer to run heavier duty tires.

 

[mpinco]

Is anyone running the load range E General AT2's and are they too harsh of a ride for the LR4?