Tyres and off roading!

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I lOvE mY lAnDy

I lOvE mY lAnDy

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Wirral
hi need some advice,
have a 300tdi manual disco, and currently have 235/75R16's fitted. They have an overall diameter of 28". I am looking at either 245/70R16 which are 30.6" overall diameter or 235/85R16 which have an overall diameter of 32". Will these tyres effect the gearing for when i go off road? if so what tyres would people recommend for off roading?

Thanks for the help Adam
 
Going up to 32" will have a noticeable impact on gearing - solution to this would be to replace your transfer box with one from a Defender, which is lower ratio and will bring your gearing back into line.
 
Yer i thought that, but would the gearing be changed to the extent that it would be no good off road? or would it just be at the point where you would be using 1st gear instead of 2nd for a lot of off road obstacles?
Thanks Adam
 
I use 235.85R16's on my 200Tdi

I do find that I need to stir the gearbox a bit more on the road, particularly on long hills, but off road there is no difference whatsoever.

I believe that the defender transfer box swap only affects the high range gears, the low gears are exact same in both transfer boxes.
 
crazymac said:
I use 235.85R16's on my 200Tdi

I do find that I need to stir the gearbox a bit more on the road, particularly on long hills, but off road there is no difference whatsoever.

I believe that the defender transfer box swap only affects the high range gears, the low gears are exact same in both transfer boxes.
Click to expand...

Cheers for the advice :)

Adam
 
crazymac said:
I use 235.85R16's on my 200Tdi

I do find that I need to stir the gearbox a bit more on the road, particularly on long hills, but off road there is no difference whatsoever.

I believe that the defender transfer box swap only affects the high range gears, the low gears are exact same in both transfer boxes.
Click to expand...
I'll 2nd that, i've never struggled anywhere with same size on mine! But it doesnt like any incline in 5th. Just depends how bothered you are, mines my daily drive but was bought as a toy, and i rarely go over 40 on work run, so im not arsed lol
 
discomark88 said:
I'll 2nd that, i've never struggled anywhere with same size on mine! But it doesnt like any incline in 5th. Just depends how bothered you are, mines my daily drive but was bought as a toy, and i rarely go over 40 on work run, so im not arsed lol
Click to expand...

I know I might sound a bit neaive but when do you use 1st for off roaring then, I found when I went grew laning even on the rough rocky sections 2nd gear faired better even with a little clutch slip at times?
 
dont think i've ever used 1st tbh, maybe ocasionaly on heavy boulder sections, where precision is needed more but thats rarely found on green lanes as they're rights of way. i find i get plenty of 'correctability' from the turbo, to compensate the differences in 2nd/3rd for e.g. if i miss judge gear selection. I avoid slipping clutch as im too tight to replace it if it wears lol. Let me know if you think thats a loada bull, or even useful :D
 
I lOvE mY lAnDy said:
I know I might sound a bit neaive but when do you use 1st for off roaring then, I found when I went grew laning even on the rough rocky sections 2nd gear faired better even with a little clutch slip at times?
Click to expand...

Very rarely will you use 1st gear off tarmac, it will pull away happily in 2nd low and if its a green lane then chances are 3rd low will be great for just pottering along.

I have used 1st on steep inclines but 2nd is usually the best gear.
 
discomark88 said:
dont think i've ever used 1st tbh, maybe ocasionaly on heavy boulder sections, where precision is needed more but thats rarely found on green lanes as they're rights of way. i find i get plenty of 'correctability' from the turbo, to compensate the differences in 2nd/3rd for e.g. if i miss judge gear selection. I avoid slipping clutch as im too tight to replace it if it wears lol. Let me know if you think thats a loada bull, or even useful :D
Click to expand...

no thats what i wanted to hear thanks :) god love the land rover forum and everyone on it!!
 
I lOvE mY lAnDy said:
hi need some advice,
have a 300tdi manual disco, and currently have 235/75R16's fitted. They have an overall diameter of 28". I am looking at either 245/70R16 which are 30.6" overall diameter or 235/85R16 which have an overall diameter of 32". Will these tyres effect the gearing for when i go off road? if so what tyres would people recommend for off roading?

Thanks for the help Adam
Click to expand...


Hi Adam, what no-one has mentioned yet is that if you by off-road style tyres in 235/85/16 you will almost certainly need to do a suspension lift of 2 inches.

This is usually achieved by installing +2" springs and shocks alround.
 
good point. Having said that, i did have a set of bfg on my old disco on standard height, but they were at's so i guess that made a difference. Rubbed the arches at 1st, but nothin a hacksaw couldnt handle :D
But i would defo go with lift, helps articulation imho.
 
depends on what you want to do but 235/85 should fit with a little arch trimming and front bumper end cap cutting. You can get better articulation from suspension lifts but then you are also making a higher centre of gravity and possibly ruining on road manners too. Discos and defenders arent too bad for articulation as standard anyway.
 
i run 33" maxxis on the disco and theyre nice.

but its ****e on the road, as far as straight line performance goes.

ie, some motorway hills have to be tackled in second if i want to keep the revs down (the v8 has no power below 3000 rpm and then it does 3-4mpg)

what im saying is that yes, larger tyres to affect on road. the benefit for me is that i can cruise at 60 odd mph at 2000 rpm which is good for my fuel consumption, but as above the slightest hill and 5th gear is useless.

off road in low box i do use 1st quite a lot because it really moves quite quickly in second.

i should change the final drive ratio at the diffs, but i am loathed to do so because i will lose my high ratios for on road consumption

i really need to speak to ashcroft and see about having a lower ratio fitted to the low range, but keeping standard high ratios for motorway cruising.

has to be said btw the ratios are just fine round town, its just on the motorway that 4th and 5th become difficult because the v8 has poor low end torque, and high revs are great but too expensive for a hill climb which could cost you a tenner to get up quickly!

sorry for the waffle i thought id just explain all angles.

lots of people put huge tyres on, i bet with a diesel its not really a problem, but you will simply use first much more off road.

cheers
 
Mr Noisy said:
i run 33" maxxis on the disco and theyre nice.

but its ****e on the road, as far as straight line performance goes.

ie, some motorway hills have to be tackled in second if i want to keep the revs down (the v8 has no power below 3000 rpm and then it does 3-4mpg)

what im saying is that yes, larger tyres to affect on road. the benefit for me is that i can cruise at 60 odd mph at 2000 rpm which is good for my fuel consumption, but as above the slightest hill and 5th gear is useless.

off road in low box i do use 1st quite a lot because it really moves quite quickly in second.

i should change the final drive ratio at the diffs, but i am loathed to do so because i will lose my high ratios for on road consumption

i really need to speak to ashcroft and see about having a lower ratio fitted to the low range, but keeping standard high ratios for motorway cruising.

has to be said btw the ratios are just fine round town, its just on the motorway that 4th and 5th become difficult because the v8 has poor low end torque, and high revs are great but too expensive for a hill climb which could cost you a tenner to get up quickly!

sorry for the waffle i thought id just explain all angles.

lots of people put huge tyres on, i bet with a diesel its not really a problem, but you will simply use first much more off road.

cheers
Click to expand...

I never had a problem with grunt in my V8 defender. Changing the transfer box for a defender one could sort the problem.
 
hi mate

im not sure if its my ageing engine, the size of my tyres or the immense weight of a fully prepared disco (2x hd bumpers, sliders, winch, hi lift, recovery gear etc etc) but it really struggles to keep up the pace on the motorway.

getting up to speed is acceptable, push it up the revs and it has no problem, but it just cannot maintain speed uphill in 4th and 5th at low revs.

the engine does not smoke, or lose any water, and the plugs look great, so i assume its very healthy actually.

its a pain more than anything.

yeah im sure a defender box would help, but as i say, for cruising on the flat i think its handy that it has high ratios.

perhaps investing in a defender lt230 and having ashcroft fit a extra low ratio to it would be a good idea, because the v8 likes to stall off road so some crawler gears would be nice.

cheers :)
 
Mr Noisy said:
hi mate

im not sure if its my ageing engine, the size of my tyres or the immense weight of a fully prepared disco (2x hd bumpers, sliders, winch, hi lift, recovery gear etc etc) but it really struggles to keep up the pace on the motorway.

getting up to speed is acceptable, push it up the revs and it has no problem, but it just cannot maintain speed uphill in 4th and 5th at low revs.

the engine does not smoke, or lose any water, and the plugs look great, so i assume its very healthy actually.

its a pain more than anything.

yeah im sure a defender box would help, but as i say, for cruising on the flat i think its handy that it has high ratios.

perhaps investing in a defender lt230 and having ashcroft fit a extra low ratio to it would be a good idea, because the v8 likes to stall off road so some crawler gears would be nice.

cheers :)
Click to expand...

Summit doesn't sound right. My 3.5 carb V8 had plenty of grunt. I was only getting about 12mpg outta it though. I did have to change the fuel filter every 6 months to keep the performance up though.
 
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