Choosing tyres and suspension

cowasaki · Oct 5, 2015

I've spent all evening going through Ebay, several Landrover sites and searching on here. I have seen numerous threads all asking what the biggest tyres are for standard and plus 2 with most of them just telling people to do a search. I'm not necessarily looking for the biggest tyres that fit mine but I do need to change the tyres. I did ask about suspension a while ago and that is also being changed so I'm going for Terrafirma +2. My question though is:

Having looked at the numerous threads with various views, liking the look of larger tyres and using the 7j "Boost" alloys that I already own the best size appears to be 265/75-16 or 235/85-16. Am I right with this?. My use is 95% road and 5% green laning so what are the advantages to each/which is likely best for that? Am I right in thinking a normal general purpose tyre is best for this? What brands do people find have worked well? What should I look out for?

Maybe a tyre sticky might avoid all the duplicate threads if we can answer the basic "standard" questions.

Paul D · Oct 5, 2015

cowasaki said:
Having looked at the numerous threads with various views, liking the look of larger tyres and using the 7j "Boost" alloys that I already own the best size appears to be 265/75-16 or 235/85-16. Am I right with this?.

Yes, in my opinion, others 'best' might be different ... However, those sizes are a good compromise between large, small and have a wide choice of tread patterns and massive range of prices. No need to change gearing for on-road and green-laning much, if at all, so basically fit 'n forget .. I run 235 85 extreme treads 'cos mine's mostly off-road or green-laning and I don't often struggle!

My use is 95% road and 5% green laning so what are the advantages to each/which is likely best for that? Am I right in thinking a normal general purpose tyre is best for this? What brands do people find have worked well? What should I look out for?

BFG AT all the way .. before I went to 'extreme' tread tyres I had three sets of BFG AT's, changed them at 25000 miles and re-couped roughly £250 each time. Again, I rarely struggled off-roading and they are an order of magnitude better on-road in the wet or damp.

Maybe a tyre sticky might avoid all the duplicate threads if we can answer the basic "standard" questions.

Maybe ...

mikescuba · Oct 5, 2015

I run 235x85x16 on mine which I am told are about the closest to the original 7.50's. I would go for AT's ( all terrain) With road tires as soon as you go laning you will get stuck. I have General Grabber AT2's which I am very happy with. I believe there is a newer model out now. They are very good in the wet and snow. My previous tires were lethal in the wet. They are also fairly quiet on the road. I did a trip across Morocco last year, two of the other vehicles were running them on there vehicles. They stood up very well in the sand and rocks, no obvious damage. Unlike one other guy who's tires were shredding and I had a major blow out on the motorway on the way back with my Trac Edge's. Don't think you would be disappointed with them.
I also looked at Cooper's AT. I went with the General Grabbers as they got a better write up when in the snow, and they were a bit cheaper.

Brown · Oct 5, 2015

I've got 265 x 75s on standard boost alloys and standard height suspension. There is plenty of room all around them. You could probably even squeeze 285 x 75 in the wheel arches without having to change anything. The fronts are BFG ATs and the rears are General Grabber ATs.

Turboman · Oct 5, 2015

cowasaki said:
Maybe a tyre sticky might avoid all the duplicate threads if we can answer the basic "standard" questions.

Are there really any basic standard questions?
Even assuming exact same model of vehicle, peoples tyre choices will depend very much on their usage.
Say on a defender90, one owner might wish to go regular pay and play, and compete in trials. Definitely requiring suspension lift and biggish tyres, with fairly aggressive tread.
Same vehicle, another operator might want to use it just for summer caravan towing, standard suspension and standard size ATs will work well for them.
Same again, some might want to go the urban truck route. Rangie wheels and expensive lo-pros with little tread for them. And they might even lower the suspension.

Also, there is a question of mileage, someone who does 12k annual of demanding mileage will probably want premium tyres. A hobby owner who does 1k gentle miles a year will probably do better with remoulds. They will perish before they wear out!

So really it is just a matter of horses for courses, try a few things, see what is suited to your needs, adjust gradually til you are happy.

Myself I always have several sets of wheels, but all standard size tyres, the only difference is in tread aggression and profile.

cowasaki · Oct 5, 2015

mikescuba said:
I run 235x85x16 on mine which I am told are about the closest to the original 7.50's. I would go for AT's ( all terrain) With road tires as soon as you go laning you will get stuck. I have General Grabber AT2's which I am very happy with. I believe there is a newer model out now. They are very good in the wet and snow. My previous tires were lethal in the wet. They are also fairly quiet on the road. I did a trip across Morocco last year, two of the other vehicles were running them on there vehicles. They stood up very well in the sand and rocks, no obvious damage. Unlike one other guy who's tires were shredding and I had a major blow out on the motorway on the way back with my Trac Edge's. Don't think you would be disappointed with them.
I also looked at Cooper's AT. I went with the General Grabbers as they got a better write up when in the snow, and they were a bit cheaper.View attachment 91394

So 235x85x16 fit without the suspension increase? That would be really good as I could change the tyres now and so the suspension when I'm off at Christmas (I finish 30th Nov for 6 1/2 weeks

) Just looking at the General Grabbers now.....

mikescuba · Oct 5, 2015

I'm not sure what sort of a tratter you have, Disco or Defender. I have my tires on my Defender fitted on steel slightly off center wheels which make them stick out slightly. I have been able to adjust the steering stops which gives me a much better turning circle.
Don't know why you want a 2" lift unless you are going to do serious rock climbing work. One of the guys on our last trip to Morocco had a P38 with a 2" lift, he said after the trip that he wouldn't have bothered with the 2" lift next time round. The only difference it made was he just got stuck deeper. We went everywhere they did and so did a Disco with a standard suspension setup. Plus I have read that a 2" lift puts more strain on prop shaft joins etc.

Mcclegend · Oct 5, 2015

The tyre pressure plaque in the door frame on mine has two tyre sizes listed 7.5" and 235's.

I've just replaced all 4 tyres with bfg AT the set I just replaced had done 43,000 miles.

cowasaki · Oct 5, 2015

I may not raise the suspension if these tyres fit. Just asked for a quote from a company who was offering four for £459 inc postage. I've also been offered 5 boost alloys with nearly new grabbers of this size for £650 so could sell my current boosts and get either the suspension lift or winch (probably winch now!)

cowasaki · Oct 5, 2015

mikescuba said:
I'm not sure what sort of a tratter you have, Disco or Defender.

A 300TDi Defender which currently has Boosts with 235/65-16 tyres of various makes!

vilguy · Oct 6, 2015

Theres loads of sets of boosts with decent bfgs on ebay for around the 300 note mark. I paid £250 for 5 for a set from manchester last winter. With tyres that were almost new!

650 is way over the odds!

cowasaki · Oct 6, 2015

vilguy said:
Theres loads of sets of boosts with decent bfgs on ebay for around the 300 note mark. I paid £250 for 5 for a set from manchester last winter. With tyres that were almost new!

650 is way over the odds!

Still looking. Just missed out on 5 decent ones for £500

Craigwcd · Oct 6, 2015

Can you not pick up the AT's from ebay and just have them put onto your current boost wheels? This is what ive been thinking on doing

cowasaki · Oct 6, 2015

Craigwcd said:
Can you not pick up the AT's from ebay and just have them put onto your current boost wheels? This is what ive been thinking on doing

Yes, that is an option. But its about £460 for the tyres plus fitting. If I can get 5 ready to go for £500 and can then sell my current ones it's a bonus.

vilguy · Oct 6, 2015

cowasaki said:
Yes, that is an option. But its about £460 for the tyres plus fitting. If I can get 5 ready to go for £500 and can then sell my current ones it's a bonus.

This is the tactic that I usually use with tyres

cowasaki · Oct 7, 2015

I've been told that 265/75-16 will fit equally well onto the standard Defender and are basically the same radius. What do people think? Are they better?

with 48mm greater diameter it will give me nearly an inch of extra clearance and fit the arch better.

Paul D · Oct 7, 2015

You're doing the maths wrong, 235 85's are slightly larger diameter than 265 75's ..
265 75 = 31.65"
235 85 = 31.73"
265/235 is the width across tread, 75/85 is the sidewall height as a %age of tread width. In practice the difference is minimal, the major difference is tyre width only ..

http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Tire-Size-Calculator/265-75R16/265-75R16/235-85R16

cowasaki · Oct 7, 2015

Paul D said:
You're doing the maths wrong, 235 85's are slightly larger diameter than 265 75's ..
265 75 = 31.65"
235 85 = 31.73"
265/235 is the width across tread, 75/85 is the sidewall height as a %age of tread width. In practice the difference is minimal, the major difference is tyre width only ..

http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Tire-Size-Calculator/265-75R16/265-75R16/235-85R16

No, I mean diameter of the tyre as in the circular bit/height

I did the same calculation you did

i.e.

265 X 0.75 = 198.75
235 X 0.85 = 199.75

235X0.65 =152.75 (current size)

Giving me 48/49mm extra height

gazman · Oct 7, 2015

When i got mine it was on 255/55/18s on rangie wheels with 2 1/2" lowering kit and hub extenders.

I've since lifted it back to std height as it was rock hard and will probably get some beefier tyres at some point.

cowasaki · Oct 7, 2015

gazman said:
When i got mine it was on 255/55/18s on rangie wheels with 2 1/2" lowering kit and hub extenders.

I've since lifted it back to std height as it was rock hard and will probably get some beefier tyres at some point.

Lowering a Defender is just wrong! It'll be much better returned to normal height. I'm probably going to +2 although if I could find it +1 would probably be about right.

Choosing tyres and suspension

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