Tyres and Suspension Lift... Whats Best?

Hi guys, just thought i'd finally sign up to the forum for some expert advice and tyres an suspension lifts. I've currently got a 300tdi disco which i am slowly kitting out. Money as always is an issue so its one step at a time for this project. I do a fair amount of green-laning and light off-roading and i am now starting to realise my All-terrain tyres aren't quite up for the job. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction for a good off-roading tyre. I've had a good look myself but there are so many tread patterns out there, its not easy to knows whats best. Performance ratio i'm thinking 70/30, Off-roading/On road. I'm not sure whether some tyres require a suspension lift but thats on the cards anyway so if so, not a problem. Any information on lifts would be appreciated, 2" or 3" whats the lowdown. Cheers guys.

Morning and welcome, couldnt you sleep, was this going round in your head all nite???

I'd start here for tyre sizes http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f8/what-tires-can-i-put-my-disco-43706.html

Any 'Mud Terrain' tread will be a good start, they are pretty much horses for course.

Best replacement suspension on the market is (IMHO) is Old Man Emu. They don't do a kit, but I can advise on part numbers for a 2 inch lift. They are expensive, but they are a fit once option. Done over 6 years of off roading (laning, trials, challenges) on my and not sagging and shocks are not leaking either.

Cheers for the links. I had a good look at the tyre thread, I'll look into mud terrain tyres. I just dont want to find i invest in what i believe to be a good set of tyres and then one day i meet a guy an several others that think different. As for suspension. I was wondering if there were any full kits for available around the price of £800. There are plenty in the mags obviously but whats a good make to look out for? Cheers

Harry365 said:

Cheers for the links. I had a good look at the tyre thread, I'll look into mud terrain tyres. I just dont want to find i invest in what i believe to be a good set of tyres and then one day i meet a guy an several others that think different. As for suspension. I was wondering if there were any full kits for available around the price of £800. There are plenty in the mags obviously but whats a good make to look out for? Cheers

Click to expand...

Insa Turbo Sahara is a very good off-road and mud tyre. Here's a link to someone doing a wheel & tyres combo for just over £400.

Linky: Set of 4 x Insa Turbo Sahara 235 85 R16 With 4 x Modular Wheels

Harry365 said:

As for suspension. I was wondering if there were any full kits for available around the price of £800.

Click to expand...

You will get all the shocks and springs that you need from Old Man Emu for about £600. Most 'kits' are cheaper than that.

You should also consider that you may well have to cater for castor correction, hi-angle prop shafts and maybe 'cranked' radius arms. All these things are best kept until after you have fitted the lift and driven it. Then make you choices about what (if any) you need.

HTH

I have Insa Turbo Saharas on Black modulars on my Series 3 (235/85/16). They are amazing off road. It really is incredible what i can get through and what i can tow in muddy conditions. (i'm always towing people out with their AT's!)

Just bought a 300 tdi ES disco but it has road tyres on it so i'm thinking of a change. Unfortunately my S3 ones won't fit without mods so new ones will have to be bought. I really recommend them. My only problem is that the disco will be doing more road work than the S3 does, so not sure how the Saharas will cope. I wonder what are the best Mud terrains that are decent on road if thats possible?

I've got cooper stt's, good offroad, little road noise, good in the wet and seem to be wearing well.

ians3 said:

Just bought a 300 tdi ES disco but it has road tyres on it so i'm thinking of a change. Unfortunately my S3 ones won't fit without mods so new ones will have to be bought. I really recommend them. My only problem is that the disco will be doing more road work than the S3 does, so not sure how the Saharas will cope. I wonder what are the best Mud terrains that are decent on road if thats possible?

Click to expand...

I don't have them as I went for AT's but friends who have used them swear by BF Goodrich Mud Terrain KM's. Good in the sticky stuff, excellent on tarmac and very high mileage potential.

Cheers for the response guys. Sorry for being arrogant. Been very busy setting up a gardening business. Unfortunately due to setting up costs of the business there is no room in my budget for suspension for some time. However my vehicle is due a tyre change soon so mud terrains it is. It would be interesting to know how the Insa Turbo Saharas handle on the road.

Harry365 said:

Cheers for the response guys. Sorry for being arrogant. Been very busy setting up a gardening business. Unfortunately due to setting up costs of the business there is no room in my budget for suspension for some time. However my vehicle is due a tyre change soon so mud terrains it is. It would be interesting to know how the Insa Turbo Saharas handle on the road.

Click to expand...

had them fitted to my 90 with no problems, noisy when up to speed but didn't have any handling problems. but saying that i didn't come straight from road tyres so be careful.

some of the best tyres i have seen are the insa turbo special muds, but they are hopeless on the road and i have heard some events dont like them used because they realy dig in and churn the ground to pieces.