Nitto Terra on LR3

[Jantiz]

Here I go again depending on your experience out there with Nittos. I just installed a new set of 285/60/18 Nittos on my LR3 and much to my delight they are just minimaly louder than the HP's and they clear full turn even in access mode. Here is my question. The good folk at Discount Tire recommended I keep them at 35psi. They seem a little low on air to me at that pressure. Perhaps the massive weight of the LR3 requires them to be inflated a little more than 35. What are you guys and gals using out there with your Nittos that works well for you on-road for confort, fuel economy and tread wear? Thank you again

[Jantiz]

UPDATE:

I have contacted the folks at Discount Tire Direct and will be exchanging the Terra Grapplers for Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor. The 285/60/18's cleared articulation with noproblem but made the LR3 look like a junk yard truck tricked out as a mud buggy or rock crawler. Also made it look like a6 year old kid with size 15 shoes. They humm at highway speed and cause the steering wheel to vibrate ever so slightly. They also started to woble this morning on my comute to work. I felt nodifference in confort going from the low profile 19'sto the much wider sidewall of the 18" Nittos either. Add to that the not so shabby weight of over 50lbs eachand you just talked me out of Nittos. I will be trying the 265/60/18 series on the Goodyear Wranglers Silent Armor. I will post again once I try them on

[Jantiz]

Well, Goodyear seems to be recovering from a recent strike and the entire coutry seems to be in back-fill status. I have been informed that I'll have to wait until May before those Silent Armors are available. Seems there is very limited choice for the LR3 in All Terrain tires for the 265/60/18 size. So I will continue to wear 285/60/18 Terra Grapplers in the mean while even if my LR3 looks like it is riding on Baloons [:'(]. They re-balanced them and for the time being seem to be doing ok once again.

Terra Grapplers are unquestionably GREAT off-road tires. However, we get into the provervial off-road/ on-road compromise. Unless you intend to use your vehicle primarily to off-road or are just customizing an older Rover and like the "rock crawler" look, Terra Grapplers in that size are not the best choice. In my humble opinion, they are simply too big for the LR3. Maybe in a smaller size they would not look so out of place. Also, unless you intend to go for the entire G4 look and full G4 package, they look way too extreme by themselves.
Forthe owners or new daily driverRoversout therelooking formore bite in off-road conditions while retaining the "plush" lookof their exhorbitantly priced rides, keep looking. Nitto is not the answer .

[iwalter]

tucker tire in laguna niguel ca. got me a set of wrangler silent armors 265/60/18 for my new lr3 this week in 2 days. the goodyear shop right down the street said it would be at least a six week wait. under two hundred a piece mounted and they gave me $300 trade in on my stock tires(only 300 miles on them). got out of there for under $400. i cannot say enough about how great these guys are to deal with. if you are in the area, http://www.tuckertire.net/ ask for john.

as for the tires, i only have one day on them, but i can tell they feel way better than the stockers. i'll post later after i put more miles on them.

[DiscoveyII Driver]

Junk no good offroad not everon adirt drive wayI garanty you will need to call for help as soon as you get in the mud or just some plain old wet grass i have them now and hate them wish i would of never spent the money i got them when they first cameout gave away $800 for some ma-pops i wouldnt run them on my law mower 255/55/R18 it was the only a/t at the time i got them that was a lowprofile will never buy another nitto in my life after this exp.

[paul]

hi... bought a new Lr3 V6...got 18' rims with goodyear wrangler tires as stock..is it possible to put all terrain tires or rock crawlers without worrying about the suspension of the car, or worrying abt it touching the vehicle...

[Jantiz]

Paul, there are some seriously long treads on tire replacement choices for the LR3 in this forum but I will try to sumarize it for you. Nitto Terra Grapplers come in 265 and in 285... /60/18. Most folks find them quite dependable off road and both sizes fit fine on the LR3. I had the 285's on mine for a little while but changed them because they made the LR3 look funny. They seem to be too big for the truck (as far as looks) but I would guess the 265 would've solved that problem. It was my experience with them that they vibrate a bit at speed ( you can see it on the steering wheel ), they cause the truck to feel spongy in corners at speed, and they HUUUMMMMM on the highway. Nothing that can't be corrected with loud music but it drove me crazy. I want performance when I go off road but I want total plush when I'm back on the highway. Which is why I bought Land Rover in the first place, right?
The Good YearSilent Armors also come in 265 and 285... /60/18. They are rated superior to the Nittos in Snow and Ice (though thatshould not matter at all to you in the desert ) and they seem to perform about the same on other off road conditions. The bigest difference is that on highway the Silent Armors are super quiet andsuper stable at high speeds, besides riding extremmely comfortably. It has improved the ride of my LR3 over factory tires 200 fold both on and off road.
There are some other sugestions out there for tires besides the Terra Grapplers and the Silent Armors but after spending countless hours doing research before buying my tires, I found the rest to be either not at all available in the rare sizes needed for the LR3 or too extreme off road (very rough highway ride) or simply all season (useless off road) instead of all terrain. If you intend to turn your LR3 into an off road toy, perhaps the 285's would be better with a higher side wall. However, if like the rest of us you use the LR3 as your daily driver, the 285'sgive upa lotin highway performance, the 265's would do the trick nicely and keep the factory "luxury"look of the truck.

If anyone else out there can think of another serious "All Terrain" tire, not just simply a mild "all season" tire that actually comes available in either 265/60/18 or 285/60/18 beside the Nitto and the Silent Armor,please let us all know. Otherwise, those two seem to be your options in my humble opinion.

[stoutstuff]

Cooper Tire has recently introduced the Zeon LTZ line that includes the 285/60R18 size. Offroving is currently using the tire on the Great Divide Trek II testing it's off road traction and on road handling in western Colorado. Vehicles are 2005 and newer.I have heard good reports so far.

[bodyzoo]

Hi.....bought a used LR3 SE 2005 V8 few weeks ago and I have the same delima like other LR3 owners about the tires. I have been reading your post and think I like the SilentArmor the most. Today, I have found the tire shop that have them but told me that they will not recommend it for the LR3 since it's different from the stock size. They also told me that they are not rated for the weight of the car since the SilentArmor are T rated and the GY HP are H rated. How much of this is ture? Am I compromising on performance of the car?
What is your personal experiance with these tires.

Thanks,

[Jantiz]

Either they are lying to you or they inocently have no idea what they are talking about, which is scary coming from a "tire shop". The H rating of the factory tires hasvery littleto do with weight. It mostly has to do with speed. The 265/60/18 Silent Armour is T rated, meaning that it is considered safe for driving at constant speeds of up to 118mph. I would think that 118MPH is more that suficient to meet any need for speed here in the USA at least.

The weight rating, wich is often overlooked by people looking for new tires but that is OH so important considering how heavy the LR3 is, and the tire shop isresponsibly trying to make reference to but mistake for the speed rating, is 109T which means that each tire can safely carry 2,271 lbs of weight. That rating surpases the recomended rating of 108 by Land Rover specs for this vehicle. So yes, Silent Armours are not only great tires for the LR3 but quite safe. In fact, giving their much improved performance not only on pavement but on wet and icy roads as well over the HP's,they make a MUCH safer tire to have on your vehicle.