Greetings all! I am new to the forums and have a 2022 Defender currently that I traded my Bronco on, but also am planning to order one soon to my exact spec and swap out. I am coming out of Wranglers for years, and most recently a Bronco First Edition, and I am leaning towards the 110 D P300 as you can get 18" wheels and save pretty dramatically on price versus the P400. I plan to build with Air Suspension, use Johnson Rods for the 1.5" lift, and mount 33s, and having extra meat on the tire by using 18" wheels is of value to me since I feel that will be much better off road.

That said, I have barely found any pictures the showcase the 18" wheel option (other than some steel wheels here and there) and would love to see if anyone has the 18" Satin Dark Grey wheels on their Defender, with or without a lift.

Many thanks in advance!

 

I am equally interested in learning more about this, I just placed an order for a P300 with steelies and would like to learn the following (and I've read through the tire fitment thread but cant find what I'm looking for):

1. What is the stock OEM 18 off road tire size
2. What is the largest tire on OEM steelies without a lift
3. What is the largest tire on OEM steelies with a 1" lift

Thank you!

Matt

 

Mine is a P300 with 18’s. I got 1.5” rods but haven’t felt the need to install them. It is already top heavy with the rack load so I don’t feel like I need the looks of it being higher in standard mode around town at the expense of being even more out of balance. Off-road I move up to off-road 2 height and that looks like plenty to me. I also don’t want to max out my travel lessening my ride quality when off-road.

I’ve got KO2’s sized to directly replace the stock 255/70/18’s. I haven’t tried out or looked into other sizes because I didn’t want to mess with changing the rolling circumference. I know there are subtle differences between the stock tires and KO2’s, but starting the same size on paper feels better to me. I don’t feel the need to supersize unless I wanted to do rock crawling (which I do not).

photos of my defender
https://expeditionportal.com/mojave-by-defender/

Detail of my wheels and tires

 

1) We use a 255/70/18 tyre from the factory with an XL load range. It has an effective diameter of 815mm or 32.1"

2) Depends if you mean width or height. I recommend not going larger than size 265/70/18 which takes you to a diameter of 828mm or 32.6." Honestly, there's no real-world gains to be had going from 265 to 275 width and you're going to get some contact. Additionally, I recommend you don't run tyres to the point they are about a paper width distance from the wheel well liner (or suspension). Vehicles that off-road and go through heavy mud and debris are going to need some room in the wheel well.

I'd also add that there's a case to be made that narrower tyres will better serve you off-road depending on your region and conditions. They also have benefits in wet conditions and snow. The wider the width of the tread the less pressure per square cm/inch of contact area. People forget many of the original Defenders only had 235/85/16 tyres.

Another thing to take into account is that when you move to those popular 33" size tyres you're going to alter your speedometer calibration, your acceleration and fuel mileage to a small degree.

3) I'll let the rest chime in- we only recommend tyres that fit at all angles and heights. We don't like asterisks and neither does the general public. Big/wide tyres tend to be more about making a fashion statement than performance quite often (though not always).

Hope this helps.

 

Much over 33” is going to require relocating those extra intercoolers in front of the front wheels as well, as the tires get wider. Lucky 8 has a chart: https://lucky8llc.com/blogs/lucky-8-...ire-size-guide

the subframe lift looks dope too, if you can install it yourself or have a shop you trust. Expensive af though.

Personally I dont want to run rods full time so 265/70/18 on the steelies is where i’m gonna stick for now. Rods for offroading, i can get them on and off in a few minutes now

 

If you stick to 265/70 R18, actually 32,6 inch don't bother that 0,2" ground clearance.
I like the steelies, but believe me they are heavy ! You can feel that in the unsprung weight.
So the 5094 18" drives better.
The 5093 in black of Dark Gray are badass.

 

Evo Corse 18 inch with 285/60/18 KO2s, with no lift rods.

 

Any differences in wheel fitment here? Is it same offset at stock?

 

These are 285-65 on 18” wheels (+25 offset) with 1.5” lift.
Minor rubbing at front wheel well liner at full steering lock in normal height (I just ignore it).

 

The wheel width is 8.5 and t[size=33px]he offset is 20[/size]