Thanks for the details, very weird, stock rims are also 20x8.5 with 41.5 offset. so yours should be equivalent to stock rims with 16.5mm spacers unless my info is bad or I've got things backwards? Pretty sure I remember a post with someone using 30mm spacers and the 275/55/20's, so this still isn't making much sense.

 

Yeah, it’s weird.

16.5mm is .64”. Add the fellow’s extra tire width of .2” and you have a bad actor of .84”, or just under an inch. Factor in Land Rover’s size allowance… even the tightest wheel-well tolerances will still allow, say, an extra half inch of section width on a tire, so let’s assume that.

By the numbers, there’s no way he should be experiencing a full inch of rub, front and rear. He should be getting maybe a slight kiss when cranked over and in the lowest ride height.

What factor are we missing?

 

KO2 275/55/20 on the redbourne alston wheel



*UPDATE*

Me and the guys at the tireshop noticed that the defender lowered itself a bit even if the easy access was turned off, as soon as I Turned the car on and put it in drive, the car leveled it self up, and FINALLY NO RUBBING so now I can confirm 275/55/20 with redbourne alston wheel works with no lift.

will share better pictures soon.


KO2 275/55/20


Goodyear wrangler 255/60/20

 

For reference, what the offsets of the stock wheels in 20” vs 18”?

EDIT: Nevermind, I found it… the 20”, 19” and 18” rims all have an offset of 41.5.

So I have no idea why the 20” rims come with 10.9” wide tires and the 18” rims with 10.2” wide tires.

 

I see the photo, but I don’t see how this is possible. Plenty of P300s come with 20” wheels, and the stock tires on those are 10.9” wide… and as I mentioned above, the offset of both the 18” and 20” wheels is identical at 41.5.

Obviously the upper mounts on your vehicle are what they are, as the photo shows… but it is also physically impossible for the mounts to be that close to a 10.2” tire and still work with a 10.9” wide tire.

Yet they do.

I’m sorry, but that’s some Harry Potter sh*t. Tire sizes on this truck are f@cking confounding. Absolute single worst aspect of the new Defender.

 

Factory 18 and 19" rims are 8" wide, the 20s are 8.5" wide. That may account for the difference, since all factory tires have the same 255 mm (10.04") width but the 20" is "stretched" over a lightly wider rim.

 

That must be the rims, as mine don’t rub at all on the stock rims. I have posted images above.

 

Has anyone fitted 275/55R20 Blizzak snow tires to their Defender?

A bit less pricey than the Pirelli Scorpions in the 255/60/R20

I see on the defender's owner info page the 275/55/r20 size listed for a different brand but given the info in this thread it may not men that the Blizzaks will fit without issues.

 

I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to fit slightly larger off-road tires on the 90 with factory 18” wheels. After trying several tires and different combinations of no-lifts/lifts no-spacers/spacers configurations, I think I can safely make the following somewhat controversial statement…

The stock 90 with factory 18” wheels cannot be used for any serious or even semi-serious off-roading. The tire spacing is just too tight. When you see rubbing from street driving with a tire of the same height as stock and slightly wider by just .5”, it means that the kind of articulation that is required is simply not feasible, even with the stock tires… Far more than .5” of width space is required.

To expound on this, I do not believe that the official off-roading shown in videos of the 90 with stock 18”s is possible with consumer trucks. The only explanation I can come up with is that LR’s company 90s on 18”s that they use for adverts or loan out for testing are not stock vehicles, but have larger wheel wells. There is simply no way a stock 90 with 18’s is capable of what they are doing, the stock tires would absolutely not only rub during serious articulation, but lock against the body of the vehicle, hindering progress. The math simply doesn’t work for them to function.

For anyone attempting serious off-reading in a 90 riding on stock 18” wheels, I would recommend an off-road tire no more than 28” in overall diameter with a width no more than 10”. This will give one the necessary extra space for reasonable articulation. Of course, such tires do not exist for an 18” rim. Bottom line, the stock 18” wheels do not provide adequate functionality with the 90, period. “A little rubbing” while street driving translates into “unusable” while off-reading.

I’d recommend going with factory 20”s or an aftermarket 18” wheel. Best of luck.

 

When you say "slightly larger"....what do you Ean?? You can easily fit 265/70/18's on, without any rubbing and some members have 275/65/18's on without rubbing. What tires did you try out??