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I have blown two tires now. One sidewall puncture on the trail (Mojave Road) and my wife ran over a nail. Hoping to get it patched to give me some more time to decide on tires. Found General Grabber X3 MT tire in 265/70 R18 at 32.5 but still not 275 width. Measured, the 255/70 R18 has only like 1/2 inch between upper control arm and the tire. At 10inch wide, I am worried the 10.8 inch wide 275 won't fit, but it seems people are running 275s on 20 inch rims without issues. I dont think it is worth going to 33s from 32s to deal with trimming and rubbing. Or stick with Duratracs at stock 255/70 r18 size. Decisions....
Please report back with what you end up doing. I did the rear brake swap (P400), so I can fit 18's. I'm waiting on the wheels to arrive, once they do, the tire store I use said they'd try a few sizes and see how they fit. I want as big (tall...for more sidewall) as I can get without having to run lift rods. I'll report back when this happens.
I just fit 265/70 R18s General Grabber X3s on my P300. No rubbing at full turn or access height. Minimal road noise. Much beefier tire. I already blew 2 factory 'offroad' tires. One sidewall puncture on the trail and one ran over some metal, unrepairable.
I thought this would be a good place to assemble some info about tire sizes that folks have successfully fit without any lift. I will try to keep this updated with comments as more and more people try different things.
18 Inch Rims (do not fit the P400)
255 / 70 R18 - LR OEM (32.1" x 10", 7" sidewall)
265/60 R 18 confirmed KO2 with no lift.
19 inch rims
255 / 65 R19 - LR OEM (32.1" x 10", 6.5" sidewall)
20 Inch Rims
255 / 60 R20 - (32" x 10", 6" sidewall} LR OEM
265 / 60 R20 (32.5" x 10.4", 6.3" Sidewall) - (see picture in comments below - almost rubs at full turn - may require slight mods to wheel well liner). This seems like the closest to OEM size you can get and open up a lot of options like KO2s.
275 / 60 R20 - (33" x 10.8", 6.5" sidewall) mixed results - see comments below several folks on the new Defender Facebook group fit these on the factory wheels - KO2s, Cooper, etc. No word yet on how they perform when fully articulated - this seems to be pushing it at 33". In comments below, the wheel well liner rubbed when fully turned. Modifying the liner may allow these to fit better, and some variation from car to car on the liner may explain why some folks say they fit and others say they do not.
275 / 55 R20 (31.9" x 10.8", 6" sidewall) - this was reported to work with the stock wheels. Another user, with aftermarket wheels from moto metal, had rubbing in access height in reverse - possibly different wheel geometries?
Notes:
Lucky 8 and Tuff Ant are working on a solution for 18" wheels on the P400. It will involve new wheels and a rear caliper swap. No details have been released yet.
After six months of following the thread what have we learned? Any consensus on tires sizes that work with 20 inch rims? I’m looking to make a change in the next few weeks and would love to hear real world feedback from folks running 265/60/20, 275/60/20 or 275/55/20s. Thanks!
