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Had 275/55/R20 Dueler Ascent A/T's installed on the wife's coil sprung P400 Defender after the OEMs were down to about 6mm after only 40k miles and she managed to pickup a wood screw in the shoulder of one of them. The Costco tire shop didn't want to install them as they didn't have this size as a viable option in their system for the Defender 110 SE. Definitely louder than OEM but much deeper tread. Triple siped on the outer blocks which makes me happy that the snow performance will be better than the OEM's. Looks wise - meh. Not going to win any tire macho contests with these. No rubbing of course.
I find it very odd that 265/60r20 (32.5) doesn't fit, but 275/65r20(33.0) does fit? And 265/55r20(32) fits fine. Seems a bit strange and not consistent. There is always variations among tire manufacturers but this seems odd. The wider tire should rub more but seems to fit?
I'm looking at 4cylinder because I want the 18 inch rims. 265/60r18 us a step down at 30.5. BFG KM3s come in 275/65r18 which back to a 32inch tire. Just hoping it isn't too wide.
275/70r18 is slightly over 33 and would be great if they can tucked in. I have run rods on my LR3 for many miles without issues other than tire wear. But I kept my tire to 32 max as i didnt want to be rubbing on bumps tops and stuck offroad.
These posts are 5 years old but I just came across this specific one about the 265/65-20 not fitting a basic Defender which kind of surprises me - because - I have that size on an L405 Range Rover, 2017 SV AB, and while it did just scrub those front fender vent/louvers, they otherwise didn't rub in any movements.
To fix that scrub point, which was honestly only an audible annoyance and not really causing any damage, I tucked the fender liner back and now there is never any contact.
The 265/65-20 is usually a 32.5" tire depending on the model, like a Nokian One HT or Michelin Defender MS2 will fit better and a BFG AT KO3 will have more trouble due to the more aggressively sticking out edge lugs. Oh, and my Nokian One HT are on the Iconisus wheels which are ET 25 -ish offset which would make the scrub clearance worse than a factory wheel with an offset of ET 41.
Hope this helps in the tire fitting exercise for everyone.
How are your Iconisus wheels? I saw them on Ebay and the price looks great, and the fact they have a physical location in Vegas seemed reassuring. Curious what your experience has been with them.
Hey, I'm sorry but I didn't see any alert about your reply. Don't buy on ebay, find him directly. I think I got shipping included and no sales tax. Ebay will require tax to any state with it and the shipping will cost or the price will be higher because of the 15% or so ebay takes from a seller.
EDIT-I got confused with the source I found for the factory defender 5 spoke, the earlier "carved out" spokes. The Iconisus I got through Atlantic British and they get drop-shipped - it's still a better way to go than Ebay.
The wheels have a wider offset, just right in my opinion, but be aware that any spacing out away from the hub will reduce the maximum height you can use due to clearance issues at the fender liner, mainly at the front wheels.
I have them on the Range Rover with 265/65-20 Nokian One HT but I also tucked the fender liner back at the front where the louver/vents were getting contact at about 70% turn.
Great info above. I have tried both the 275 / 60 R20 and the 265 / 60 R20 KO2s. There was definite rubbing on rear of front wheel well liner when wheel is turned on the 275 / 60 R20. The liner could be tacked down tighter to the wheel well and it may be ok. With regards to the 265 / 60 R20, it was super close (see picture). At this point I chose not to make the change; I would love to hear from folks that have installed a larger tire.
Driver Side Front Wheel 265 / 60 R20
I did exactly that on my 2017 RR. This was for wider offset 20" wheels though which make the rub there worse. Regardless, moving just the middle of that front vented part of the fender liner is a good plan to be sure.
I can confirm that an OCTA will take a 34" tire, specifically 275/65-20 on a factory stance and width rim like the 2021 era 5 spoke that I actually like. It is 8" wide I think, maybe 8.5, I'll veroify, but ET 41 ish which helps tuck the tire in for best clearance and maximum diameter.
A wider tire like 285, especially 295, would begin to rub as well as trying to use a wider offset or spacers on a factory wheel. In fact I tested first with 20mm H&R spacers and it would have required actual fender loner work.
As it is with no spacers, I still had to remove the front mud flap. I may be able to remount it after I figure out how I can get it to be just a cm back tighter at the middle of the fender liner, so mainly the bracket on the flap where it sits into the fender liner area. The outer edge clears just fine.
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.
I have 20 forged wheels of factory size, and everything is great!
Just wanted to follow up with a wife review of the Dueler Ascent A/T's I put on her Defender in winter conditions.
Sigh. No bueno.
Even though she was in snow mode, she said that the old OEM tires did better. She said the backend actually came out on her while going slightly downhill and driving straight. The conditions were cold air snow falling on warm ground, melting then immediately freezing so it was really slick. Alas despite the great empirical evidence posted by Tire Rack about the winter performance of the tire, it seems it doesn't match our experience so far.
Just wanted to follow up with a wife review of the Dueler Ascent A/T's I put on her Defender in winter conditions.
Sigh. No bueno.
Even though she was in snow mode, she said that the old OEM tires did better. She said the backend actually came out on her while going slightly downhill and driving straight. The conditions were cold air snow falling on warm ground, melting then immediately freezing so it was really slick. Alas despite the great empirical evidence posted by Tire Rack about the winter performance of the tire, it seems it doesn't match our experience so far.
This doesn't surprise me too much. If I were you, I'd study the choices with Nokian such as the WRG5. They do make a size that I think is almost factory or slightly larger. Or, I bet their Nokian Outpost NAT is better than the one you tried. Of course if you are willing to have a winter dedicated set, I am really liking the Nokian LT3 I just had put onto another set of a 20" factory version like the wheels you have in the photos. (I don't recall if yours are 18 or 20)
Then, there is also the R5 SUV but I opted for the more durable/heavier LT3 because it'll be better on back-road excursions.
