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Here's some random points going from stock to 285/60-18's:
1) Definitely more road noise. There's a background hum. At <45mph it's not noticeable at all. Faster it's a background hum. The Defender has such exceptional sound proofing that it's just a background growl. Mainly noticeable because of the change from deathly silent. I'm OK with it and it doesn't bother me. Not that loud obnoxious, mud tire sound. But then again, I'm not listening on the outside!
2) With about 12 pounds per tire, I didn't expect it to be a little more sluggish. The P400 handles it and will eat it up, but it takes more "effort" to accelerate. Again, if I started this way, I would have hardly cared. But it is what it is.
3) It is CRAZY straight. I feel that the truck tracks much more solidly in a straight line. It doesn't fight me in turns and appears as nimble as before, but it is a train on straight roads.
4) In a couple weeks I'll be at SCARR in Texas (link). Hope to report more on the off-road characteristics at that time. I'm still trying to dial in the tire PSI so maybe it will help there. With the LT tires and more plies, I'm confident it will handle the crazy Hill Country sharp limestone (think ancient coral seabed), but not sure about where to air down to.
If I had a long road trip (say > 7 hours), I would switch tires.
If I had the opportunity to replace them, I would change both dimensions. They look fantastic, but I think I could get more height. I would definitely like to try these in a 65 vs 60. Then for the weight/noise, I would like to try a 275 rather than 285. So, if I had access to infinite tires I would go 275/65-18. LOVE these, no regrets - it's just that you learn as you live and I would/will make slight adjustments next time.
Wish I could join you guys in SCARR, have fun!
I get exactly what you mean, regarding the background hum, but I tried the 275, its the same. About the height I think you can go up to 265/70/18 without lift rods.
for the tires PSI, for onroad use mine is set at 34 psi and the 38 psi at the rear, and for off-road use I lower them down to 17-20 PSI all tires.
I've been ordering smaller stirrups for two months to fit 18" discs on my P400. I thought about grinding for a long time, but finally gave up. But seeing as it's a relatively simple hit as I can see here in the thread, I guess I'll come back to it. But while I'm waiting, I've ordered discs from a German TWIN MONOTUBE 9x20" with an interchangeable protective ring in black. They were delivered to me yesterday. Well, now what?
@p400_au - Several months ago I had a buddy create a step there for me. He made it out of aluminum diamond plate and it was great. Unfortunately, he over built to my specs and it was a little too big. In certain conditions while backing up, it would trigger a sensor. And that ALWAYS made me nervous because I was sure I would back into something else dismissing the false positive. What I loved about it was it was on a quick release if I needed to actually use the tow hook. Then, using the ladder, I had an easier route up and a two foot pads when dealing with stuff up there that I didn't want to climb all the way up for. Worked!
Then the guys at PowerfulUk came up with one. Theirs was good old steel. Slightly heavier, much more professionally done. What sold me was that it was smaller and didn't trigger the back up sensor. They sell them for the right so you can access up there and still open the door. They "flipped" it for me because I needed it on the left. Here's their page: Link. If you search, you could find a posting of my old set up. This one, though, is better.
@GrouseK9 The community can't thank you enough for your precise documentation and information regarding this topic!
I've got a P400 D110 SE with the 20" GoodYear AT's. Watching the information you've posted, I'm prepared to grind my rear calipers to allow me the following setup:
1) Land Rover original Defender 18" steelies , part #LR129100 (plan to powder coat black)
2) BF Goodrich T/A K02. 255/70 R18
Questions to help me finalize and pull the trigger:
1) First and foremost, has anyone successfully mounted the OEM steelies after doing the "grinding procedure"? (i.e. clearance inside the wheel, offset, etc.)
2) Will there be any need for alignment after the switch? I don't appear to need a lift, as this tire size appears to be the size of the OEM off road tire for the 18" wheels. It matches my current 255/60 R20 tires nearly exactly in all dimensions, allowing speedometer to match, and shouldn't rub.
Thanks everyone, so much!
The Tire I want to mount:
All dimensions comparison to current factory 20" tire:
Here's my opinion on your #1 and #2 questions. Obviously, I don't have any sweat, blood, tears or actual experience re: the steelies, but I have some well founded opinions.
First off, I REALLY wanted to go this route. Unfortunately, for some cosmically strange reason (unless you include JLR Designers, then you will have an "AH HA" understanding why) the Steelies on a P400 will cause you to have to use spacers. The offset on the steelies (or the P300 wheels - not sure which) will make you need about 25mm spacer. For about 6 mos I logged every posting I could find about what wheels & tires worked, didn't etc. In every case those who changed calipers, used Luck8, whatever - if they had a P400 and went steelies, they had to use spacers. I really wanted to avoid that. Not that I was massively trying to avoid offset changes, but because I just personally didn't want another thing in there. Most would then grind the studs. I just wanted to avoid it all.
Re: the alignment, I'm not sure of the definition of "need" when it comes to an alignment<g>, but I definitely would rate it as "should". I'm a major fan of just doing an alignment any time you monkey with the wheels in any substantive way. Going down from 20's to 18's on a P400 would qualify in my book. I'm sure that there are many with better insights than I, but I put it in the category of 'can't hurt'.
So you're saying that from most of what you've seen, even if I grind the studs, I'll likely still need spacers if I use the OEM steelies? If that's the case, you may have saved me an expensive purchase! I don't want to get into spacers and lifts either.
The 18" wheels you bought required no more than grinding the studs, correct?
03-10-2022, 12:56 AM
