Hello, Lucky 8 tells me my VIN is "not compatible" with their rear caliper conversion.
1) What other options are there out there as far as getting 18" wheels on this 2020 Defender X? Am I out of luck?

2) What exactly makes one VIN compatible and another not?

Just trying to learn, thanks all!

 

There are three rotor sizes on the Defender rears.

• Small on the P300 D200, D240 D250 (18" fit from factory)
• Medium on most P400 and D300 (modding the rear calipers needed to fit 18"s)
• Large on V8 and some higher spec P400/ D300's that came on factory 22"s. (these discs are too large to fit anything smaller than 20" rims)

The VIN can tell you what brake rotors are fitted.

 

@GavinC Thanks for that clear answer. Mine came with 22"s, so apparently has the Large rotors as you said (I currently run 20's though). Can one simply swap out those Large rotors for Medium ones - and therefore be compatible with the Lucky 8 caliper mod? Thanks so much

 

I don’t know of anyone who has swapped rotors to fit the smaller rims. There is a good brake mod thread where someone put larger rotors on to up their braking prowess.

I suspect putting smaller rotors and calipers on would be very costly.

 

Hi Gavin,
unfortunately the defender with medium discs and small discs has different calipers, different discs, and in particular different rear hubs...the offset of the brake disc is different.

Marco

 

Yes.

That's why the calipers are not interchangeable. You can't fit a P300 caliper on a P400.

A Disco5 caliper is the solution. Many folks use it and Lucky8 sells it under their own label with the part numbers filed off. Disco5 calipers fit the P400 and allow a selection of 18" alloys.