This is new to me. Learning, learning.....

I have that the 18 " inch OEM wheel is 8" wide and the 20" is 8.5" wide.
But that the offset of 41.5 mm (1.75" positive) and the tire width of 255 mm (10.0") is the same in both cases.

255/70R18 116H 8Jx18 ET41.5
255/70R18 116V 8Jx18 ET41.5
255/65R19 114H 8Jx19 ET41.5
255/65R19 114V 8Jx19 ET41.5
255/60R20 113H 8.5Jx20 ET41.5
255/60R20 113V 8.5Jx20 ET41.5
275/45R22 112W 9Jx22 ET44.5

I will have to sketch out the resulting impact on clearances from the difference in wheel width size versus no difference in tire width and offset for the 18" and 20" wheels to understand GavinC's note, above.

 

The rear brakes on JLR vehicles often wear out before the fronts because the fast, individual brake systems developed for off road traction control are also used to maintain the vehicle level when entering a corner, which eliminates nose diving by applying the brakes in the rear first and throttling the amount of braking necessary to keeping the back end down.

Reduces under steer and the tendency to lift a rear wheel and overload the outer front tire under hard cornering.

Makes the overall driving experience much more stately, as well.

 

A lot of speculation on what the OP was referring to; and they never checked back in to clarify? It could be a swap kit for the cup holders!

 

Thanks for this info. Can I ask if you have confirmed these fit with the Tuffant Alloys or know by some other means that these are the calipers being used for the swap.

 

Confirmed and have the tuffants on my defender. Feel free to reach out to tuffant usa with questions.

 

That's great. Thanks for getting back to me.

Lucky8's package deal is good but I'd prefer to know and have parts with serial numbers on should anything need replacing down the line. I guess having the info as to what the parts are is no different.

Any additional steps needed with the install of these OEM parts when doing the swap? Did you need to have the brakes reprogrammed or anything like that?

I did speak with Jake at Tuffant and he mentioned having someone do some computerized jiggery-pokery following the swap? Incredibly helpful. Stellar customer service.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply. Very much appreciated.

 

Jake is awesome!

So I did have a shop do the swap just to be on the safe side but they did not have the computer to reset the alert. However the brake alert auto went off after a couple days (which the shop thought it would). So if you do the jiggery-pokey you can have the light go off right away. Or if you wait a couple days it will go off on its own.

Also on the front wheel there is a metal piece that comes off (mud scrapper or harmonic vibration thing) its held on with one screw and you can just take that off when you put on smaller wheels. (Its been covered in FB or forumns).

But pretty simple swap otherwise.

Happy to help.

 

And we appreciate it.

So I’m looking at another route and just wondering if you can estimate how much smaller the rear calipers need to be to clear 18s? I don’t have access to 18” wheels yet to test so just wondering if it’s a millimeter or two is all that’s needed (even if the new L8 calipers are much smaller, did they need to be that small?) or if’s more like half an inch or so?

Thanks!

 

Yes @NoGaBiker A dremel and a tungsten carbide bit might be the best option if it's only a few mm that need to be shaved off. Tuffant Jake did mention it was only in one small area that the caliper wouldn't clear the wheels. He estimated about 1/16". I wonder how thick the casting is in that area. I'll wait to see it in person first. Worst case scenario is I børk a caliper and have to get it replaced with all the hassle and headache that would bring.

Great info on the electronic stuff @mshotel .

I'm thinking that when I do this, I'll get the 18" alloy wheels, see how the fit is and how feasible a caliper trim is before buying the calipers. If I can source them locally, cost is a wash either way.

 

^^ My thinking exactly. I have a 18x8, 5x120, 37mm offset steelie coming my way for delivery end of next week. Once I have the wheel in hand I plan to:

a) measure the height of my Defender currently vs. the clearance to get in my garage. It’s close but clears in normal height. I’ve not measured yet. Hopefully it will still clear in Normal height even after I do the following, because I can’t be relied on to always remember to push the Access Height button before entering.






b) jack up one side of truck and remove both wheels. Remove the mud-scraper thingie from front wheel hub. Confirm that my particular 18” sample wheel fits over the unmodified front wheels. If not, consider another wheel. If it does clear the front,

c) see if it will fit over the rear calipers, even though it rubs. If so, then a tiny bit needs removed (that’s how my Jeep was when I went down to 16s). Spin the wheel a few revs in order to scar the caliper, or alternatively hit the visually “high spots” of the caliper with a thin coat of paint that will scratch easily if the wheel touches.

d) hit the scratched section minimally with my die grinder, put the wheel back on, repeat “c”, repeat “d” until the wheel no longer touches. Tiny amounts off each time till it doesn’t need it anymore.

e) order 4 more wheels

f) order 5 275/70-18 Nitto Ridge Grapplers (33.16” tall nominally), have them mounted to wheels.

g) rattlecan the wheels either white, Pangea Green non-metallic (i.e., whatever I can find or mix that’s extremely close to PG but has no flake in it), or possibly a primer-gray color. Clearcoat after painting.

h) install my 1.5 Jrods and the wheels.

I) Test it all out.

If:

the new tires are quiet enough that I am not bothered by them compared to the GY Adventures on there now, and

b) I have no clearance issues with the garage, and

c) I detect no diminution of the truck’s handling prowess on the smooth, serpentine roads of North GA, North Carolina, etc, where the truck spends a lot of time, then

I will probably leave those cool looking 18s on full time.

But if either a, b or c above are not true, I’ll store the 5 new 18s and put the 20s back on until I’m going off-road.

That’s the plan, anyway.

Here’s the sample wheel, costing $114 delivered, compared to the OEM steelies at 338 pounds sterling, iirc, plus shipping from England.