Hi All , Total novice here but I've had my Discovery from new in 2004 and wouldn't want to part with it . I do however fancy having it ' beef 'd ' up with a lift kit and new wheels and tyres etc . The wheels / tyres that i've had from new are 255x55x18 but would like to go bigger / wider which i assume would have to be on smaller rims . I'm due to have a new galvanised chassis fitted by Marrion 4x4 in November so could someone advise me on what would be the best combination without having to make serious changes . I don't do ' off roading ' as such only driving over muddy fields in the worst case .

OSOK

 

Lucky you found this place! And even more lucky the question has already been ask and answered and the advice is all right here for free with no waiting for replies!!!

Do a quick search for Tires (American spelling) and you will get more info than you will have time to digest!!

Best of luck and welcome!!

 

I drive 90% hwy, 10% forest roads, sometimes very rugged ones, but don't do serious off-roading. Just fitted my D2 with 265/60R18 A/T. They fit perfectly without any rubbing, although 1.5" bigger than stock. Another reason I wouldn't go higher is ABS, TC and HDC. These electronic systems are optimized for a certain tire size, and I read that bigger than 5% reduces their performance and abilities.

EDIT: When you do a search, you will find plenty of threads covering the topic. Google works better than the local search function. Try "tire-size and discovery-ii and site:landroverforums.com"

 

Thank you for the replies , I can't get an Idea of the size ..... Is it possible for a picture please ? I want to know if going to the smaller rim size is going to make the tyres look bigger somehow ? Did you go with the lift kit ? Sorry if these seem odd questions but I don't want it to look like standard mud tyres with a lift kit .

 

Here are my pictures, no lift: https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...76/#post740211
Smaller rims make look like tires bigger for sure. Here you can calculate the tire diameter and observe the look: https://tiresize.com/calculator/ (My tires are 30.5", stock is 29.0", which is 5% bigger).

 

Here's hoping that I've done the right thing .... Costs were getting out of hand so decided to run with the existing 18 inch rims but with 265 x 60 x 18 BF Muds which says 5.2% increase

Richards Chassis
TF front bumber
TF steering guard
TF 30mm wheel spacers
TF 2 inch lift kit
Brake pipes etc

 

I ran 265/65/18's on my 99 DII stock height with no rub. Works out to about a 31.5" tire. Still looked good after I did a 2" spacer lift, but I eventually went to a 32" tire. I never had an issue with TC or ABS performance and I did quite a bit of off road and snow driving, just threw the speedo off a little.

 

Performance degradation of ABS/TC/HDC is probably not noticeable in many situations, but I am sure there are some situations where it is. From what I read, a size change of less than 5% seems to be a rule of thumb which degrades performance negligibly only. Using a different tire type than these systems were designed for will have some impact too. Aftermarket tires like A/T or M/T tires might compensate or even overcompensate degraded performance on mud, gravel or snow, so is less or not noticeable. In contrast, using these tires on pavement at hwy speed might make it even worse. Nonetheless just bigger tires increase the distance traveled between brake pulses. Also the bigger mass comes into play. In an extreme case, the control loop might not function properly when a certain threshold is exceeded.

 

Some good choices for your stock 18" rims are 255/60-18, 265/60-18, 255/65-18 or 265/65-18. I have 255/60-18 on my 01 with the stock suspension. I plan on going to 265/60-18 Goodyear Dura Tracks when my Nitto Terra Grapplers wear out.

 

I run with 245/75/r16 with no lift
it looks great and it will cover all of your drive since you dont do serious off road

this is how it look like .. but i think this is with 2" lift


BFG 245/75/R16