For two weeks I debated with myself. Do I want to make my Land Rover an off road toy or leave it stock. I did buy it for a toy, but the wife really likes it as is. Then I saw one stripped down and jacked up and the decision was made. Today I took the plunge and started stripping off the things I don't like or need. Like that plastic front bumper cover. It was broken anyway. And those running boards might as well come off now. They are just gonna get ripped off eventually anyway. Pictures will come soon.

 

Honestly, I wish I would have kept my truck stock.

My ultimate goal is to have two similar trucks, ultimately two 1996-1998 D1s. One as a refurbished stock truck and one trail toy. Similar to Jake or Brett

 

Well I wouldn't call my daily driver that stock. It does have an OME lift and 235/85/16 tires. But inside its pretty rough. It runs well enough and gets better gas mileage than my wheeler for whatever reason.

A simple 1.5-2" lift and 235/85/16 tires will bet you a lot of places, make it look a lot better, and still drive well.

 

Agree with Fish, you can do a lot with less on a Rover. Skinny tires like 235-85s are sooo underrated. It's amazing how many people see all the Heeps around with balloon tires and think that it makes all the difference off road, it doesn't. Lock that center diff, better tires, lift, boom. Still fine on the road for a DD, great off road too.

 

Regarding 235/85-16 tires, the manufacturers all recommend using a 6 to 7 inch rim width for these tires. Has anyone had issues with this size on the 8 inch rims? I'm considering getting some mud tires in this size for a second set of rims I have.

 

Im currently running 235/85 KM2's on my disco and I love em. I've owned 3 Disco's over the past 10 years with all sizes of tires and I have to repeat an above post that these tires are VERY UNDERRATED.

Dont think that since all the trucks and Jeeps running such big tires you need to as well. I took these out over the weekend offroad for the first time in some deep, sticky mud and they (along with the disco I might ad) performed flawlessly.

My disco has progressed to more of a toy than anything else. Still fun to take around town but is mostly used for weekends and off road now-a-days.

 

My 2001 came with 255/55R 18 on it. They are about 29" tall. I'm going to put 275/70R 18 on it. They will be about 33" tall giving me an extra 2" of ground clearance.

 

macro - looks like you're running the 7" OEM steel wheels on your D1. I'm not questioning the performance of a narrow tire, a quick look at any of the Camel Trophy videos will answer that question, just wondering if anyone has had any issues with running them on wider rims than the manufacturer's recommend.

By the way, your truck looks great.

 

Might not hold a bead quite as well as a narrower wheel if you air down offroad.

 

I think 04 is asking because all DII wheels were 8", while D1, Defender, RRC, were generally all 7" wide IIRC. I'm getting 7" wide wheels for my 255 85 tires, as I didn't want to worry about bead issues.