let's talk wheels & tyres (non monster truck...)

Hi All,

well, I'm certainly quite bored now after reading all of my search results... lots of talk about "how big can I make my landy's tyres before they pop-off", but not much talk of achieving the classis look/feel/drive.

A good while ago I used to have a '92 200tdi defender. I remember that it had 750R16 tyres - Avon Range master tubed... based on this memory, I have the following questions:

1) 750R16 may well have been the tyre size, but I have no idea what the wheel size was... 16 inch obviously, but what "J" figure would they have been?

2) What I remember being important about the rangemasters over all of the other shouty offroad tyres was that they had an unbroken strip of tread (in a zigzag) down the centre of the tyre pattern - I seem to remember associating this (unique?) feature to a quieter ride - gaps mean noises. Are there other modern equivilants which have this feature?

3) I remember getting replacement range masters at some point, and they were ribbed inside - this lead to *constant* issues with tubes developing leaks from the abrasive nature. Is this still the case, or is it more likely to be an issue with the fitter?

Any help with the above would be great. I'm not into green laning, just small-holding and pottering around the country/europe. I seem to remember someone telling me that this original wheel profile was such that the landy would "dig" through mud to find solid ground.... as apposed to the japanese 4x4 wide wheels which would opt to "float" on the mud... not sure how much of that is true though.

All of this is so that I know what wheel rims and tyres I need to shop for, for my v8 project defender.

Thanks

Adam

I think they were 6.5j

ER1C said:

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yup.... that's the sort of nonsense I keep finding...

Its funny you say that as reading your post again I found my Series 3 recently seemed to cut a much nicer imprint in the mud as I drove it around the fields..... This was exactly as you describe.... a "Zig Zag"

I reckon what you will find is people always think bigger is better hence the huge fat tyres you see, its all about the image, you know the saying all the gear no idea? a decent driver will get along just fine with a set of 7.50/16, 235/85 are the same diameter but a tadge fatter.
Michelin XZL are a nice strong tyre and long lasting, have a look on ebay for michelin xzl 7.50 always some on there.
Once you go over 7.50 tyres which are roughly 30 inch diameter then theres a whole new load of aggro with clearance issues, turning circle and just general power sapping drag.
The fatter the tyre the more limited your steering lock becomes.

lynall said:

I reckon what you will find is people always think bigger is better hence the huge fat tyres you see, its all about the image, you know the saying all the gear no idea? a decent driver will get along just fine with a set of 7.50/16, 235/85 are the same diameter but a tadge fatter.
Michelin XZL are a nice strong tyre and long lasting, have a look on ebay for michelin xzl 7.50 always some on there.
Once you go over 7.50 tyres which are roughly 30 inch diameter then theres a whole new load of aggro with clearance issues, turning circle and just general power sapping drag.
The fatter the tyre the more limited your steering lock becomes.

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Its widely accepted narrow are better as they cut through to find traction... You would like to think the army researched before deciding.

lynall said:

I reckon what you will find is people always think bigger is better hence the huge fat tyres you see, its all about the image, you know the saying all the gear no idea? a decent driver will get along just fine with a set of 7.50/16, 235/85 are the same diameter but a tadge fatter.
Michelin XZL are a nice strong tyre and long lasting, have a look on ebay for michelin xzl 7.50 always some on there.
Once you go over 7.50 tyres which are roughly 30 inch diameter then theres a whole new load of aggro with clearance issues, turning circle and just general power sapping drag.
The fatter the tyre the more limited your steering lock becomes.

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I would second this - I have zxl on my 90 and they are surprisingly good, some of the guys I go owning with have some quite large tyres and the 2 of us on the michys seem to do much better in the wet sloppy mud and wet field type situations, they seem to be reasonable at climbing out of ruts. They have a really strong side wall so can be run low aswell. I like.

Although I have only tried those and g90's - the g90's were not that great on the road tho

Firestone SATs

hi chaps,

Nice to know I'm not on my own with this thinking!

so from that:

what size wheel (width) are you fitting 750R16 Mich ZXL's too?

What's the tread pattern like... solid centre strip like rangemaster or not?

Are the Zxl's tubed or tubless?

cooltide said:

Firestone SATs

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Sorry cooltide - you lose... That is a zig-zag centre tread, but it's clearly broken between each chevron. gaps make noises

cooltide said:

Firestone SATs

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If you can find them and don't mind killing your self on roundabouts.
I run XZL's on Wolf rims. Had them for years and years, still years and years left in them, fantastic in mud sand really good on the road. Rubbish in snow.

http://www.stevetoyer.com/wheel_and_tyre_deal.html

i have zxl that are tubeless but it says on the tyre can be run with a tube.

They are 16r7.50 6.5j but will go out and double check later when am back in.

They aren't a solid central bit but rather 2 of set blocks, they him on road but aren't outrageous.

nobber said:

If you can find them and don't mind killing your self on roundabouts.
I run XZL's on Wolf rims. Had them for years and years, still years and years left in them, fantastic in mud sand really good on the road. Rubbish in snow.

http://www.stevetoyer.com/wheel_and_tyre_deal.html

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Why do you say rubbish in snow? I found them acceptable - I certainly didn't get stuck but spent most of the time in diff lock high

It's just knowing when to feed in the v8 and take the roundabout in a cloud of smoke

flat said:

Why do you say rubbish in snow? I found them acceptable - I certainly didn't get stuck but spent most of the time in diff lock high

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They get clogged and cant self clean, I found them OK but had some really scary moments with them, I don't trust them in snow. Perhaps they were cutting through to more compacted snow underneath, either way fatter tyres are better for snow.

nobber said:

They get clogged and cant self clean, I found them OK but had some really scary moments with them, I don't trust them in snow. Perhaps they were cutting through to more compacted snow underneath, either way fatter tyres are better for snow.

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Arr okay yeah, got you. They seem to be a reasonably solid rubber aswell.

I been looking out for some reasonable price snow chains to but have put it off as the weather has been fine last few years

My preference for at tyres are the Goodyear wrangler atr. Much less noise than bfg mud, good grip on and off road, though apart from work - fencing, smallholding, I don't go looking for mud. Reduced understeer compared to Mt tyres which will be an issue for you with a decent v8.

The best bit about the xzl is they are tough as in real tough, Ive got the 8.25 ones on my 90 and they are rated to 70psi, the 8.25 ones also have steel belted sidewalls as well as the tread, basically a small truck tyre.
If you do some research you will see a lot of the other makes have the same or very similair tread pattern as the xzl.

ER1C said:

Its widely accepted narrow are better as they cut through to find traction... You would like to think the army researched before deciding.

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So all these people running trepadors, boggers, simex etc in competitions are missing a trick then, lol