Freelander 1 What size wheels and which tyres for a bit of green lane driving?
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300bhp/ton
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Yes and no.
I see your point and accept it and it is true under some conditions. But I don't fully agree with it.
Let me explain.
If you are on say a dry lane that is fairly tame. Then yes they are fine. But venture more into the wilds and there are two issues:
1. Much higher risk of puncture.
2. The simply won't be any good if it really gets muddy. M&S might claim to be mud rated, but tbh it's a bit of a cop out. And you can very easily end up getting stuck or sliding about all over the show, where the same vehicle on better tyres would have no problem at all.
You see and here of these things all the time. Many a tread is posted where people have got stuck, or slid into something and I've seen it first hand many many times.
E.g.
Terrain like this and road tyres like you posted, you are at far greater risk of punctures.
And you'd find traction lacking on terrain like this:
If you are only driving on lanes like this, in dry conditions, then I do agree. Those tyres would be fine. But you'd need to know the lane to know that it wouldn't get worse.
And arguably wet grass is the worst thing for traction.
This lane was mostly grass, but it started from a small Welsh hill farms yard and went straight up a very steep slope, At least a 1 in 3, but probably slightly steeper. A small amount of rain would make it very challenging to ascend on off road tyres, let alone anything else. And of course, you could end up having to come down it and the lack of low range on the FL would probably mean brown trouser time, or an accident. Indeed the farmer told us someone in a Disco had come down the slope last year and taken out part of his wall.
My advice to the op would be:
-If you are having one set of rims. Then make sure you run a good AT tyre on the more aggressive end. They might not be the best on road, but they should be fine. But they will make up for it when needed on lanes and off the beaten path.
-If you are having two sets of rims. Then get one set of MTs and the other road biased. That way you'll be covered. But it will mean you'll have to change tyres before venturing out.
-If it was me, then I'd probably opt for a MT and just run it daily. But that's me and I accept it wouldn't suit for everyone. Although to some extent it will depend how many road miles you.
I can't recall the size of these, but slight bigger than standard for an FL. No rubbing, stock suspension. They are actually a remould copy of the BFG AT, think they might have been Insa Turbo of some kind. They wouldn't be my first choice of tread pattern, but we had a set lying about hardly used and needed tyres on the FL.
It ran perfectly on them. No issues at all on the road.
Yes and no.
I see your point and accept it and it is true under some conditions. But I don't fully agree with it.
Let me explain.
If you are on say a dry lane that is fairly tame. Then yes they are fine. But venture more into the wilds and there are two issues:
1. Much higher risk of puncture.
2. The simply won't be any good if it really gets muddy. M&S might claim to be mud rated, but tbh it's a bit of a cop out. And you can very easily end up getting stuck or sliding about all over the show, where the same vehicle on better tyres would have no problem at all.
You see and here of these things all the time. Many a tread is posted where people have got stuck, or slid into something and I've seen it first hand many many times.
E.g.
Terrain like this and road tyres like you posted, you are at far greater risk of punctures.
And you'd find traction lacking on terrain like this:
If you are only driving on lanes like this, in dry conditions, then I do agree. Those tyres would be fine. But you'd need to know the lane to know that it wouldn't get worse.
And arguably wet grass is the worst thing for traction.
This lane was mostly grass, but it started from a small Welsh hill farms yard and went straight up a very steep slope, At least a 1 in 3, but probably slightly steeper. A small amount of rain would make it very challenging to ascend on off road tyres, let alone anything else. And of course, you could end up having to come down it and the lack of low range on the FL would probably mean brown trouser time, or an accident. Indeed the farmer told us someone in a Disco had come down the slope last year and taken out part of his wall.
My advice to the op would be:
-If you are having one set of rims. Then make sure you run a good AT tyre on the more aggressive end. They might not be the best on road, but they should be fine. But they will make up for it when needed on lanes and off the beaten path.
-If you are having two sets of rims. Then get one set of MTs and the other road biased. That way you'll be covered. But it will mean you'll have to change tyres before venturing out.
-If it was me, then I'd probably opt for a MT and just run it daily. But that's me and I accept it wouldn't suit for everyone. Although to some extent it will depend how many road miles you.
I can't recall the size of these, but slight bigger than standard for an FL. No rubbing, stock suspension. They are actually a remould copy of the BFG AT, think they might have been Insa Turbo of some kind. They wouldn't be my first choice of tread pattern, but we had a set lying about hardly used and needed tyres on the FL.
It ran perfectly on them. No issues at all on the road.
This is why I like the Yokohama AT'S.
The are reasonably priced, very strong, grip well in most conditions and have good road manors too.
It may well be that the tyres on the car currently - although new - ought to be replaced with something rather better, and a decent set of ATs may be the best option here. That'll get me sorted for the light off-roading that I have envisaged to start with. If things start to get a little more serious, then I'll opt for a set of 15 or 16" rims with some MTs to fit before venturing off road.
I don't have the 3-door roof bars: what is the max carry weight on these? Do they have capacity to take 4 wheels and tyres? [Probably a daft idea carrying that kind of weight above the roof - it'll raise the centre of gravity quite significantly! But I quite like the idea...]
I don't have the 3-door roof bars: what is the max carry weight on these? Do they have capacity to take 4 wheels and tyres? [Probably a daft idea carrying that kind of weight above the roof - it'll raise the centre of gravity quite significantly! But I quite like the idea...]
With 4 complete wheel/ tyre combo's on the roof. It'll be over the 75kg load limit.
Over the summer, I regularly put double that on my roof. The car didn't notice it. But I wasn't going off road at the time.
The G4 Challenge, expedition V6 Freelanders had loads of stuff on there roof racks. Probably well over the 75kg load rating. I'm pretty sure that it's 75Kg for some regulation or other anyway. The factory rails are well up to the job. Like I said, I've put loads of stuff up there, without any problems.
LUKBENPHI
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Mines got the 17's and I wouldn't bother if you want anything other than road tyres as i've yet to find much choice any all terrains in the 225/55 R17's stick with the 16s, also my speedo reads 5mph slow at nearly every speed
225/60/17 or 235/60/17 gives you a better selection of ATs and will correct the speedometer error
I have these on my 17" rims, in 225/60/17. http://www.maxxis.co.uk/catalog/tyre-131-bravo-series-at-771
Last edited:
Alibro
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I have just bought a spare set of 16" wheels for £50 and am on the lookout for new tyres. I want to get them as big as possible for extra ground clearance so am looking at tyres around 225/75/R16. According to various websites they would be just over 29" diameter so should give approx 1.5" extra height, added to the 2" lift kit I've fitted and I should have around 3.5" or nearly 90mm extra clearance. I'd like to get 30" tyres but for the reasons below I think that might be going too far.
I know they would screw up the speedo and if MT or aggressive AT will be noisy but my car isn't a daily driver so not too worried about that.
The only thing that worries me about over sized tyres is the lack of low range so the clutch will take a hammering. In a K series it would be much worse as they have less torque than the TD4 or a tweaked L series.
I know they would screw up the speedo and if MT or aggressive AT will be noisy but my car isn't a daily driver so not too worried about that.
The only thing that worries me about over sized tyres is the lack of low range so the clutch will take a hammering. In a K series it would be much worse as they have less torque than the TD4 or a tweaked L series.
The K series gearing is lower than the TD4, which compensates for the lower torque output
LUKBENPHI
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- Peak District
225/60/17 or 235/60/17 gives you a better selection of ATs and will correct the speedometer error
I have these on my 17" rims, in 225/60/17. http://www.maxxis.co.uk/catalog/tyre-131-bravo-series-at-771
Thanks Nodge, will it make it more of a gutless wonder with the increased profile? some of the hills by me are 2nd and even 1st jobs already!
It shouldn't make much difference. The 225/55/17 are smaller than the standard 215/65/16.
If you need to use 1st, just use it
Mine is fine with 225/60/17 fitted, but I have an auto.
LUKBENPHI
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- Peak District
It shouldn't make much difference. The 225/55/17 are smaller than the standard 215/65/16.
If you need to use 1st, just use it
Mine is fine with 225/60/17 fitted, but I have an auto.
Would explain why its quite nippy on the flat then! it could do with some more torque though below 2000 one of the problem of an older generation diesel!
The FL1 uses the following gear sets and ratios (from http://www.drawmer.net/libra/pg1ratios.htm):
Freelander 1.8: Gearset S4EM 1st: 3.25 2nd: 1.894 3rd: 1.222 4th: 0.848 5th: 0.648 Final drive: 4.2
Freelander T/D: Gearset S7EMU 1st: 3.25 2nd: 1.894 3rd: 1.222 4th: 0.848 5th: 0.648 Final drive: 3.647
Basically both cars use the same gearset - i.e. "S" which is the letter code for the combination of ratios for 1-5.
The only difference between the 1.8 and the diesel versions is the final drive ratio. The 1.8 uses "4" (which is 4.2:1 - and the same used on the MGF VVC and the VVC versions of the MG ZR and Rover 200/25). The diesels use "7" (3.647:1).
To the best of my knowledge, all PG1 gearsets are interchangeable - so there is plenty of scope to replace the gears with different ratios as needed. A "G" gearset might be a good choice for a 1.8 or a diesel where a lower ratio set of gears might be needed. G4 PG1 gearboxes are frequently found in ZR160s. I have one of these to fit into my sprint MGF
PS All Rover PG1 gearboxes on turbo-charged (petrol or diesel) cars use the "U" casing and gears - "U" standing for "Upgraded" - with stronger bearings etc.
More on the alphabetti-spaghetti of the gearbox codes here: http://mgf.ultimatemg.com/group1/info/Gearbox_numbers/index.htm
Freelander 1.8: Gearset S4EM 1st: 3.25 2nd: 1.894 3rd: 1.222 4th: 0.848 5th: 0.648 Final drive: 4.2
Freelander T/D: Gearset S7EMU 1st: 3.25 2nd: 1.894 3rd: 1.222 4th: 0.848 5th: 0.648 Final drive: 3.647
Basically both cars use the same gearset - i.e. "S" which is the letter code for the combination of ratios for 1-5.
The only difference between the 1.8 and the diesel versions is the final drive ratio. The 1.8 uses "4" (which is 4.2:1 - and the same used on the MGF VVC and the VVC versions of the MG ZR and Rover 200/25). The diesels use "7" (3.647:1).
To the best of my knowledge, all PG1 gearsets are interchangeable - so there is plenty of scope to replace the gears with different ratios as needed. A "G" gearset might be a good choice for a 1.8 or a diesel where a lower ratio set of gears might be needed. G4 PG1 gearboxes are frequently found in ZR160s.
I have one of these to fit into my sprint MGF PS All Rover PG1 gearboxes on turbo-charged (petrol or diesel) cars use the "U" casing and gears - "U" standing for "Upgraded" - with stronger bearings etc.
More on the alphabetti-spaghetti of the gearbox codes here: http://mgf.ultimatemg.com/group1/info/Gearbox_numbers/index.htm
The TD4 uses a Getrag type 282
Gears 5 Forward, 1 Reverse, all synchromesh
Gear Ratios:
First: 3.577 : 1
Second: 1.887 : 1
Third: 1.192 :1
Forth: 0.848 : 1
Fifth: 0.686 : 1
Reverse: 3.308 : 1
Final Drive Ratio: 3.182 : 1
The IRD multiples ratio of the gearbox final drive by 1.458 :1
Gears 5 Forward, 1 Reverse, all synchromesh
Gear Ratios:
First: 3.577 : 1
Second: 1.887 : 1
Third: 1.192 :1
Forth: 0.848 : 1
Fifth: 0.686 : 1
Reverse: 3.308 : 1
Final Drive Ratio: 3.182 : 1
The IRD multiples ratio of the gearbox final drive by 1.458 :1
Last edited:
Alibro
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Back on the topic of tyres, I just discovered the rims I bought are 7" with 215/65/R16 tyres and the ugly rims that came with the car are approx 8" with 225/60/R16 tyres. I've found a web site that claims I can fit 225 tyres on my 7" Rims. Does anyone know if this is correct. I know wider tyres are not any better off road but they look sooo much better.
225 on 7" rims. No problem at all. 245 or 255 would be about the limit, depending on profile used
I guess the S7EMU PG1 box was mated to the L-series Nodge
Change the final drive to any of the others (4, 5 or 6) and you'll have a lower range that might be better suited to taller tyres.
I would not be surprised if the Getrag 252 has a similar range of ratios and final drives available - all from a a local scrap yard near you
Change the final drive to any of the others (4, 5 or 6) and you'll have a lower range that might be better suited to taller tyres.
I would not be surprised if the Getrag 252 has a similar range of ratios and final drives available - all from a a local scrap yard near you
