Hi, a couple of questions, I’m looking to put some new at tyres on the Landy 96 300tdi,
What are the best all round size to get?
Economy/ handling etc?
Also spacers, any pros and cons?
I’m just looking to improve the aesthetics a little, but don’t want to compromise anything! Thanks in advance!
Need more info really, there is a lot of choice out there.
There have been several standard fit tyres over the years.
235/85R16 probably the most common. Good choice of treads and the do the job well.
265/75R16 is about the same height but fatter and fitted on some USA/ROW models. Usually less lock with standard rims. But a valid choice. Probably less good off road on most UK terrain, as narrower tyres tend to work better most places.
7.50 x 16 is a nice size, same height again there abouts, but should be narrower. Somewhat different look, but can look great IMO.
205 x 16 is a short tyre. Often look a bit small, but for road use will probably be better in many ways in terms of handling and acceleration. Although they will reduce your overall gearing.
31.10.15R15 used in the USA markets. Bit shorter but fatter. Can look very good, but you'll def need new rims as stock rims are 16"
Other sizes:
255/85R16 these are tall and fit well without mods. Might need to adjust steering stops a bit. But limited choice of tyres in this size.
285/75R16 not quite as tall as the 255 but taller than a 235. But they are fat by comparison. Will give a bit of a mini monster truck look. But will give less lock (rub the radius arms) unless you run deeper offset rims. But then you run the risk of them sticking outside the arches, which is illegal in the UK (Construction & Use Regs, not the MoT!!!). You might also get more bump steer with these and less precise handling and a bit of a performance blunt. But there are pros to big tyres sometimes.
There are then some variation on 33.10.50 in 15 or 16" rims. 33.11.50 and even 33.12.50R15. The latter being very fat and wide. The 255/85 still slightly taller. A 12.50 section would be more akin to a 305 width.
As a rule wider tyres will produce more drag and blunt performance and mpg, usually with handling penalties. But might offer more on road grip.
Anything 285 or bigger may rub the wheel spats and other parts too.
Anything bigger than a 235 is more likely to break axle/diff parts.
Anything bigger than a 33" tall will likely require supporting mods.
As for rims. Loads of choice. I personally like the "Land Rover" look of steel rims. Something like the One Ton/2B/130/Wolf but I'm also partial to some 8 spoke steels. But there are others such as Mach 5s and the like. Again personally, not usually keen on alloys, not unless it is modern looking metallic tidy 90. and even then I'd probably still prefer some black steel rims.
Lots of rim widths and offsets. You'll need to match these with the tyres, then to how much you want the wheels to stick out or not.
IMO - spacers are 100% fine. They do exactly the same thing a deep offset rim does. You just need to understand what they are. Alloys need hubcentric spacers, steel rims do not and sometimes won't fit a hubcentric one.
There are other bigger alloys such as 18" or use of adaptor spacers to run p38/D2 rims. Mostly these just make a Land Rover ride worse however. The same total dimensions of the tyres are available in most sizes, you just change profile of the tyre. Trade rubber for rim. Although if you want a narrow look tyre, these are not available in above 16" sizes.
Tyres - depends on if you go off road or not and how road biased you are after.
