WHEEL and TIRE DILEMMA WITH LR4's

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DWarner

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Hi guys. I'm a newbie to the Forum as I'm new to LR ownership as well, but have used the site for information for a few months. Thank you to those who've contributed to my learning about the vehicles...


We purchased a 2013 HSE in Mariana Black a few months back and I promptly started researching the aftermarket wheel and tire options available for the truck. It took about a month before we were able to square something away because as many of you are aware, due to the vehicles size, there aren't a lot of options available.

Hopefully some of the information I learned in the process will be helpful for someone who wants to go with a larger wheel and tire package going forward...


If your LR4 comes stock with the 19" wheels and 255/55/19 tire package, a reputable establishment will likely advise you to stay away from any size larger than a 20" rim. This is due to the load rating on our 19" tires. They are rated at 111 which guarantees they'll hold up to around 2500lbs per wheel. The same size tire with a rating lower than 111 is deemed too light to carry the weight of our LR4s.


This 111 load rating makes it difficult to find many tires in 19s' or 20s', and impossible to find in 22" sizes.


If your LR4 comes stock with the 20" wheel and tire package, the tires provided then, for some reason, only have a load rating of 110, which will hold around 2300 pounds per corner.


You may be able to get a tire dealer to sell you a set of 22" wheels and tires with a 110 load rating if your truck came with the 20" package, but it may sacrifice some of the wear-ability and safety of the tire on a truck that weighs 5700 lbs. This is particularly true if you intend to tow a camper or boat with your truck...So it seems like a bit of a gamble in my mind, even if the look is something you're shooting for. If you plan to ever go off roading with your LR, the guys on here will correctly tell you you'd be better off going with and 18" setup...


Rim width is also an issue with the LR4. I originally chose a 20x10 TSW wheel and a young tech at Discount Tire ordered a set of Cooper Zeon LTZ tires in 275/45/20 for me. When the tires arrived and were mounted on the wheels, the manager informed the tech that they couldn't mount them on the truck. They looked real sweet, but the Coopers in this size were only rated 110 and Discount Tire wouldn't mount them as a result. 275/40s were out because they weren't heavy enough...


Next, we tried a set of Nitto Terra Grappler G2's in size 285/50/20 on the same 20x10 rim. Again, looked really sweet, and beefy, but they didn't fit, as the height of near 31" overall left the tire rubbing a bolt at the front of the wheel well when turned full chock, and rubbed worse when in the lowest access suspension setting. So 285/50's are basically a no go because they're too tall...


In the end, we figured out that there was really two 20" tire sizes that would work. A 265/50/20... Problem here is that for this size of tire, the widest rim width it will work on is a 9.5" wheel. As a result, the 20x10 option is out...And a 285/45/20 tire is a second option, but there are only one or two high priced choices available out there...


So, we found a set of 20x9.5 32ET Voxx Danza wheels and mounted four 265/50/20" Nitto Terra Grappler G2's.

I was apprehensive to go with A/T tires because my wife drives the truck everyday and we won't be taking it off-road except to pull our camper into a campground, but I couldn't be happier. They're quiet, smooth, and the additional width seems to add a little stability to the top heavy wobble our vehicles are known for.


Stock width of the tires was 10"... these are just under 11". Sidewall height is 1/2" shorter than stock and the overall diameter is about 1/2 inch larger. This tire size fills the wheel well out nicely, looks aggressive without being gaudy, and the 32 offset has the wheels very close to flush with the fender flares.


So while there are quite a few rim choices available for our trucks, the tire choices, as many of us have found out, are few and far between.

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umbertob

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Couple of things. Land Rover's own factory (and recommended alternatives) 20" tires have a 109 load index and XL load range, so those 275/45/20 Coopers Zeons you got at first would have been just fine with their 110S XL service description. FYI, LI of 109=2271 lbs, 110=2337 lbs, 11=2403 lbs. That's per tire, so plenty of overhead for trailers, people and cargo.

Surprised to hear the 285/50R20s would rub on a bolt, a lot of us run 285/60R18s as off-road setups, which have a similar overall diameter as those 20s, and have no such issues. Perhaps once stretched over 10" wide rims they create problems: the 18" rims that fit the LR4 that are only 8 - 8.5" wide. Tire height is not the issue, 31.5" in overall diameter fit fine with virtually no rubbing. It's when you go above that height that you need to make some modifications.

I like the setup you went with in the end, but with a 32mm offset the rims appear to stick out quite a bit from the fenders (perhaps it's the angle of your photo tricking my eye, though.) If you haven't done so already, get an alignment.
 
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DWarner

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Couple of things. Land Rover's own factory (and recommended alternatives) 20" tires have a 109 load index and XL load range, so those 275/45/20 Coopers Zeons you got at first would have been just fine with their 110S XL service description. FYI, LI of 109=2271 lbs, 110=2337 lbs, 11=2403 lbs. That's per tire, so plenty of overhead for trailers, people and cargo.

Surprised to hear the 285/50R20s would rub on a bolt, a lot of us run 285/60R18s as off-road setups, which have a similar overall diameter as those 20s, and have no such issues. Perhaps once stretched over 10" wide rims they create problems: the 18" rims that fit the LR4 that are only 8 - 8.5" wide. Tire height is not the issue, 31.5" in overall diameter fit fine with virtually no rubbing. It's when you go above that height that you need to make some modifications.

I like the setup you went with in the end, but with a 32mm offset the rims appear to stick out quite a bit from the fenders (perhaps it's the angle of your photo tricking my eye, though.) If you haven't done so already, get an alignment.

My bad... the stock 20's do have a 109 load rating like you noted. The problem for me was that Discount Tire wouldn't sell me a tire that had a lower load rating than what came on my vehicle. They called corporate office and supposedly JLR Corp. to confirm. It sounded a bit bogus to me that if some of our trucks can take a 109 rating, it seems normal to think they all could. But they weren't going for it...

I'm familiar with the weight for the load ratings but was just using approximates for the post. Here's a great website that gives all the data you could ever want for comparing tire data... http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Tire-Size-Calculator
or this one... https://tiresize.com/

While we're on the topic of load ratings, do you, or anyone, know why the 20" tire has a lower load rating than the 19" stock tires? Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Maybe no manufacturer offered a 111 rated tire that would've fit the truck??

As for the 285's you're on it again. They would've fit height wise, but the 10" rim probably caused the rubbing. And after the tires wore down a bit, it's likely the rubbing problem would've been eliminated as well. But when we put the truck in access mode it looked scrunched in there, so with that and the slight rub, I wasn't willing to shell out the cash. Plus, most sites are saying anything over 31" will require spacers or mods I'd personally rather not deal with. And that much difference will alter the accuracy of your speedometer and odometer, so I wasn't mad they didn't quite fit...

20160508_184343_resized.jpg

The 32 ET on the 9.5" wheel has the tires either flush or just inside the top of the fenders. From the above picture, you can see they protrude out where the fenders taper and are wider than the mud flaps, but overall, they don't stick out like we see on many 4x4 pickup trucks... At 30.4" they are much closer to stock height of 30.0 so the alignment wasn't seen as necessary. You think it's still advisable?
 

umbertob

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Nah, you're good. The first few photos weren't as clear as the perspective shot in your last post. I really like those wheels, nice choice. Just watch out for pesky sidewalks, it looks like the bulge of the tire's sidewall doesn't really protect those beautiful spokes much. :smile:
 
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DWarner

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Nah, you're good. The first few photos weren't as clear as the perspective shot in your last post. I really like those wheels, nice choice. Just watch out for pesky sidewalks, it looks like the bulge of the tire's sidewall doesn't really protect those beautiful spokes much. :smile:

Thanks... They weren't my first choice but I'm pretty happy with the overall look. And like I mentioned, the price was pretty lovely...

It doesn't feel like I need to have an alignment but I guess you never know if the camber is off a bit something. A guy would hate to eat up a pair of perfectly good tires because he was too lazy or cheap to get an alignment! I'll keep an eye on it for now, but thanks for the thought...

show a full vehicle side pic. looks good

Thank you... I did post a few shots of the truck in Standard and Access Mode here on the show your LR4 thread...
http://www.landroverworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=23059&page=106

and here are a couple extras... In Off-Road mode for the guys who like to see the trucks sitting up...:wink:

20160508_185212_resized.jpg


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eljefe

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looks great. what did you do with the stock wheels? Let me know if you want to sell them. I may be interested.

Thanks
 

DWarner

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looks great. what did you do with the stock wheels? Let me know if you want to sell them. I may be interested.

Thanks

Thank you... We live in the Midwest so I intend to just hold onto the stocks and mainly run them in inclement weather. They spray our roads with some type of chemical that eats away at the clear coat of a lot of aftermarket rims. If you don't swap wheels out before the season turns ugly, your rims tend to turn ugly with it...
 

jaguardoc504

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I can assure you the 285/50r20 tire size will fit, and is a good compromise for guys with the 20" wheels
They do however rub on the frame to body mounts at full lock in the front wheel well, with some articulation involved (level surface, full lock = no problems).
I run the Cooper Zeon LTZ with no issues.
I know guys who run the Terra Grapplers with no issue either. I'm curious which bolt in the rear it was rubbing on, and if there was an issue with the bolt itself.
 

DWarner

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I can assure you the 285/50r20 tire size will fit, and is a good compromise for guys with the 20" wheels
They do however rub on the frame to body mounts at full lock in the front wheel well, with some articulation involved (level surface, full lock = no problems).
I run the Cooper Zeon LTZ with no issues.
I know guys who run the Terra Grapplers with no issue either. I'm curious which bolt in the rear it was rubbing on, and if there was an issue with the bolt itself.

Jaguardoc504, you're right they do fit on the 20" rims and look pretty sweet I might add. Very chunky...

They didn't rub at all in the rears, just in the front on one of the little bolts that connects the fender flares to the body. Like I said, after a few weeks, the rubber on the tire there would likely wear down and you wouldn't notice it. I just didn't want to hear my wife complaining about the fact that when she made full turns she felt a little resistance...

Like you mention, they also rub slightly on the inside of the wheel well at full chock. Something some people could probably live with but for me, having been near purchasing LR's a few times in the past and balking due to negative feedback about suspension issues, I kinda felt like it might be best not to push it too hard. It looks like the LR4 suspension has proven to be less problematic than other models but I guess I'm still a little nervous having just joined the Rover ownership circle. So I opted for a little smaller sample...

Something else which is possible is that depending upon the tire chosen in 285/50/20, it may or may not rub. Perhaps the Coopers have just a hair less rubber on the contact patch compared to the Nitto and it allows them to travel freely without any impedance??

Do you run the Coopers on a 20x10 or 20x9.5 in. wheel?
 

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