Everything about tires for LR4/ LR3 with 18" wheels

[P_J_F]

Anyone else have issues clearing the hub on their 18" Compomotive's?

Was just at the tire shop and we could get them on using extreme force, but were concerned they may never come back off.
Especially if I am out in the middle of nowhere and need to change a tire...

We double checked the wheel hub and vehicle with a micrometer and it was roughly .5 mm off.

A little bit of shaving down with sand paper and it fits fine now, should I be concerned that we had to sand/grid them down just a bit or should it be fine?

Never had to do this with a wheel before, and the tire shop also said this is not something they normally would do.

Maybe an issue with the most recent batch of wheels?

 

[jwest]

Unless your wheel had obvious machined/non-painted surface, then I would not be surprised. Factory wheels have machined surfaces for any contact area including centering ring and flat plate mounting against brake hat.

I had to instruct my powder coating place that these areas has to be masked in order to not ad the thick material that would cause exactly what you described. (happened on the first set they did)

 

[P_J_F]

Unless your wheel had obvious machined/non-painted surface, then I would not be surprised. Factory wheels have machined surfaces for any contact area including centering ring and flat plate mounting against brake hat.

I had to instruct my powder coating place that these areas has to be masked in order to not ad the thick material that would cause exactly what you described. (happened on the first set they did)

Thanks for the PSI advice btw, I will be setting to 50 and giving that a test.

The outside of the wheels are powder coated satin black, but the inside hub was clean, not painted or powder coated...

 

[jwest]

Interesting on the wheels.... FYI, I waxed mine so that later the dirt might be a little easier to clean, although I don't really shine up the vehicle, I do like to get off whatever will come off with a powerwash.


PSI: it depends on weight of the vehicle and tire size too. Because mine is usually at least 7000, anything less than 50 feels too slow on steering response and body sway.

 

[P_J_F]

I'm glad I waited for the BFG KO2's - they look amazing on this truck and I can't wait to put them to work.
Heading up to Big Sur and I will snap a pic and post it when I get back.

Should be a little rain and old coast road should be nice and muddy on Saturday.

If anyone has a link to order center caps that fit the 18" Compos that would be greatly appreciated, tried searching this thread but couldn't find anything:

I'm looking at: http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Pcs-Wheel...ER-Black-Green-CENTER-63-mm-No7-/221742082792 but can't tell if they fit - my OEM 19" caps do not which I was expecting.

Can't quite tell what size caps exactly the compos take?

Thanks again to everyone for helping me figure out all the details and sorry for blowing up this thread today!

 

[jwest]

I also got the new BFG at ko2 put on yesterday. 276/65x18. Decided to put them on my old 5 spoke wheel and mounted the spacers too. Pretty sweet having the tires flush and no worry over UCA rubbing either.

 

[TLB]

Tomorrow I will finally be mounting my new 18" Compomotive's with some 265/65R18 BF Goodrich A/T KO2's.

I've had the Compo 18"s sitting in the garage staring at me everyday while waiting for the new KO2's to come out!

Anyone running 265/65R18 BF Goodrich A/T KO's, what PSI are you running? Or anyone with a comparable 10 ply / E load tire what PSI would you recommend?

Also - I know I'm going to have to air down my spare pretty low to try and fit it in, is it going to throw a TPMS error?

Thanks guys!

I put about 15,000 miles on my BFG TA KO 265/65R18.( highway, city and regular off road driving) I do 5 tire rotation pattern. So far so good. On the street I run 42 PSI front and 48 back ( cold tire pressure). When off roading I air down to 30-35 PSI ( hot tire pressure) for better comfort. It works for me.
As for the spare tire and TMPS error. I deflate my spare to 8 PSI. When starting the car I get TMPS warning for the spare. It goes away once you press OK.
Pictures of your LR4 with TA KO2 please.

 

[jwest]

...I do 5 tire rotation pattern.

If anyone is serious about getting the best tire wear/longevity, due to our independent rear suspension with considerable camber, it is also good to do a tire flip every so often. Front to rear rotation is not totally sufficient for evening out the inside edge wear. I did this a couple times on my previous set of BFG and they still have 1/4 depth at 65,000 miles or so.

 

[P_J_F]

Put about 800 highway miles and about 50 off road on the new 18" Compos and BFG TA KO2's since last week.

Not surprisingly - I'm really impressed with these tires, relatively quiet and well mannered on the street and bullet proof off road.

Some rain and a "road impassable when wet" sign was a great invitation to drive a very wet old coast road in Big Sur last weekend.

A few pics of the new wheels and tires as promised:

 

[Adrenalinsports]

I have the 275/65 R18 Goodyear Duratracs load range E (80 PSI Max) on Compo wheels. I think these are a good choice for a happy medium between an AT and MT tire. And they are very good in the ice and snow. Better than most AT tires and far better than all MT tires in the snow.

Very curious how the latest generation of the Toyo and BFG All Terrains perform. I have the Cooper Discovery AT3's on my Dodge Mega Cab and cant imagine a better all around tire. They are so much better than the old BFG's and Toyo's but supposedly the new ones are also much better.

Also just incase anyone is interested I have owned my LR4 now for a year and have some thoughts on it that new buyers or those that want to modify there's might want to know. My LR4 has just about every off road modification I can think of done to it. It is also not my daily driver so I put up with some stuff that if I drove it every day might get annoying.

With all the armor, rack, spare tire carrier etc. my LR4 weighs about 950lbs more than stock. (That's like having an adult sitting in every seat of a stock LR4) I also have Johnson Rods on full time. All of these makes the LR4 feel very spongy on the highway. My kids seem to get car sick easy in my LR4 when I am on windy roads. Also pulling a trailer on the freeway is a little scary now.

If I am being honest the only reason I run the Rods full time is because I like the looks of the LR4 at the off road height. And the extra 1/2 lift more than the GAP tool is nice also. The inside fenders have been trimmed enough that on the streets I used to run in stock height even with the 275/65R18's. And then off road I would use the gap tool to lift it. If I didn't have to change the alignment I would for sure only use the GAP Tool and run it around town with the 2 inch lift then for road trips lower it to stock height because it performs better at highway speeds when its at stock height.

I might also run a low profile or 3/4 roof rack. My rack is the noisiest thing on my LR4. Its not bad but is a little noisy on the freeway especially into a headwind. But then again the full rack looks pretty cool.

The previous owner put the Kaymar bumper on re-welded and moved the spare tire carrier to the drivers side so you get the full view out the drop on the passenger side of the rear window. He then moved the back up camera, license plate and light on the spare. Opening the spare tire carrier latch bothers my wife when she wants to load grocery's and such in the back. I think I am going to modify the rear tire carrier back to the other side and put the camera and license plate back to stock so I can remove the whole spare tire carrier and then only put it on when I am going off roading or on a long trip. Then also put a normal spare tire under it again so I can limp to a tire store if I got a flat tire.

But overall still very impressed with the LR4. Not the best highway cruiser or best rock crawler but is better than any other vehicle at both. Still very good off road and very good and comfortable on the highway.