Everything about tires for LR4/ LR3 with 18" wheels

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ryanjl

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I posted this in another thread, but wanted to add to the "main" LR4 18" tire thread.

I put the Defender 18" steelies on my LR4 about 5 weeks ago. After over 5 years of thinking of 18" wheels and dreaming of the tire possibilities over the standard 19" wheels, I was actually sort of let down by the options when it came time to figure out what tires I actually wanted. What I learned is this: in my point of view, there are only a few "best" tire options for an 18" wheel on an LR4, so long as you want to stick with the sizes that won't create issues if your air springs fail and the Rover drops to the bump stops (and you do not have the SYA kit). Those tire sizes are 265/65/18 or 285/60/18.

A search on Discount Tire yields 26 All-Terrain tires in the 265/65/18 size:


But if you narrow those down to only load range E tires, there are only 6 options:

BFG All Terrain
Cooper Discoverer AT3 and Discoverer Maxx
Nitto Exo Grappler, Terra Grappler, Ridge Grappler

I went back and forth on whether E load range tires were actually necessary and/or actually meant a tougher sidewall, but my research told me that, at least in this tire size, it certainly did.

For example, my other two main options would have been the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W or the Toyo Open Country A/T III, both of which have gotten good reviews. But both of these are only SL load rated in this tire size, and if you go to the respective manufacturers' websites you can see that the ply-rating on the sidewalls of both of these are the lowest they offer--even lower than the XL load rating that comes stock on the LR4. Yes, this means the 255/60/19 Toyo All-Terrain (XL rated) is probably a better tire for offroad situations than the 265/65/18 (SL rated) version. If you are a Toyo fanboy and don't want any other tire, sticking with the stock 19-inch wheels may be the way to go there.

Going back to the E-rated tires, I've read some reports that the Coopers have experienced a lot of sidewall punctures off-road.

So, when it was all said and done, I wound up just going with the boring old BFG All-Terrains. Not really in love with the sidewall tread on these (the sidewall tread looks more aggressive than the actual tread does), but in terms of all the parameters, they were probably the best tire for me.

I should note that another tire size works if you are limiting yourself to tires that would still function if you drop to your bumpstops: 285/60/18. A bit wider but with a tiniest lower overall diameter than the 265/65/18. That size gives you the option of General tires that would also work. I'm just a bigger fan of skinny tires versus wide, though.
 
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khaldrago

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Hi,

Recently Finlayforprez and I purchased PD1880 compomotive wheels. Next step will be putting the right tires on those rims.
I though about starting a tread where we could find the info regarding tires people use on 18" LR4/LR3 and experience they had in different climate, terrain.
I know we can find almost all the info online but it would be good to know how LR4/ LR3 behave with those tires in different conditions.

It would be great If we could organize all the info we would like to see in the post ex

1.detailed tire info including PSI
2. any suspension mods to accommodate new tires Y/N
3. Any mods ( not suspension related) in order to accommodate a new tire size
4. Spare tire fitment
5. Performance of the tire in different environment
A. off road
- gravel, sand, heavy rocks, lose rocks, etc.
- dry vs. wet terrain
- problems with the tire on trails
B. highway performance
- dry vs. wet traction ( breaking, hydroplaning ???)
- noise
- durability, wear

What do you think? Do we need thread like this?
Maybe I am just to excited that I am getting new wheels.
I have same rims -PD1880 compomotive

I really like the kenda klever RT - quiet on road , a beast off road. I honestly can’t understand why these tires are not more popular, especially at that price point. I’ve run these on moderate difficulty trails in Nevada and Northern California with zero issues.


265/65/R18





On road I run at recommended pressures, off road -25psi all around

Decent in snow, but not as good as blizzaks, obviously. I’ve had no difficulty on road with 2-3 inches snow, ice, cold conditions. Gets me over asphalt mountain passes in chain-control situations fine.


Can’t comment about wet conditions (doesn’t rain much around Tahoe)

Can’t really comment on wear, as this is not my daily driver and I really only take out on weekend trips, but after approximately 5k miles, still look and feel pretty new.

Full size spare fits underneath, but I had to deflate quite a bit


I have 1.5 inch Johnson rod lift and was able to fit without additional mods, little to no rubbing at full lock
 

khaldrago

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I posted this in another thread, but wanted to add to the "main" LR4 18" tire thread.

I put the Defender 18" steelies on my LR4 about 5 weeks ago. After over 5 years of thinking of 18" wheels and dreaming of the tire possibilities over the standard 19" wheels, I was actually sort of let down by the options when it came time to figure out what tires I actually wanted. What I learned is this: in my point of view, there are only a few "best" tire options for an 18" wheel on an LR4, so long as you want to stick with the sizes that won't create issues if your air springs fail and the Rover drops to the bump stops (and you do not have the SYA kit). Those tire sizes are 265/65/18 or 285/60/18.

A search on Discount Tire yields 26 All-Terrain tires in the 265/65/18 size:


But if you narrow those down to only load range E tires, there are only 6 options:

BFG All Terrain
Cooper Discoverer AT3 and Discoverer Maxx
Nitto Exo Grappler, Terra Grappler, Ridge Grappler

I went back and forth on whether E load range tires were actually necessary and/or actually meant a tougher sidewall, but my research told me that, at least in this tire size, it certainly did.

For example, my other two main options would have been the Falken Wildpeak A/T3W or the Toyo Open Country A/T III, both of which have gotten good reviews. But both of these are only SL load rated in this tire size, and if you go to the respective manufacturers' websites you can see that the ply-rating on the sidewalls of both of these are the lowest they offer--even lower than the XL load rating that comes stock on the LR4. Yes, this means the 255/60/19 Toyo All-Terrain (XL rated) is probably a better tire for offroad situations than the 265/65/18 (SL rated) version. If you are a Toyo fanboy and don't want any other tire, sticking with the stock 19-inch wheels may be the way to go there.

Going back to the E-rated tires, I've read some reports that the Coopers have experienced a lot of sidewall punctures off-road.

So, when it was all said and done, I wound up just going with the boring old BFG All-Terrains. Not really in love with the sidewall tread on these (the sidewall tread looks more aggressive than the actual tread does), but in terms of all the parameters, they were probably the best tire for me.

I should note that another tire size works if you are limiting yourself to tires that would still function if you drop to your bumpstops: 285/60/18. A bit wider but with a tiniest lower overall diameter than the 265/65/18. That size gives you the option of General tires that would also work. I'm just a bigger fan of skinny tires versus wide, though.


You forgot the kenda klevers - they have E Load rating, but I guess your list is correct if you’re only including AT tires…
 

ryanjl

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You forgot the kenda klevers - they have E Load rating, but I guess your list is correct if you’re only including AT tires…

My list was of all the tires I saw at Discount Tire. There aren't any Kenda dealers near me.
 

navigare

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Re: Cooper Discoverers, I would strike a difference between AT3 and Maxx. I've owned both, albeit my AT3s were 19" and the Maxxs are 18". I did indeed **** the sidewall on a rear 19" when deflated (a rocky mountain path), but the 18s seem super strong, and durable too. I drove 25K miles or so on them, more than fully loaded, through a dozen countries including Russia and Central Asia, and they barely lost 1 mm of thread. No punctures, either.
 

modesto_man

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Nice post, ryanjl. Based on info previously posted here and elsewhere, I'm running bfg at 265/65 on 18" compos on my 2012 lr4. My car sees lots of hard miles every year, including lots of rough rocky roads and these tires, while maybe a bit boring, are great. I had a teeny bit of rubbing at full lock when the tires were brand new but nothing after a few weeks. I have the rhino hitch that makes the spare fit super tight but still possible at about 10psi (I carry a pump anyway). I've run these tires on other rigs and never been disappointed...
IMG_20211005_142007686~4.jpg
 
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CRYA

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What’s the trick to cramming a 265/64 into the spare location? I finally picked up a spare and went to reinstall a BFG 265 and for the life of me can’t get it in there. It’s totally hung up on the “horns” near the rear exhaust. I removed the heat shield and deflated all the way to about 15 psi but the BFG just not going in. Even tried lube. Any pro tips?
 

ryanjl

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I angled it up by the exhaust so that the fore half of the tire was almost in position, then started cranking on the tire winch. After there was sufficient tension (about every revolution), I'd kick the exposed part of the aft portion of the tire (the part just inside the rear bumper), which releases the friction and the tension pulls the tire up a bit. Just repeated that until the whole tire was in position.
 

iradek

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Is it really worth it? Going with 265/65/18 instead of 265/60/18?
There is a 2,5 cm difference in diameter, so 1,25 cm difference in ground clearance.
Unless it's for the looks? It does look better, I agree :)
 

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