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Jason Lord (Ronan)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 09:06 am: | 
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Hi guys. My wife and I just bought a 2000 Disco II. It currently has stock 18" tires and we are wondering what sort of tires we might need for winter up here in Canada. I am planning to start off roading (I am still a beginner) and was wondering whether I should buy off road tires and use them as snow tires? Will I need additional snow tires or are the stock ones sufficient for the winter? If so, which ones might you guys suggest? Thanks for your help.
Ronan |
Milan
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 11:50 am: |
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Hi Jason,
Where in Canada are you? I'm in Calgary. Out here, the stock tires will do if you don't want to spend money. However, if you really want better tires, especially off road, yet good in snow, I'd suggest Goodyear MT/R or BF Goodrich AT. I would also recommend selling those 18" rims and tires and use the money to buy 16" rims and new tires for those. The selection of good off-road tires for 18" rims is quite limited.
Hope this helps. |
Jason Lord (Ronan)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 12:06 pm: |
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Milan - I am in Kingston Ontario, but my wife is from Calgary. Thanks for the info on the tires. Does Goodyear or BF sell a similar tire in the 18" size? Also, aside from difficulty finding the tires, is there any difference in handling off road btw 16 and 18" tires?
Jason |
niall forbes (Forbesn)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 12:09 pm: |
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With 18" you are more likely to damage the tire and rim off-road. If you can afford a second set of rims and tires, you'll be better off. I think Crappy Tire actually can get steel rims for a DII. |
muskyman
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 12:15 pm: |
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keep the 18" tires and throw on some dedicated snow tires .they are well worth the money and there are a number of MFG's that make them in the stock size...check outtirerack.com and you will find a number that will work well.
then get some steel 16" rims for your summer/offroadd tires when your ready |
Jason Lord (Ronan)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 12:53 pm: |
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Muskyman - That seems reasonable. Any snowies you suggest for the 18" rims? Also, does it matter on the make of the 16" rims or will any set do ie/ Canadian Tire rims?
Jason |
Milan
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 04:04 pm: |
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If you're into swapping tires do what musky says. But then you should also have a third set of tires for just mud. It's harder on your back and your wallet but nobody said 4x4 hobby was easy.  Another option you have is to buy some good MTs - like General Grabber - and have them siped and studed. I think in Ontario, you cannot drive on studs in the summer though. But I found that combo to be absolutely the best for snow and ice off-road and on.
Also, keep in mind that different driving/wheeling conditions favor on tread over the other, so I'd suggest looking around at what wheelers in your area use and asking what works where and how. Then decide. Again, if you want 1 tire to do it all, it will be a compromise and no one tire can really do it but the 2 I mentioned should suit you for most conditions but clay mud. |
Rich Lee
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 04:14 pm: |
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Hi Jason,
Despite the discussion on AB 16x7" "Stealth" Steel rims, they should work fine on your vehicle for ANY tire you would reasonably consider to off-road with. The problem with the factory 16x8" wheels is that the considered to be too wide for many off road tires. Get a set of these for less than $400 and then a second set of off-road tires.
For tires, You absolutely can't go wrong with a set of Dunlop Radial Rover RT's. With no modifications, you can fit the 245/75-16s on a stock DII, and they should be the first "modification" you should consider. Of all the "mud" tires, it is probably the best for snow as well.
At $93 / each they are almost $50 less per tire than the same size MTR.
I'm on my 4th set and love them. Best "all-round" tire you can get. |
Milan
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 04:25 pm: |
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Rich,
I beg to disagree (not that that means you're wrong about the tires). I consider the MT/R the best compromise for several reasons (in no particular order):
Good on road ride with excellent traction no matter what the conditions
Good tread wear on road and off
Good off road performance with few exceptions
Durability
All the other tires may be better than the MT/R in some areas but the MT/R seems to have the most comprehensive coverage. The Dunlop Rover RT is an excellent tire and probably better in mud than MT/R and better in snow tham most MT/s. But not much better in mud than MT/R and definitely not better in snow which was the original point of this post.
No MT is better in snow than MT/R (not an MT).
Hopefully all these -pro -con arguments help Jason pick the right tire for his needs. I agree on just slapping some 245/75R16 on and being done with it. |
Jason Lord (Ronan)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 05:59 pm: |
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Seems I am kind of stuck here. Turns out my wife really likes the look of the 18" rims over the 16". The purchase was a significant compromise (She wanted a Nissan Haha) so I am not inclined to go against her on this unless absolutely necessary. I figure my best bet is to throw some Snowies on the 18" rims this winter, back to the stock tires in spring and splurge on some 16" rims and tires for my offroading. I guess the only drawback is having to switch the tires before heading into the bush. Do the rims matter or will any steel ones do? And do you guys figure the tires mentioned above will be fine for the snow on the 18" rims or should i get something more snow oriented and then spend money on the MT/R or Rover RT for the offroading? Seems complicated but it is essential I keep the boss happy on this one |
Milan
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 06:17 pm: |
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Why spend money on just snow tires unless you relly feel you need them and will use them a lot? Did you have snow tires on your previous vehicle? If so, did you feel they helped a lot? If yes, then do what you just said. If not, forget about tires now and just enjoy your new vehicle. If it does need new tires either way but you're stuck with 18" rims, then get some good all-season or winter tires for those 18" rims and then for spring invest in 16" rims and tires for the rest of the year. Are you going to swap rims and tires, every time your wife wants to drive? HAs she even seen the 16" rims with 245-75R16 on the vehicle? |
Jason Lord (Ronan)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 08:51 pm: |
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Milan - I bought some snow tires for my last car and they significantly outperformed my all seasons. We get a fair amount of snow here and a buddy of mine with a 4Runner says he notices a big difference. The tires on my truck only have 19000 km on them so they dont necessarily need replacing. Probably the best thing is to try em out and see what it is like. Needless to say this vehicle is signicantly more apt to handle better in the snow no matter what tires I have on it compared to our trade in (Wife's 94 Mazda MX3). I really appreciate all the responses btw.
Jason |
Milan
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 09:03 pm: |
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That's exactly what I was thinking. Try them out and see how the vehicle handles. Keep in mind that it's quite a bit heavier than your last car. Therefore the breaking and cornering will be something to get used to. It'll take longer for it to start sliding but when it does watch out, all that weight will be moving quite a bit more readily. Braking requires longer distances regardless, especially with ABS.
Anyway, I had winter tires on a passenger car and there they made a significant difference. On 4x4s I only tried the Blizzacks and they worked better on icy roads (studs are better yet) but off-road they were worse than MT/Rs or BFG ATs. So, since then I see no need for them. Other people's experiences are different and that's why the conflicting opinions sometimes.
Suffice to say, I think the MT/Rs, BFG ATs or Rover RTs will all be better than the stock tires, so if you only want one set of tires, it seems like a no brainer for me. |
Alan Yim (Alan)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 10:41 pm: |
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Hi Jason,
If this is your first Rover, and your first winter in a Rover, maybe as you came to the conclusion, try this winter first with the stock tires and see how they perform. Getting snow tires for a car is a good idea but the tires that come with Rover's are not all that bad (there are definitely better but it depends on what your requirements are). As Milan said, this is a much heavier vehicle but it's also running permanent 4WD so you may find that it's fine. But like he said, watch out if it starts to slide. Not much you can do at that point. These suckers are so heavy that they slide quite a ways before they come to a stop. And ABS seems to be sometimes more of a nusiance than a help.
I have a 98 D1 and still have stock tires (16" too) but have never had a problem in winter or off-roading. My last 4WD was a Pathfinder and I put some decent AT tires on them and it did fine in winter too but I've noticed that Rovers are quite a bit heavier and because of its 4WD system handled better right off the start so there wasn't a lot of need for me to dump tires right away (I need new ones now though). But if you're relatively new to this off-roading thing, test it out first with your truck as is and see how you like it, then modify as needed. This will save you $$s until you figure out whether you like off-roading and then where you want to start with on your mods.
Hey Milan, from Edmonton here. Nice to see some Alberta folk on here. I'm thinking of picking up some BFG AT's before the snow flies. Looking forward to them. Have you ever had a chance to try out Dueler AT's?
Any other Canadians/Albertans on here?
A |
Jason Lord (Ronan)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 11:01 pm: |
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Thanks Alan - After all the input I received I figure I will give these a go and see how they feel. No doubt I will grab some 16" sometime down the road with better tires but for now these ones will probably do quite well here. A fair bit of snow but more slush and ice than either Calgary or Edmonton.
Thanks again guys for the help. As you will find out, I am full of questions haha.
Jason |
Milan
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 11:14 pm: |
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Hi Alan, There are couple of guys here from the Cow Town. Kevin Novakowski and Stephen Mohan.
Had the Duelers in 235/85R16 on my dad's Suburban. Good in winter but I feel the BFG is better still. However, these were on another vehicle, so I'm not sure how valid the comparison is. I'm just going by what I have learned about tires by watching them perform. The dueler seemed to have less traction in off-road situations but it is a long-lasting tire for sure. I always wanted to try the MT but never had a chance. |
Alan Yim (Alan)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 11:16 pm: |
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Glad to have ya here and congrats on joining the LR family. We all have questions (I've asked a fair share of them) and folks here have been extremely helpful.
...don't be surprised if you suddenly develop "Disco Fever" and I don't mean the kind with platform shoes.
A |
Alan Yim (Alan)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 11:33 pm: |
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Hey Milan,
Ever been to Ruby Lake? It's up by the Nordeg area...well sort of. We camped at the Brazeau Dam campground but Ruby Lake is about a good 4 hour drive northwest of there. I was up there last month with LR. Pretty fun stuff...especially when it started to rain (hard) at around noon. Rained until the next evening so it was MUUUUDDY!! One of the Discos slipped a (the front passenger wheel) wheel off a log bridge. When we winched him back on, the back passenger wheel slipped off so we winched him the other way and got him back on...then backed him off the bridge and decided not to try crossing it anymore. He was the first truck and was having all kinds of problems, not to mention the bridge started to come apart (this all happened while it was pouring). Took me a week to clean my truck out (engine compartment was caked in mud) but I had a blast.
I had some Desert Duelers on my Pathfinder. I didn't mind them (they looked good) but I occasionally found them a bit slippery in winter...or that's how they felt but it's hard to say though (I was usually in 2WD). I rarely ever ran my Pathfinder in 4WD during the winter, never really needed to but when I did, I never had any problems. I've been looking at the Dueler ATs now as well but everyone seems to like the BFG ATs. The Dueler ATs have a higher speed rating so technically they should perform/handle better but I don't hear very many Disco owners running Dueler ATs so was kind of curious. I know they last forever though. My Desert Duelers had plenty of tread left when I sold it after driving on them for 5 years.
Hard to say. I may go with Dueler AT's in the end. They're quite a bit cheaper too but not sure of sidewall toughness compared to BFG AT's but I think Bridgestones are supposed to be a fairly quiet tire too.
I hate tire dilemmas. If you choose the right tire, they'll last you a good while. If you choose the wrong tire, you could end up replacing them in a year.
A |
niall forbes (Forbesn)
| | Posted on Monday, October 07, 2002 - 11:37 pm: |
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I'm in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Never even been to Alberta though :-( ...not yet! |
Alan Yim (Alan)
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 08, 2002 - 12:08 am: |
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Hey niall. Lots of fun places here in Alberta. Good to hear from ya.
A |
Milan
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 08, 2002 - 01:56 pm: |
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Hey Alan,
I have been as far as Nordeg but never to Ruby. Maybe one day we could meet half way (around Sundre or Caroline)?
I don't take the Disco wheeling much as it's acting as my wife's DD and kid hauler and thus it is very stock. But I drive it a lot and I wheeled it a few times and like how comfy it can be even off-road. I also wheel with other Discos and D90s, so I cought the Disco fever and bought some stuff for it. I'm now waiting for money situation to improve to actually continue with the mods.
I used to wheel almost every weekend and while I still wheel quite a bit, it's not nearly as much as I'd like but I love winter wheeling and if you want to hook up, let me know. |
Alan Yim (Alan)
| | Posted on Wednesday, October 09, 2002 - 08:03 pm: |
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Hey Milan,
Ruby Lake is long ass drive at 20km/hr But the lake is worth it. To make matters worse, the last part to the lake is pretty dang hard. It's a really steep incline that requires a tight turn at a small shelf that takes you further up. One of the Disco's that went almost rolled on the way up. But they stock fish at that lake and it's not a highly visited area so I'm sure the fish are a fair size. We surprised the hell out of a bunch of dirt bikers. They came around a corner up at the lake to run into a bunch of Rovers and they apparently almost never see trucks up there, mostly ATVs or dirt bikes. They were so surprised they almost fell off their bikes (they did laterwards, when the Forest Rangers gave them all tickets for riding unregistered bikes).
I'm still fairly new at this wheeling stuff but I'm enjoying it so far. My Disco is pretty stock as well but wouldn't mind making some mods here and there but like everyone else says, it's not cheap to do.
Sure, meeting part way sounds good to me. Never done winter wheeling before.
A |
Milan
| | Posted on Thursday, October 10, 2002 - 01:03 am: |
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My email is included, so shoot me a message with your phone # and I can give you a call when we go for a trip. Maybe I could convince Kevin and Stephen to come as well. |
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