By David Moysey on Thursday, May 10, 2001 - 02:40 pm: Edit

I'm in the process of upgrading the suspension on my 97 stock disco.I'm going with OME, (HD) + Spring Springs, or a Rovertym 2" system. Any preferences ? This car is my daily driver and I need to ensure it has good on-road manners. What tire sizes do you recommend? I was planing on putting on 265/75/16 tires. I'm not sure if these fires will fit properly with out a lot of trimming? I want to ensure the tires stuffs properly and I have full articulation without damaging the body or tires. I have herd concerns about 265/75 tires "wandering" allot on the highway? Is the 245/75/16 a better fit for this suspension size? Do I need offset rims or spacers for these tires?

Thank You

By Axel Haakonsen (Axel) on Thursday, May 10, 2001 - 03:10 pm: Edit

I would go 245/75/16 or 235/85/16, probably the latter.

By RVR OVR on Thursday, May 10, 2001 - 03:15 pm: Edit

David,

Also try a search on the subject on groups.yahoo.com/lr-discovery, and elsewhere on this board. This has been debated a lot and you can find quite a bit of info that way, too.

To help a little, I have 265/75 Discount Tire Brand AT's on 16x7 steel wheels with 4.25" from GCR for street driving. I don't think they wander at all.

But, like Axel says, the 245/75 and 235/85 are easier to fit. The 265/75's will rub when turning if you don't have either the GCR type wheels or wheel spacers (maybe the 245's will too?). By the way, spacers are more expensive than new rims! If you aren't stuck on the look of your alloys, you can sell them for the same amount or more than a set of 5 GCR rims.

Good Luck!

Tom

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, May 10, 2001 - 04:14 pm: Edit

Someone recently suggested that "longer" contact patch from 235/85 helps traction better than 245/75 contact patch (longer due to larger diameter - but remember, 245 gives a wider contact patch). Here's an interesting exercise - what is the contact patch area of 235/85 @ STP (say 70 degrees F and 40psi) vs. 245/75? How does airing down affect contact patches of both tires (obviously conact patch area increases with airing down, but at the same rate for 235 & 245)? Same math can be performed on stock 235/70 and 265/75...

By Ho Chung (Ho) on Thursday, May 10, 2001 - 04:21 pm: Edit

hi david.
you have any other disco owners around you?
if so, go out on the trail and meet them.
buy them lunch and ride on their modified discos.
see what you think of any particular suspension setup.

suspension talk is just too vague. gotta feel it for yourself.