By Richard Dekkard on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 01:28 pm: Edit

Ok, now im in a jam... I need new tires NOW, and turns out that the Goodyear MT/R are just way too much money to be worth it ($240 a tire) so I have decided to go with BFG MT until I can afford a suspension lift and do it right.

Problem is, the tire dealers are giving me the run around a bit on sizes. There is no BFG 245/70/16 and the closest is the 245/75/16. They tell me this will be a little taller, and thinner which I think I can support with a stock suspension (97 disco) but im not sure.. I dont mind doing a steering adjustment, and trimming the rear a litte, but can I get away with that size without a spring lift?


thanks


Richard Dekkard
97 Disco (no dents, yet)

By AL on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 01:39 pm: Edit

I ran with 245/75/16 for half a year.
Minor rubbing in the passenger rear side.
I also didn't have to adjust the steering stops.
Had 25k when i went with the bigger tires.
You should be O.K.

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 02:01 pm: Edit

yeah, but those MT lugs may chew on the rear fender if you get into a fully stuffed situation, particularly if you have to reverse while stuffed. Minor trimming that's not even noticeable can alieve this (you don't have to butcher your panels). Don't let the lugs trim for you - it quickly becomes butchering. Ask me how I know.

By peter matusov on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 02:31 pm: Edit

quarter panel burrito -
how's that for a name for mexican food served in Truckhaven?

245/75R16 mudders + 0" lift + full load = hacksaw out at the first rest stop (disco 1)

peter

By Art on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 02:32 pm: Edit

$240 for the GY sounds a little to much, what size are you tryin to get, did you check out tirerack.com, or another local dealer, $240 just doesn't seem right. I have the new BFG M/T KM's and they can do everything the GY can.

Art

By peter matusov on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 02:36 pm: Edit

$235 was what one local GY dealer quoted me for the LT/R. Too bad for them. Besides, I don't believe GY tires are better than Michelin-made BFG M/T.

peter

By Richard Dekkard on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 02:55 pm: Edit

Thanks for all thr great advice, to give you some idea of the caliber of tire dealers in my area (Maine) They told me that they BFG MT's were to soon be discontinued and that then shortly after the BFG MT / KM's would finally come out..
Yet Art is already running them... sigh..
Art, can you please tell me if they rock? I will get them immeadietly if they do. Also, how much should I expect to pay for them?

Thanks

By Mike B. on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 03:13 pm: Edit

I think that I paid around $175.00 each for my Goodyear 245/75/R16 MT/Rs. The Goodyear dealer quoted me $220 a tire and said that is the best that he could do. Tire Rack had a special a while back. Also, get them mounted somewhere that mounts truck tires. These beasts weigh 15 lbs more than stock! Mounting and balancing them is much more difficult that a regular car tire. The side wall is super-thick!

Thanks,
Mike B.

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 03:16 pm: Edit

I've just put 245/75s on my Disco I, no lift....

Yesterday, at speed, hit a patch of road under construction.... I knew it was there, but wasn't expecting THAT hard of a change... it really went like I had hit a speed bump too fast.

Once I stopped, I checked, and had little black marks on both of my wheelwells. Luckily, no tire damage, no body damage, , just a very slight rub .

Tomorrow, I'm using the fork lift to stuff the tire as I trim to make sure that I get enough opened up.... Actually, I may not do much trimming, it looks like a gentle ballpeen hammer and a wood block will do more good... I can just fold the lips back, and I 'think' that it will give plenty of room and not be noticable at all. We'll see....

BTW, I've got Dunlop Radial Rover R/Ts, and love 'em. I put a lot of highway miles on them, so I didn't need to go with a MT, but I was tempted by the BFG MT KMs.... if I wasn't racking up the mileage so hard, I'd probably have gone with them instead.

Best o' luck!

-L

By RVR OVR (Tom) on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 04:33 pm: Edit

eeek! for those prices, just get the pep boys futura ones! costs LOT less money and they are only temporaries anyway. i don't wanna hear the malarchy that they only last half as long, either. the price point is such that you can just buy 2 sets of the futuras and they will outlast 1 set of any of the others...

or, just buy some swampers at $90 each and hum on down the highway!!! jk

tom

By Steve (Steve2) on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 06:13 pm: Edit

richard

the bfg mt/kms come in 245-70-16. have you checked the tire rack prices?? also the 225-75-16 is actually a better match for the car then 245's imho - same height a little narrower = less rolling resistance = better mpg....

other mt's to consider -
bridgestone 673
pep boys

steve
ps personally i'm between the bridgestones and the pirelli mt's - but they only come in 235-85's

By jay caragay (Jcaragay) on Monday, October 01, 2001 - 06:14 pm: Edit

For RoverFest my stock Michelins were just too worn out to be of any use so a friend lent me his Yokohama GeoLander ATs - taller than stock, I think they were 235s. Sorry, I cannot accurately recall the designation but they were taller. So he trimmed the rear panels and they worked very well.

Good handling and quiet at highway speeds, I think these are a winner at about $90 each.

By MA on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 02:11 am: Edit

Steve,
I don't think the new BFG MT's come in 245/70. I haven't seen that size listed anywhere. I know they make 245/70 BFG All-Terrain t/a KO tires.

By Discosaurus (Discosaurus) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 06:07 am: Edit

Goodyear Wrangler MT/R
245/75-16
Tirerack
$145 each
over...

keith
discosaurus

By Steve (Steve2) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 06:10 am: Edit

ma-

oops! you're right - 235-70 and 255-70 are the new sizes - brain fade....

steve

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 06:26 am: Edit

here's some side-by-side shots of three different tires:

Left tire is 245/75/16 Big O XT with ~6,000 miles

middle tire is stock Michelin 235/70/16 with <50 miles

right tire is 225/75/16 BFG AT (old style) with <150 miles

By gp (Garrett) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 07:43 am: Edit

well hell since we are talking tires and posting pics here are a few of my relatively new ones. i am no tire tech, but i like these coopers so far. they are not mucho aggressive or anything, but i think they will do what i want. they are a new model this year. the S/T. they are predrilled for studs as well......for us folks where snow exists. just another option to drive you crazy. about $100 each.

ps: this is my spare, so don't think i have not driven my truck in several months.

By peter matusov on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 08:39 am: Edit

hehehe Leslie,

you've been warned

peter

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 08:54 am: Edit

Hence why we're playing with the fork-lift TODAY!!! Gotta be ready for MAR this weekend!!!




-L

By Art on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 09:30 am: Edit

Richard,
I love them. I got them for about $165 installed in the 235/85/16 size. They a very quite, personally, I can tell a small differnce at very low speeds, they kind of rumble, but other than that it isn't anything the radio can drown out. I had no problem with them so far on rocks or in the mud. I've only got about 500 or so miles on them, this included highway, wheelin, and around town. They did fine in the rain, and they also look great. My friend has the GY MT/R's and I think he wants what I got. Best of luck to you.

Art

By tenacstud on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 11:54 am: Edit

Since we are on the topic of tires, where is the best place to buy some Dunlop RT 245/75r16? So far my local BigO store is the best, $122/tire. Tirerack.com is cheaper per tire but shipping makes them quite a bit more, Louisiana to Utah is $87.00. Any ideas?

By jim on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 12:28 pm: Edit

tenacstud where in utah are you?

By Richard Dekkard on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 04:42 pm: Edit

Ok, here is an update on my tire shenanigans..

After talking to Chris, Mike, and Ian at ECR I got three diff suggestions on what to do, and I surmise from that, that tires are a pretty subjective issue.

I then spent all day monday and today scouring all of Maine and New Hampshire for the Goodyear MT/R which I cant find anything bad about. Good tread wear on road, excellent lateral traction, competitive with swampers in mud, etc..
The downside to me on the Goodyears was the price. Then someone was very nice and posted a link to Tiresomething.com or whatever it was called where they are listed at $145 a piece. Only problem was that they wanted $350 to ship them to me (QTY. 5) This pretty much killed any price advantage they had, so I then luckily remembered that it IS possible to have the best of both worlds. I can use my Amex Blue card to buy the tires, and Amex will then refund the difference if I find a lower price from an established company elsewhere within 30 days up to $2000. SWEET! get my price, and no shipping.. lol.

Funny thing is the only place I could find the tires was in Boston, and the dealer in new hampshire said they would pick them up in Boston for $50 and I could then fit them in New Hampshire on my way down to Virginia from Maine.

Now, I am putting 245/75/16 on a stock suspension, so I am expecting to have to cut a little on the rear fenders, and maybe do a bump stop adjust. Can anyone tell me what the best thing to cut rover metal would be? And should I make a fuss over my old tires and try to save them? (40K on them I think.. could be more, stock michelin)

Thanks for all your help guys and I cant wait to get them on.. Just found out my spare rim is a shitty steel wheel under that landrover cap instead of a matching shiny alloy, what the hell?? =(

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Tuesday, October 02, 2001 - 05:40 pm: Edit

Richard, dude!

Those Disco steel spares are sweet wheels!, uh, no, wait, you're right, they suck.... Buy yourself another alloy and give me your steel rim when you get to MAR, I'll take it off your hands and I'll be a nice guy and not even charge ya...

I put Dunlop 245/75 on two weeks ago or so, stock suspension, and just did my trimming tonight. Not too bad... you can drive around in an unloaded Disco on pavement w/o trimming IF you take it easy on speedbumps, etc.

If you surf the site here, you'll find lots of pictures of trimmed Discos, so you can see how much will need to come off. Actually, I only took off the bottom part, and folded the upper part of the lip back instead of trimming.... Wit the forklift we lifted the rear tire to the point that the front tire was just starting to lift off the ground, and made sure that there wasn't any rubbing in the wheelwells at that point. FYI, there was 22" between the bottom of the tire that was in the air, and the ground at that point....

I had 65k on my original Michelin 4x4 XPCs, but they were 'bald' at that point. You could save them, bring them along to MAR, and sell 'em for a couple of bucks if ya wanted...

Best o' luck....

-L

By MA on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 02:00 am: Edit

Richard-
Do you have a Discount Tire or Americas Tire Company in your area? If so, you could print out the price of the Goodyear MT/R from www.tirerack.com and give it to them. Most likely, they will meet that price(without shipping!) They did this for my dad's car. He saved $100 on 2 tires!

By Dean Brown (Deanbrown3d) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 03:58 am: Edit

Personally I like the BFG MT KM - great sidewalls.

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 04:20 am: Edit

Okay, figured this out...

Here's a pic of my Dunlop R/T (245/75R16) while we were playing with the forklift. Not directly a pic of the tire itself, but you can see it well enough....



I love these tires!

-L

By tenacstud on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 04:43 am: Edit

Jim,
I am in Centerville, Utah just North of Salt Lake City.

tenacstud

By Andrew Vick (Afv) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 05:45 am: Edit

How goofy are the stock Michelin's going to look with an OME HD spring/shock install (2" lift)? Is anyone running this setup? Pictures? Am I being paranoid, not wanting a "jacked up" disco with little doughnut tires?

By Ho Chung (Ho) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 06:11 am: Edit

won't look too bad.
just do it.

then you'll find out later that i was not telling the truth, and will go shopping for bigger tires.

By peter matusov on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 06:27 am: Edit

Andrew,

actually, they don't look bad, and they work okay, too. I took our Disco to Moab on stock tires.
This is how it looks with OME HD springs:

http://www.t-r-j.com/Moab/IMG124.jpg
http://www.t-r-j.com/Moab/IMG125.jpg
http://www.t-r-j.com/Moab/IMG126.jpg

but this is definitely better (245/75)-
http://www.t-r-j.com/BigBear/JohnBull1/IMG55.jpg
http://www.t-r-j.com/BigBear/JohnBull1/IMG58.jpg

peter

By lynden on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 06:38 am: Edit

Peter, that looks good w/ the 245/75's. I'll be installing my springs this weekend (They're going to get here by Fri., right Ho!). I have 245 75's right now and I like the look. It rubbed a little so I then had an excuse to lift it a little. I can't wait, it'll now look like the true off road vehicle it is. I'm looking forward to the springs!!!
Lynden

By Andrew Vick (Afv) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 06:44 am: Edit

Ho: You are a bad influence! (but you're probably right) I've only got ~10k miles on the Michelins, and if I could swap them for 245/75's at no cost, I probably would.

Peter: Looks awesome with 245/75's and not too bad with the stocks. I'll probably be going to Moab over Thanksgiving, and who knows? According to Ho, I'll have 245/75's by then

By Bluegill (Bluegill) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 06:58 am: Edit

more advocacy for the devil:

you can sell those low-mile Michy's for a hefty sum & put it towards those 245's...

By peter matusov on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 07:04 am: Edit

see, these 245/75 Futura mudders cannot stay in balance for 200 miles. And I can't stand my hands shaking for 2500 miles which make up a trip from San Diego to Moab or SW Colorado, so I had to settle for less off road performance (as opposed to more on-road drivetrain wear and damage).
Actually, it could make Poison Spider Mesa on stock tires, easier with some traction control.

I might need a set of low-mi Michelins for my rangie, though - it is cool to drive it around on mudders, but I'll wear them thin before i hit the trail!

peter

By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Wednesday, October 03, 2001 - 07:25 am: Edit

More R/T pics are in the "Forklift" thread, FYI....

-L