Will they fit??

[Sharpshooter]

My mate has got a defender 90. He wants to fit 16" rims, and 235 85 tyres. My question is, will they fit or foul anywhere? Many thanks Wayne. :D  :D

[muddyweb]

16" Rims are standard on a Defender.

235/85R16 shouldn't be an issue at all.

[Mace]

Nope, they will fit fine. Standard LR rims are 16" anyway but are 5.5" wide and they usually come with 205/16 tyres. If he's going to fit after market steel wheels and 235/85's to 16" rims then they will be wider and taller than his standard fitment.

There are three points to note:

1. The 235/85/16's are bigger and will therefore make his speedo read around 8-10% too slow. i.e when doing 60 his speedo will read around 55mph, worth noting around town and radar traps. This can be corrected via a small modification to the gearbox speedo drive but it's fiddly and most don't bother. It will also probably feel slower up hill as it changes the overall gearing.

2. The 235/85/16's will not foul the bodywork at all but you may have to adjust your steering stops in or out a little to compensate. Otherwise on full lock you'll feel the tyre rubbing against suspension/steering stuff.

3. 16x7 steel rims and 235/85 tyres fill the arches more and the only dissadvantage of this is when your in the muck. They tend to spray the bodypanels with mud and water. Looks cool though and may win you a mud-club award for the dirtiest motor !!

nearly forgot to mention...taller tyres, more axle clearance, thats a good thing   8)

[V8MoneyPit]

3. 16x7 steel rims and 235/85 tyres fill the arches more and the only dissadvantage of this is when your in the muck. They tend to spray the bodypanels with mud and water. Looks cool though and may win you a mud-club award for the dirtiest motor !!

Found this when I fitted 265/75x16's to mine. Never seen so much mud on the side windows! You quickly find you can't even see out if you are enjoying yourself too much  :lol: The only clean bit is that line beyond the lower door hinge (all LR owners will know exactly what I mean!).

Then I fitted jackable sills and it no longer gets muddy up the side  :(  :D Can't make my mind up about which emoticon to use!

[Range Rover Blues]

Sold a set of 285 70/16 to a local dealer 'cos they were just awful on the Rangie, he sold them on to a guy with a 90 and they did make it look awsome, as said you will loose a little steering lock though.
Not sure wether the large tyres led to the premature demise of one of the diffs though.....puts extra strain on the transmission, especially off-road.
The car had been lifted though!

[V8MoneyPit]

Not yet found a problem with diffs, but only done about 6000 miles since the wheels/tyres were fitted. Mine's lifted too and kills UJ's like they are going out of fashion!

[kevbutty]

Have got 33 x 12.5 x 15" Goodyear Wrangler MTR's on mine  :)  Plenty of room  

[drum]

Have got 33 x 12.5 x 15" Goodyear Wrangler MTR's on mine  :)  Plenty of room  

Have you had the suspension lifted at all? What's the back space on you wheels?

[kevbutty]

Yeah have got a 2" lift , had to adjust the steering lockstops quite a bit  aswell  :roll:

[drum]

Yeah have got a 2" lift , had to adjust the steering lockstops quite a bit  aswell  :roll:

Can't be doing that the turning on the 110 is bad enough with the standard steering lock :(

Where were they rubbing on the body work, or on the suspension\steering components?

[kevbutty]

The tyres rubbed on the front suspension arms, so I just adjusted the lockstops , job done. It doesn't seem to have drastically reduced the turning circle.