IBEX LHD 200TDi on 35's

[IBEX_LHD]

Hi everyone, first day at school.

I have a LHD SWB 200TDi IBEX and its time for new wheels and tyres, the Ibex was bought used, its a running Compomotive 16x9 with 265x75's. It a weekend car, I use it in Europe to tow a jet ski and its a car that's easy and fun to drive. The tyres are old and cracked so I'm changing wheels and tyres, in the next few years I may change the engine, when it was first born it was running a V6 Cosworth engine, the car was destined for USA but never made it.

I run a 300TDi 90 pick up in the UK, totally standard, so the IBEX is a car I will keep forever as an ongoing weekend car and project, a link to how it used to look is below.

https://www.facebook.com/RCVSales/posts/something-different-foers-ibex-left-hand-drive-factory-built-land-rover-axles-st/1049691918442258/

By the time I got hold of the car, it had been cannibalised somewhat, a tired 200TDi engine, and as I now know, old, used tyres that have since deteriorated badly.

Does anyone think it's possible to fit 35's x 12.5 on 9" rims looking at the pictures?

The car now looks like this picture on the beach.

I guess, looking at those pictures, 35's are too great a diameter? Those tyres are just off 32" so maybe up to 33"  would work OK, not too worried about gearing etc right now.

Look forward to any comments or advice, thanks everyone.

Cheers,

Mike.

[Arjan]

Nice one !!

Not sure about those tires on those rims.....

You want to keep it on UK plates ?

 

[Stellaghost]

Hi welcome to the forum at some point miketomcat will read this he also has an ibex and has or is running 35" / 33" tyres he also built his ibex so very knowledgeable pretty sure he can point you in the right direction regards Stephen 

[MECCANO]

Was this the old cosi engine one?

[miketomcat]

Hi yes I'm here

.

 

Mine on 35/12.50x15 (grey one), @TSD on 285/75x16 (33") (yellow one). The 35's rub a little on full articulation but only occasionally.

 

Mine now on 33/12.50x15. the main reason for the drop was gearing and they don't rub at all now.

Mike

[miketomcat]

On a side note ibex were designed with 33" tyres in mind as a standard fit. Mine is also a 200tdi and tsd is tgv 2.8. My build thread is here 

 

Mike

[IBEX_LHD]

On 9/13/2020 at 12:53 PM, Arjan said:

Nice one !!

Not sure about those tires on those rims.....

You want to keep it on UK plates ?

 

Hi, yes, its staying on UK plates, not possible to register it in Spain as Ibex was never sold there, I investigated it last year, big bucks to solve this, and yeah, those wheels and tyres are for the chop.

[IBEX_LHD]

On 9/13/2020 at 1:04 PM, Stellaghost said:

Hi welcome to the forum at some point miketomcat will read this he also has an ibex and has or is running 35" / 33" tyres he also built his ibex so very knowledgeable pretty sure he can point you in the right direction regards Stephen 

Thanks for that, slow with my replies due to work this weekend.

[IBEX_LHD]

22 hours ago, MECCANO said:

Was this the old cosi engine one?

This was the Cosi engined Ibex but not in my time.

[IBEX_LHD]

17 hours ago, miketomcat said:

Hi yes I'm here

.

 

Mine on 35/12.50x15 (grey one), @TSD on 285/75x16 (33") (yellow one). The 35's rub a little on full articulation but only occasionally.

 

Mine now on 33/12.50x15. the main reason for the drop was gearing and they don't rub at all now.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the pictures and those great looking vehicles, looks awesome.

So, i was going to go for the 35's but was really worried they would not even fit into the arches, i see you have been on 33's and 35's, do you think I would have any issues on the 35's?

 

Cheers,

 

Mike.

[IBEX_LHD]

17 hours ago, miketomcat said:

On a side note ibex were designed with 33" tyres in mind as a standard fit. Mine is also a 200tdi and tsd is tgv 2.8. My build thread is here 

 

Mike

Looking forward to going over your build Mike...! What off set do you have on those rims of yours?

 

Mike.

[miketomcat]

35's will be fine from a normal driving point of view. I found the gearing to tall, but I tow a fair bit so needed either a diff ratio swap or a tyre swap. Mine caught the front valance on full lock with a reasonable bit of articulation at the same time (narrower tyres/less offset may of cleared). I'm also running standard 110 pick up height springs so again with a small lift it would probably clear. I don't recall any rubbing at the rear but I did trim the return inwards part of the arch both front and back at the lower edges because it was close. I not sure what offset my rims are or even what width but with 12.50 wide tyres they stick outside the front arches by about an inch, slightly less at the back for some reason.

Mike

[IBEX_LHD]

13 hours ago, miketomcat said:

35's will be fine from a normal driving point of view. I found the gearing to tall, but I tow a fair bit so needed either a diff ratio swap or a tyre swap. Mine caught the front valance on full lock with a reasonable bit of articulation at the same time (narrower tyres/less offset may of cleared). I'm also running standard 110 pick up height springs so again with a small lift it would probably clear. I don't recall any rubbing at the rear but I did trim the return inwards part of the arch both front and back at the lower edges because it was close. I not sure what offset my rims are or even what width but with 12.50 wide tyres they stick outside the front arches by about an inch, slightly less at the back for some reason.

Mike

Thanks Mike, that's great, all good to know, probably, I'll do a quick measure on the car and try to figure out what's what etc, before I order tyres, rims I have on order but tyres there's a choice. Thanks so much. Mike.

 

13 hours ago, miketomcat said:

35's will be fine from a normal driving point of view. I found the gearing to tall, but I tow a fair bit so needed either a diff ratio swap or a tyre swap. Mine caught the front valance on full lock with a reasonable bit of articulation at the same time (narrower tyres/less offset may of cleared). I'm also running standard 110 pick up height springs so again with a small lift it would probably clear. I don't recall any rubbing at the rear but I did trim the return inwards part of the arch both front and back at the lower edges because it was close. I not sure what offset my rims are or even what width but with 12.50 wide tyres they stick outside the front arches by about an inch, slightly less at the back for some reason.

Mike

 

[FridgeFreezer]

If you want to reinstate a Cosworth V6 in it I might know someone...

I suspect Mike found his gearing a bit tall on 35's because he runs shagged out rattly old 200TDi's you could correct it with diff or transfer box ratios depending on your use/budget or fit a decent engine and not be a problem

[miketomcat]

9 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

If you want to reinstate a Cosworth V6 in it I might know someone...

I suspect Mike found his gearing a bit tall on 35's because he runs shagged out rattly old 200TDi's you could correct it with diff or transfer box ratios depending on your use/budget or fit a decent engine and not be a problem

 He's also got a 200tdi in it. 

Mike

[IBEX_LHD]

On 9/15/2020 at 10:59 PM, FridgeFreezer said:

If you want to reinstate a Cosworth V6 in it I might know someone...

I suspect Mike found his gearing a bit tall on 35's because he runs shagged out rattly old 200TDi's you could correct it with diff or transfer box ratios depending on your use/budget or fit a decent engine and not be a problem

Hi FridgeFreezer, what's the crack with the 'Cosi V6', there is a good one up for grabs.....? I like the Tdi with manual box but can forsake the clatter for some V6 growl......this car is 80% street and 20% off road, just being honest, it lives in Spain and runs around a fairly small mainly 'black top' area......Cosi, would like to know.....?

[TSD]

Hi Mike. Nice to see another Ibex round here in the correct colour scheme

I suspect FridgeFreezer was peering over at me when he made that comment. I have a very low mileage Cosworth V6 BOA in the back of the shed that was going into my 88" Hybrid many (many many) moons ago. I even have an adapter plate to an LT77 gearbox, flywheel and clutch to suit. It's not entirely a straightforward swap, but it's certainly do-able. I think your car originally had a Ford Explorer auto box behind the Cossie lump? I remember Roy (?) telling a story about losing drive having driven halfway up a ski slope when the TC overheated The V6 wasn't really for sale, but if it was going into an Ibex I'd be open to persuasion...

On the question of 35s, obviously as you've seen, they will fit, but the back of my mind I have a feeling that the rear wheel boxes are a different shape on Mikes LWB. On mine, I can get my 33" to rub the top of the box on hard cornering on road. Not enough to worry about, but it does *just* kiss the paint. You would probably need to extend the bump stops for 35" if your wheelboxes are the same as mine - which is likely as I think yours was the next one built after mine.

[miketomcat]

It's just occurred to me that I have polybush bump stops that are about 12mm longer than factory. That may be why mine doesn't rub plus my springs are a little stiffer than TSD's.

Mike

[tiddler]

For what it's worth, John Foers designed this model around 285/75-16's which if fitted to your lovely wide Compomotive wheels would give your Ibex a more beefy look than it has on those 265's without having to enter the world of pain (longer springs and bumpstops, raised gearing, reduced braking, cost, cost, cost etc)  that would come if you fitted 35's. Alright it would look monster-truck cool with 35's but in my humble opinion you could spoil a car that drives nicely.

Very jealous by the way. Cosibex was a real favourite of mine. Shame it never achieved it's aim of cracking the US market.

Giles

Just checked and the Ibex 4x4 website has your Ibex in the gallery section.

Edited September 25, 2020 by tiddler
Additional information

[IBEX_LHD]

On 9/24/2020 at 7:41 PM, TSD said:

Hi Mike. Nice to see another Ibex round here in the correct colour scheme

I suspect FridgeFreezer was peering over at me when he made that comment. I have a very low mileage Cosworth V6 BOA in the back of the shed that was going into my 88" Hybrid many (many many) moons ago. I even have an adapter plate to an LT77 gearbox, flywheel and clutch to suit. It's not entirely a straightforward swap, but it's certainly do-able. I think your car originally had a Ford Explorer auto box behind the Cossie lump? I remember Roy (?) telling a story about losing drive having driven halfway up a ski slope when the TC overheated The V6 wasn't really for sale, but if it was going into an Ibex I'd be open to persuasion...

On the question of 35s, obviously as you've seen, they will fit, but the back of my mind I have a feeling that the rear wheel boxes are a different shape on Mikes LWB. On mine, I can get my 33" to rub the top of the box on hard cornering on road. Not enough to worry about, but it does *just* kiss the paint. You would probably need to extend the bump stops for 35" if your wheelboxes are the same as mine - which is likely as I think yours was the next one built after mine.

Hi TSD, wow, you guys know a lot about these cars, its fascinating, I know the 33's make the most sense but I'm going to be stupid and fit 35's, I have to push the possibilities beyond what makes sense and then solve the new issues that I'm going to create. My Ibex is a little tired in a few areas but some tlc and new arts will have it going long long into the future. Engine and gearbox swaps, I'm not at that level, I wish.....! But, I would like to investigate it to be honest, I love the Ibex and look forward to more and more joy messing about in the cracking little car. Do you know if there are many LHD versions knocking about? I also think I know of a V6 up in the Hexham area that some one tipped me off about, as yet I have not followed this up, but intend to. The crack is great thanks everyone, to say I know nothing is the truth but I'm happy to get stuck in and learn some craft. Thanks TSD.

[IBEX_LHD]

On 9/25/2020 at 2:34 PM, tiddler said:

For what it's worth, John Foers designed this model around 285/75-16's which if fitted to your lovely wide Compomotive wheels would give your Ibex a more beefy look than it has on those 265's without having to enter the world of pain (longer springs and bumpstops, raised gearing, reduced braking, cost, cost, cost etc)  that would come if you fitted 35's. Alright it would look monster-truck cool with 35's but in my humble opinion you could spoil a car that drives nicely.

Very jealous by the way. Cosibex was a real favourite of mine. Shame it never achieved it's aim of cracking the US market.

Giles

Just checked and the Ibex 4x4 website has your Ibex in the gallery section.

Thanks Giles, I'll take a look and see how it was way back when.....!

[TSD]

I just noticed you have the usual NAS lights in the front bumper. Recurring problem with mine on 33" was that if you get crossed up off-road with a lot of steering angle,  the tyre can rip apart the back of the old style incandescent bulb lights. On 33" it depended on the wheel offset, but on 35" it would be a constant problem, at least on my vehicle.

The easy fix was to swap to LED lights - there's plenty to choose from, most of them truly ghastly in my opinion The flat faced ones that Miketomcat used are nice, I used the L E Perei ones which look close to standard until switched on. LEP don't make a front sidelight LED, so I used reversing lights. Not strictly legal, but I have sidelights in the headlamp bowl, so I don't have to light them, and they aren't as bright or annoying as many DRL lamps.

Looking back at Miketomcats build thread, his rear wheelboxes are a slightly different profile to my SWB as I thought. Then again I noticed today they are both different to my LWB Not drastic though, the extended bumpstops will be what makes the difference.

 

[miketomcat]

My rear tub is an all aluminium pick up tub that is separate to the chassis. If I remember correctly TSD's long and short wheelbase both have wheel boxes that are part of the chassis so assume cosibex was the same.

Mike

[IBEX_LHD]

16 hours ago, IBEX_LHD said:

Thanks Giles, I'll take a look and see how it was way back when.....!

Hi Giles, yes, you are spot on, I'm sure that is my car back in the original day, had a shifty around the Ibex site and sure enough there she was, thanks, Mike.