Wheel sizes / alloys that fit a 90 / good road tyres

[elrao]

Am planning on getting a second set of wheels/tyres for my 1985 90. There are loads of sets of alloys and tyres on eBay, but I have no idea what wheels will fit. I have 'modular' wheels on at the moment (I think...), am not sure what PCD they are or what sort of offset I should be looking for on a replacement set? Was hoping to pick up a set of cheap wheels from a defender / disco etc. with some half decent tyres for road use.

Talking of tyres for road use, I touched on this point in another thread but it fits here too...a few posts around have recommended mud terrain tyres as the best compromise for road use without losing the chunky appeal of an offroad tyre, welcome any recommendations on a good road tyre (my landy will be used 90%+ on road most likely and I can put the General SAGs on if going offroad), but something that still looks like it belongs on a 90, I like chunky with white lettering.

[nicks90]

if you have a drum braked rear axle - some alloys wont fit.

also if they are for the road, get road tyres. if you want the chunky look for looks sake - just suck it up and use your SAGs all the time.

[elrao]

Yes, drums on the back (although I may change this at some point...)

There has to be a tyre that looks chunky but is still good on the road, at least better than the SAGs!

[Aragorn]

I may be wrong, but AFAIK its not the rear axle that causes the problem, its the front axle on the earlier models that has the extra sticky-outey flanges.

Its just that if you have drum brakes on the rear then you're likely to have the older front axle too, so its easy to identify problem vehicles by saying some alloys wont fit if you have drum brakes.

BFG MT,s and Kumho KL71s seem to get a good write up for on road performance given their mud bias.

[Retroanaconda]

Yes, the drive flanges changed from thick to thin at the same time that disc brakes were introduced on the rear

[elrao]

Cheers guys, so I have big flanges on the front! Anyone know the PCD and what wheels will fit with the hubs as they are?

Have read good things about the BFG MTs, watching a few sets on eBay and some kumhos on 15" steels went for £400 last night also. They did look like they'd work well on road, more of a chunked out road style tread than the tread pattern on the SAGs.

[Retroanaconda]

I don't know what the PCD is, but anything from any Defender, 90/110, Series, Discovery 1, or Range Rover Classic should fit, pending the alloy wheel/drive member issue

[carlosbeldia]

Firestone Destination MT, perfect for off road, really better than BFś and almost as good as any AT on the road. In the cheap side, you can go for Maxxis Big Horn, a little noisier but considerably cheaper than others, still a good tyre on the road and excellent performance in the dirt side.

Hankook Dynapro MT are a really good compromise between on and off road performance, not noisy at all, good grip in highways and secondary roads, and still a performer in the dirt. However, here in Colombia they are very expensive, so not a good choice, don know there....

[TerryO]

Hi

I can add a note from recent experience. I bought a nice set of ranger alloys of a Disco which i had already tried on the rear axle only to discover that it is the front that is the problem. lucky i had not fitted the new tyres. I had to buy new rims in the end as the 265s i bought would not fit my wolf steels.This in my baptism of fire to defenders. I have always had Series vehicles.

Tel

[elrao]

Cheers for the continued info. Plan to leave the SAGs on the rims they are on at the moment, will hopefully pick up a set of wheels with tyres and then may sell the ones I've got. Hence the Qs about what wheels will fit, as I am not fussy on alloys or steels, so will buy them based on the tyres available! To be honest I quite like the wheels I have, they are just the basic steel ones, possibly modular wheels (not sure what they are called!)

Am guessing some spacers would sort the clearance issues if I did want some different wheels?

Just out of interest, what are the best tyre sizes to go for? Have read I need to change the speedo cog if I change the wheel size, will do that if needed, but have seen quite a range in tyre widths and profiles being advertised and not sure what sizes are best?

[poohbear]

Standard dealer option is: 235/85R16

Dave.

[elrao]

Cheers, so a 285/70/16 or a 265/75/16 would be about the same size and keep the speedo reading correctly.

[BogMonster]

Virtually anything is better than a SAG on the road except for dumper tyres! Any of the decent radial mud terrains from BFG, Cooper, Kumho, Hankook are much much better than SAGs which are just bl**dy awful on paved roads.

[stealthmarine]

Sorry to hi-jack this thread, but I have just put some bigger wheels/tyres on my '85 90, the tyres catch on the chassis on full lock, I read somewhere about altering the 'lock stops', any idea where these are and how you do this.

cheers

john