Which tires to get?

[FalcoColumbarius]

As an aside I prefer stiffer sidewalls on the L300, the roll center seems to load them a lot on the front on corners, and softer tires felt like the bus was rolling over the tire to the outside, stiffer tires didnt.

I didn't really notice that. I have usually run my tyres at 42PSI, both the Ps and the LTs (which have more plies on the side wall). Yojimbo, what PSI do you run your tyres at?

Falco.

[CREGAN]

I run mine at 45psi. Just checked them all yesterday.

Craig

[raffix]

Should handle P rating, in fact I think that in that picture they are P rated. Through all the off road/FSR application that I put my first set of tyres through I only experienced two punctures: One was a screw (No. 8 Robertson 1-1/4); the other was a rather sharp and pointy end of a washed out culvert on the south west side of Sproat Lake that put a minor three inch laceration into my side wall. Not sure if the LTs would have made much of a difference in that particular instance, maybe. Delicat said I was cutting my teeth... grins. The P or "Passenger" rated tyres are six ply and the LT or "Light Truck" are ten ply. So my first set were six ply and my current set are ten ply. My next set will be LTs.

Raffix, are you coming to the mini meet tonight in Richmond?

Falco.

I'll keep that in mind for my next set of tire. P rating is cheaper too.

I didn't know about the meet for tonight. and I'm guessing it's too late to join anyways. Probably next time Falco.

[yojimbo]

As an aside I prefer stiffer sidewalls on the L300, the roll center seems to load them a lot on the front on corners, and softer tires felt like the bus was rolling over the tire to the outside, stiffer tires didnt.

I didn't really notice that. I have usually run my tyres at 42PSI, both the Ps and the LTs (which have more plies on the side wall). Yojimbo, what PSI do you run your tyres at?

Falco.

Thats a good question, I spent a long time on my softer sidewall tires playing with tyre pressures, they were the standard 215s so I tried them at the stock IIRC 28psi, that wasnt fun, I then tried different levels, I found 40 and above they felt overinflated, and settled on around 38. The newer stiffer tyres I put on I think are about 34, but I am a lot less fussy about that now the handling has improved!

Ironically though I have just taken a delivery of 0 offset Enkei alloys and tyres for the old girl, so it's all change again

[Firesong]

Speaking of tires, thought I would chime in.
My last LT's were 8ply, I went with a 6 ply this round in my 30" 's

The 6 ply definitely make the ride nicer. Washboards are not nearly
so brutal. But there was a bit of a trade off in the handling. Not
much but noticeable. In a few year's I will reassess what to go with.

Price was definitely nicer with the 6 ply.
Cooper AT3's 30"

FS

[FalcoColumbarius]

Thats a good question, I spent a long time on my softer sidewall tires playing with tyre pressures, they were the standard 215s so I tried them at the stock IIRC 28psi, that wasnt fun, I then tried different levels, I found 40 and above they felt overinflated, and settled on around 38. The newer stiffer tyres I put on I think are about 34, but I am a lot less fussy about that now the handling has improved!

Ironically though I have just taken a delivery of 0 offset Enkei alloys and tyres for the old girl, so it's all change again

With my Yokos the max PSI is 50. When I first had the first set installed the installer had inflated them to 33PSI, which is beading pressure. She felt sluggish in performance and I didn't even wait to see what the fuel economy would be. I tried 45PSI, I thought that was a good Zen number ~ but I found that going around corners she felt as though she was bouncing, so I dropped it back to 41 which was just right. When they get hot the gauge reads at 42.

One thing I have noticed about the Starwagon's suspension is you really feel the finer subtleties of air pressure in the tyres. One day some joker thought it would be amusing to let the air down to fifteen or so PSI in my front right tyre. I first noticed it as I was straightening out having pulled out of the parking space, it was so obvious.

The 6 ply definitely make the ride nicer. Washboards are not nearly
so brutal. But there was a bit of a trade off in the handling. Not
much but noticeable. In a few year's I will reassess what to go with.

I have noticed that about the serious wash board difference between the six ply Ps and the ten ply LTs. I find that keeping my constant velocity so I'm dancing across the crests of the wash board helps.

Falco.

[thelazygreenfox]

My Michelin 30x9.50x15 LTXs have 40,000 kms on them and hardly show any wear. They're quiet on the highway on my L400 gasser. The less aggressive tread was great for highway use and so far I haven't been stuck in mud or snow.
Last fall I chained up for hunting but considered that the price I had to pay in 10"of snow/ice crust.

The original reason I bought them was for front end clearance. BFG ATs were a bit wider and rubbed in my front wheel wells. The front end would've needed more lift to clear the BFGs. Next time the U.S. will get my tire dollars, it's so much cheaper down there.

Has anyone modified their rear tire basket to accomodate a larger tire?

thanks
tlgf

[Jester]

I had the Geolandars on my l300, and have them again on he Challenger.

After driving a passenger sedan for a bit they are not super quiet, but they certainly perform well in the snow.

My l300 did several runs up and down SFU shuttling students during a snow storm- pretty much the only mobile vehicle on that road that evening.

Martin