[honour]

Hey guys,
First of all, sorry for opening a new topic regarding tyre size. I'm sure this is an old topic that has been covered many times before, however after days of searching through the forums, I am yet to feel confident with my decision on new tyre sizes and my requirements, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

I am new to the 4wd scene, and have a 2002 Jimny, pretty well stock other than an Old Man Emu 'EK2607A1' 40mm suspension lift. I am looking to upgrade the off road capabilities, whilst still retaining moderate on road comfort. And I'm not going to lie - I want it to look a bit tougher than it currently does. Haha.

Rather than replace the tyres on my standard wheels with new ones, I have decided to keep my standard wheels and tyres as a separate set, just in case I ever need them.
Therefore, I recently picked up a set of 15" wheels for ridiculously cheap (thanks to that certain forum member by the way ), 2 with 235x75x15's fitted, and two with 31"s. Now I know the 31's will not really be feasible, but I just love the way they look. So I really want to go a mud tyre, as large as I can, without having to search for a new girlfriend after getting carried away financially.

So my question is - how large would you recommend, and what is required? I am aware of things such as trimming the front bumper, however I am unsure of the little things, such as what happens to the inner black plastic behind the bumper when it is trimmed? How noticeable is the gearing ratio changes? Is this more noticeable in low range? Are there any write ups on trimming etc that I could be pointed towards?

Ideally I would love to fit 235's or even 30's, so what would I need in order to make this happen?

Thank you all very much. Like I said, I know it's probably a pretty tired topic, but just wanted to be sure before jumping into it myself.
Thanks heaps guys!
Scott.

[alien]

IMO - a jimny on 215/75r15 kumho KL71's with your lift and ARB Air Lockers (dont tell the girlfriend how much the lockers cost) is ideal.

But then it all comes down to what you drive...

My sierra is 90% on road and 10% offroad (if that really) - but its SPOA on 31" muddies - its a clear compromise on onroad handling in favour of offroad, but then at the same time the suspension (rear roll stiffness) favours on road... and i like to drive slowly on rock/ruts not sand or mud... realistically its built for 50/50 on and off road.

If you can give more info on the offroad work you intend to do (so far as the terrain), as well as how much percentage wise you want it to be offroad / onroad biased it would be helpful.

[honour]

I'd like to build it in a similar fashion - around 50/50.
Most off road driving will be sand based.
The other requirement is that this may be used down the track aassomething to put at local fairs etc as part of the demo stand for my brother's off road lighting company. So the more aggressive in appearance, the better.
Thanks mate.

[honour]

But realistically - it will be used about 90/10.

[alien]

unfortunately (for the looks) road tyres are the best on sand as they don't tend to dig holes like muddies do. Any tyre size increase will zap power and ruin gearing, which is about the worst thing you can do for sand driving too.

You won't find much better than a stock sierra/jimny on sand...

[honour]

Well that deflated quickly. All pun intended.
Thanks heaps for your help mate.

[alien]

if its for your bro's lighting company, why not just deck it out in everything he sells and get some really aggressive looking signwriting done, and just do some cosmetic tweaks?

[got_bar_work]

Thornbirds

[Jezza86]

wider will cost you more fuel, taller will cost you gearing

a more aggressive tread will be worse on sand as alien said, but i have km2's (30x9.50) and gearing and i find if im stuck, i usualy just put it in 4h instead of 2h...

BFG KM2 215/75 r15's
http://auszookers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14071

[honour]

Ok great, thanks heaps for those suggestions, guys.
So how much taller is the 215 75 over the factory 205 70?
Thanks again.

[tanshi]

its only about 10mm taller,
basically not worth the change

[honour]

Hmm. Alright, well I think I really do want to go to 235 75's, so what will be required?
Trimming of guards, flares, and bumper? Anything else?

[sideways]

A 215/75r15 is 1.5" taller than a 205/70r15 and fits on the stock wheels.

As alien says, 215/75r15s, 40mm lift and an airlocker would be a pretty nice combo in a Jimny. It'l still drive nicely and the cops wont bat an eye but you'l go much further off road.

Even with the most agressive tyres, you'd have to be doing something pretty silly to get a Jimny stuck on sand. I find mud tyres claw you up a dune better than road tyres anyway.

[Gwagensteve]

I agree with the 1.5" increase with a 215.

Steve.

[tanshi]

oops i did 205/75 vs 215/75.
yeah 205/70 makes a bigger difference

[31zook]

Even 235s will be too big for stock gearing...

I think that 215s and KM2s or kevlar MT/Rs will be sweet for what you want.

[Zook_Fan]

If you need it to look aggressive for a trade show get another two 31's the same as the pair you have and bolt them on when you get there. It doesn't even need to be functional, it's a promotional image. When you're done at the show put it on wheels that you can use and drive it home.

[henno]

31zook wrote:

Even 235s will be too big for stock gearing... kevlar MT/Rs will be sweet for what you want.

I don't/didn't think the Kevlars came in anything smaller than 235/85 or 245/75?

[Jezza86]

strategic parking, just put the 2 31's you already have on the side people can see, i mean you allready have them

but seriously the 215/75s are a size a lot of us have skiped going streight for 30's or 235/75's. a lot of us have also put off gearing but when you do get it its awesome.

it all cost money but and if you are concerned going to 30's or 31's will cost you presentation points due to the need for guard trimming and that can take peoples eye off the product your actually trying to show off.

km2's (and MT's in general) look good (read mean in stock arches), what your going for, don't need gearing, fit stock rims, are cheaper then the larger options.

[31zook]

henno wrote:

31zook wrote:

Even 235s will be too big for stock gearing... kevlar MT/Rs will be sweet for what you want.

I don't/didn't think the Kevlars came in anything smaller than 235/85 or 245/75?

Thats what you get for assuming

No idea sorry

[henno]

31zook wrote:

henno wrote:

31zook wrote:

Even 235s will be too big for stock gearing... kevlar MT/Rs will be sweet for what you want.

I don't/didn't think the Kevlars came in anything smaller than 235/85 or 245/75?

Thats what you get for assuming

No idea sorry

The only reason I mention it is that I remember looking a little while back and being disappointed.

[pete_79]

Have to agree with Alien, that's exactly what I'm running and pretty much the best of both worlds; good daily driver with enough off road capability to get you most places. I do get hung up on my diffs from time to time, but that's what friends with snatch straps are for..

I'd start with this, drive it for a while and see if you really need 30s and lockers for the tracks you want to do.
You can check out my build thread if you want an idea of the 'look' of this set up.

[pete_79]

Oh and 215 tyres + 2 inch lift = no trimming and not too much trouble with gearing (low range is too high on stock wheels, the bigger you go the worse it gets).

[Sookie]

alien wrote:

unfortunately (for the looks) road tyres are the best on sand as they don't tend to dig holes like muddies do. Any tyre size increase will zap power and ruin gearing, which is about the worst thing you can do for sand driving too.

You won't find much better than a stock sierra/jimny on sand...

as much as I don't want ill be running stock jimny wheels and tyres on a coming beach port trip, don't think 235/75s mts on stock auto gearing will go down to well

[honour]

Ok brilliant. Thanks heaps for all of the input.
I think perhaps a static 31" display at the shows is a great idea,so might look at that as an option.
So in terms of a 215 75, would I be ok looking at an MT, or would these still not be great on sand?
Oh and Pete - your Jimny looks amazing!

[pete_79]

[quote="honour"]Ok brilliant. Thanks heaps for all of the input.
So in terms of a 215 75, would I be ok looking at an MT, or would these still not be great on sand?
quote]

You want to be down around 10 psi, maybe lower depending on how soft it is. But MTs still go alright on sand, especially with our light weight rigs.

I used to run pretty chunky MTs on my old 75 series cruser ute and did tones of beach work with it, only ever got really stuck once or twice in the really soft stuff.

[Jezza86]

the mt's wont suck on sand, but they wont be as good as a AT.
depends if you can find a AT that you like the look of.

the only AT i liked the look of was a MT so i got them.

[alien]

the BFG KM2 in a 215/75r15 actually has quite a tight tread pattern compared to the same in 31" - so you get more aggressive looks of a muddy but cos the lugs are so close together its more like an AT?

Another option could be Hankook Dynapro MT?

[honour]

Can I just say - I was involved in the import car scene for many years, and part of many forums, but never have I met a more helpful bunch of people. So thank you guys so much for that, I really appreciate it.

The KM2's sound good, Alien. Will be looking more into that.
Was also thinking - I might put on the 235's and the new wheels temporarily just to see how much scrubbing etc I'll be up for, and see how that goes.

Also - are 225's a decent option?

[alien]

215 and 235 are very common and available in lots of brands, 225 are a little harder to come by.

My uncle had a stock jimny on 215/75r15 KM2s and it scrubbed a fair bit when wheeling (on compression).