BikePilot
Full Access Member
The Cooper S/T Maxx had great reviews and looked just right for my application which is general getting around in the mountains along with some light wheeling. I wanted something extremely durable, street friendly and with reasonable off road capability. Also had to be load range E for durability and towing. I went with 265/60R18. They are also available in 265/65R18. Note that these run meaningfully larger than the more common BFGs.
I went with the smaller size to ensure that I'd have no rubbing and be able to use the factory spare tire location. I also didn't want to effectively gear the truck up as the factory gearing seems spot on and I do a lot of mountain driving (my house is 2k' above my office and I love to ski and bike in the mountains). If I were nearer sea level or more off road focused the taller tire would have been my choice and I'd guess that I'd be pretty happy with either.
For wheels I noted that BMW Style 99 wheels were the right hub center, bolt pattern, 8" wide, 40mm offset (so 4mm less than compos) and new take offs could be had for $100 each. They are specifically made to clear the caliper on the 4.6 and 4.8IS which, like the Landy, has pretty big rotors and bulky sliding calipers. They require standard 60 degree conical lug nuts. Regarding weight capacity the 4.6IS has a cub weight of 5127lbs and my 2011 LR4 has a quoted curb weight of 5703lbs so the wheels are supporting 576lbs more weight in this application than BMW likely intended, on average. I haven't found weight ratings for the wheels anywhere. I'd guess that the BMW engineers built in a ton of margin of safety and regardless will keep a close eye on them for any signs of stress.
I test fit them and found that the fit, but just grazed the caliper. I used a 4" pneumatic angle grinder to shave down the high spots on the caliper fins until I had about 3mm of clearance at minimum.
The end result is a look I like with the functionality I needed.
Now, pics! Yes the truck is dirty, just got it home from the tire shop and there's snow about.
Off road height with the front right tire up on a rock that's about knee high from the other three tires
The other side showing the left rear tire stuffed in the wheel well
Front right pretty well extended
Clearance at normal ride height
Meaty looking tires!
Off road height on mostly level ground
I went with the smaller size to ensure that I'd have no rubbing and be able to use the factory spare tire location. I also didn't want to effectively gear the truck up as the factory gearing seems spot on and I do a lot of mountain driving (my house is 2k' above my office and I love to ski and bike in the mountains). If I were nearer sea level or more off road focused the taller tire would have been my choice and I'd guess that I'd be pretty happy with either.
For wheels I noted that BMW Style 99 wheels were the right hub center, bolt pattern, 8" wide, 40mm offset (so 4mm less than compos) and new take offs could be had for $100 each. They are specifically made to clear the caliper on the 4.6 and 4.8IS which, like the Landy, has pretty big rotors and bulky sliding calipers. They require standard 60 degree conical lug nuts. Regarding weight capacity the 4.6IS has a cub weight of 5127lbs and my 2011 LR4 has a quoted curb weight of 5703lbs so the wheels are supporting 576lbs more weight in this application than BMW likely intended, on average. I haven't found weight ratings for the wheels anywhere. I'd guess that the BMW engineers built in a ton of margin of safety and regardless will keep a close eye on them for any signs of stress.
I test fit them and found that the fit, but just grazed the caliper. I used a 4" pneumatic angle grinder to shave down the high spots on the caliper fins until I had about 3mm of clearance at minimum.
The end result is a look I like with the functionality I needed.
Now, pics! Yes the truck is dirty, just got it home from the tire shop and there's snow about.
Off road height with the front right tire up on a rock that's about knee high from the other three tires
The other side showing the left rear tire stuffed in the wheel well
Front right pretty well extended
Clearance at normal ride height
Meaty looking tires!
Off road height on mostly level ground
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