Tyre and Spacer Combination Question

Hi all,

I am new to the world of jimny and this forum. I have just purchased a 2001 jimny with a miss-mash of tyres so looking at replacing them, especially seeing as winter is approaching. Must of my driving will be on road, with occasional light off road/winter use.

I have done a fair bit of searching/reading on this forum about tyres etc and I now have a couple of question.

I have been looking at the grabber AT (new version not the 2s) or the KL71s. There does not seem to be much feedback on the ATs yet as they are so new, so has anyone tried them in anger?

Now, as I was looking at fitting new tyres and some 32mm spaces (my jimny is standard with no lift at all), what is the biggest size tyre I can go to without arch rubbing issues (I dont have flaps fitted at the moment)? I have seen that 205/75/15 + 32mm spaces can work. Others posters who have suggested the KL71s are fitting 215/75/15, but no info if these can be coupled with the spacers without a lift.

Any experience on this would be most appreciated. I look forward to chatting with you on here more as I get further into ownership

lake

hi mate and welcome to the world of jimnys,

these are the tyre sizes that fit :

standard 2057515
2" lift 2357515
3" lift 2657515

this is what i was advised when i asked.Hope this helps abit.

thanks

Thanks for the info myers.

I did see this post (www.bigjimny.com/index.php?option=com_ku...2897&Itemid=75#23151) where goatboy has managed to fit 2157515s to his standard jimny. But no mention if it can then cope with the spacers as well.

Thanks

Depends on how agressive the tread pattern is, you might get away with a 215 75 all terrain and spacers, but mud terrains are likely to catch, my 215's with spacers used to catch slighly when the suspension compressed on a 3" lift. My brother in law has 15x7 alloys and bfg mud terrains 215 75 they were about 5mm narrower than steels with spacers and he has no major issues with standard arches. Worst case is you might have to trim the bumper very slightly.



Both on 215's blue one has spacers red one has offset wheels and is approx 5mm narrower per side.

Hi Lake, welcome to the forum

considering that your driving will be on road, with occasional light off road/winter use - stick to ATs, thet're great on the road and in snow/offroad will let do everything you need to, except for real glooop.

205's with wheel spacers will definitley fit (215's - take advice from other users), spacers are good for enhanced stability and widening your track to match the snow ruts left from "normal width cars".
just beware a combo of a 10mm lift (extra tyre profile resulting form increasing a 70 profile to a 75 profile) and 30mm spacers (more stress on bearings etc) could mean you get the Jimny shimmy (aka Death wobble) at 43 mph ish.

try tyres first without spacers and see if you get the shimmy

the bad news is that due to a combination of new EU regs and increased winter demand, availability is shrinking and prices are expanding.

as far as I can tell your choice is currently limitted to ......

205/75 R15
GENERAL GRABBER AT £81 fitted tyretraders
Toyo Open Country All Terrain £92 blackcricles see SPC5838

215/75 R15
GENERAL GRABBER AT £94 fitted tyretraders
BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A KO £107 fitted tyretraders

next to no feedback for the new Grabbers on Jimny's (landy owners have been fitting them for a while)
based on price difference though, I'd be tempted by the BF Goodrichs - the industry standard dogs.

whatever you choose, make a "print -out" of the best price, take it to a good local tyre fitter and have him match the price for you, then should there be any quality issues with the tyres, he can sort it, rather than you having to deal direct with the supplier.

good luck and have fun

lake wrote: Thanks for the info myers.

I did see this post (www.bigjimny.com/index.php?option=com_ku...2897&Itemid=75#23151) where goatboy has managed to fit 2157515s to his standard jimny. But no mention if it can then cope with the spacers as well.

Thanks

Hello!
I'm not 100% but if you went 215 75 with wheel spacers I suspect a fair chunk of the tread would be outside the wheel arch (whether you are happy with the legal ramifactions is up to you). I'm guessing it wouldn't rub in road conditions but it would be mighty close.

The ATs I had on before I changed to the KL71 were awesome in the snow we had last year, and to be honest they weren't much more chunky than normal road tyres unlike some of the other ATs out there. The KL71s are suprisingly good on the road, but they don't have the grip my ATs did...

Also give event-tyres a go for pricing (if they operate in your area) they were by far the cheapest for me andlocal places couldn't even get close (£30+ more per tyre!)

I have a second set of tyres 215/75 BF Goodrich MTs, and when I put them on the tyres completely fill the arches.

I have just got some spacers 32mm (thanks Adam!) and fitted them with my 205/75 Bridgestone Duellers on and the tyres do stick out a little more than the 215s. So that means the 215s with the spacers would protrude a lot. Also after fitting the spacers, but with the Duellers I took it for a spin and noticed more wobble between 40-45mph (hardly anything before). Not had a chance to check with the BFGs on, will report when I do.

Cheers

HTH

Thanks very much for the info everyone, much appreciated.

It seems in these new times of continual additional legislation our tyre choices are going to get harder to make. It looks like many of the tyres we know and love are going to be replaced. What we dont want when we spend a lot of money on tyres is in the event of a replacement being needed not being able to source one.

I think my plan will be to source the tyres and wait to see how I get on before the final decision on the spacers. I will let you know how I get on.

lake