Topic: Fitting non standard wheels to a vehicle

[Mike56]

I am in need of a new set of tyres for my Land Rover Defener 110. It is clear it will be easier & cheaper to buy a complete set of wheels & tyres online than buy just the tyres locally.

In this case I will be choosing aftermarket wheels which the retailers are claiming to be suitable for my vehicle. I am aware Land Rover would recommend fitting the wheels they supply. How can I establish if these aftermarket products are approved and how do I persuade my insurers of this?

Thanks

Mike

[peteleton]

In most cases buying aftermarket wheels that are not from a land rover supplier will not be approved, But i don't see why that would matter or why your insurance would need them to be approved by land rover. As for fitting any tyre place will do it and fitting sizes can be easily googled. Only some insurance company's say that alloys are a mod to your car but in any case after letting them know they shouldn't affect your insurance unless you are putting say 5 grands worth of wheels on there

[Vindaloo-crazy]

I think you should be okay, Defenders regularly have non LR tyres. My mate put some Czech army ones on his which were the size of tractor tyres.

[Peripatetic Phil]

You would certainly want to advise your insurance company of the non-standard wheels, but as regards the more general question I have forwarded it to a Land Rover expert and friend; if he offers any advice, I will pass it back here.

** Phil.

[Malc.]

Mike your best bet is to check out one of the many Land Rover / 4x4 Enthusiasts Forums. You may well find someone fairly local that can supply the tyres you want at a much better price.

But definitely advise your insurance company if you change the wheels themselves.

[Mike56]

Thanks for replies,

I will not be buying anything until I have thrashed it out with my insurers. I will only make a purchase once my insurers have confirmed they are happy and there will be no increase in premium.

The purpose of this thread was hopefully to establish if there was any recognised standard (kite mark) whatever, confirming the suitability of the wheels for my vehicle (apparently there is one in Germany). Something the insurers would find it difficult to argue against. This only applies to the new wheels. Tyres are well marked with all sorts of information, size, load rating, speed rating etc. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the wheels as far as I have been able to determine.

I have posted on a Land Rover forum but it seems clear I am asking for clarification that does not exist. I have made the point there are recognised standards for many products, why not for car parts? No one has been able to help. I will just have to discuss with my insurers and see where I get to.

Mike

[Misterbroon]

What you need to be sure of is that the diameter (and circumferance) of the replacement wheel and tyre is EXACTLY the same as the original wheels. If they are smaller or larger, the speedometer will read incorrectly. The speedo is calibrated for the original wheel size - (1 rotation = 48" travelled for example). If the replacement wheels are 52" circumferance, your actual speed compared to the indicated speed will be 5% Higher. You will be doing 35 MPH and showing 30 mph...

[Peripatetic Phil]

From a knowledgeable friend :

He is probably right about the price

[shanew]

Having had moddified cars for a number of years and insuring as such i can tell you that the insurance company must be told otherwise in the event of a claim they will use them as an excuse to void your claim, this can be sorted via the ombudsman but is a lot of grief. You'll find that they are viewed one of two ways, the insurer wont care but will only replace them with OEM should they be stolen or they'll be thieves and claim they make the vehicle more desirable and want to increase your premium/excess.

As far as landrover are concerned, if your still under warranty then the only time you'll have a problem is if the wheels have caused it, this would only be the case if the offset was wrong on the wheels or if the radius is too large and causes rubbing on the inner arch.

Practicality.. lower profile tyres make the ride harder and cost more to replace, As mentioned earlier about the rolling radius affecting your speedo, this in theory is true but with the tolerence factored into odometers you would not be doing much more / less than the speedo reading. most BMW's come with 16" rims with optional extras going up the 20" with a much greater rolling radius. My escort was fitted as standard with 15" wheels and these were replace with 18" wheels with a good 2" extra from centre to outer edge and the rolling road showed my speed at 130mph when the speedo was showing 137mph