Sand, Rubber and Disco 1
 

Hey all,

I've read the various posts on tyres and Chris' book but thought I'd see if I can get a definitive answer here. I have a '95 Disco 1 that I am busy getting ready to take on the southern Morocco pistes. My initial plan was to avoid a lift, put HD suspension in and replace the standard tyres with 235/85s. On further reading though it seems there could be issues with getting 85s in a Disco 1 without modification.

So, would a pair of 235/70s be sufficient for a non-lifted Disco (with HD suspension) or must I just accept the fact I am going to need to do some cutting (and possibly steering stop adjustment) and get a set of 85s fitted (I'd far rather do this than enter the potential complication of a 2" lift).

Thanks!
Scott

Don't really know myself (landcruiser owner), but have a look at this forum in Oz. I'm sure they will be able to help you there.

Australian 4WD Action Online Forums - the 4WD, 4x4 and offroad truck community. Get the latest tips, news, reviews, images and video clips. - Powered by vBulletin

Cheers

Thanks for the suggestion although at present it seems the image authentication on that site is broken so I can't register (or post).

Sand, Rubber and Disco 1
 

I don’t have 1st hand knowledge of this (G Wagen owner here) and I know this is a popular fitment on Discoveries. The only word of caution I would throw in is that you are going to alter the gearing by fitting those tyres.
Unless you go the whole hog and alter diff ratio’s or maybe transfer box ratio’s you will certainly feel the power sapping effect. Last thing you want on long uphill road sections or indeed in soft sand. I think for every 1 inch increase you loose something like 10% power/torque. I’ve got slightly oversize tyres and I got away with but it has affected low ratio adversely (low 1st being a little too long now for delicate work).

I have seen standard Discoveries struggle with this setup, but that could have been due to them being 200tdi’s or tired 300tdi’s.

I’m a big fan of keeping things standard, just MHO

Disco 1 in the Sahara
 

Hi Scott,

The southern pistes aren't too extreme. Most of the rocky stuff is flat, just take it easy over the corrugations. You'll be fine with standars tyre size.

Jojo

235/85 will be too big for your arches - but you don't need to go this big anyway.
You shouldn't need anything bigger than 235/70 which will fit without modification.

By all means go with HD suspension, but have a think before going with a lift unless you actually need to lift your body further from the chassis for some reason.
unless you want to be able to get greater articulation (which you wont with HD springs) then you're just making yourself more unstable and putting extra stress on UJ joints and various other bits underneath. Your axles are still going to be the same height from the deck lifted or not.

new HD springs will probably make you sit a good inch higher anyway, so just go for 'standard' height ones - I got a set of Britpart standard height HD springs for my old disco and it went up by about 1.5"!!

Thanks for all the comments guys. I am quite glad that thus far it seems I can remain standard, which I prefer (I always find modification has knock-on effects that I didn't think about ;)). As this trip is my first in sand (using it as the next stage of shakedown) I didn't want to make any assumptions and end up being screwed.

The Disco is a 200tdi so the point on gearing/power/torque is good too!

Keeping Std.
 

Hi Scot,

Noted a couple of your other posts, quite jealous of your planed trip. Once you’ve been I’m sure you will be hooked
We may make it back in the Autumn

Once you’ve fitted HD springs with no lift (apart from that gained as per eightpots reply) you will be fine. It’s quite amusing to note the locals in their 20yr old Peugeot 205’s etc. going to just about everywhere tricked up European 4x4‘s go:clap:

Cheers

225/75
 

I've traveled a while in 200Tdi Disco 1 with 225/75 tyres fitted and got everywhere I wanted to go to (Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania and down to cape town). Make sure to mount them tubeless, and if it's really getting soft, deflate and take it easy.
HD suspension is a good idea!

Disco Suspension and Tyres
 

I drove a Disco 1 in sand in M East for many years on 255/70 with HD springs on the back only.Made a massive difference to the ride.I cut back the plastic wrap around fender slighty but did not have to cut the panels.

Would definately recommend you go for a wider tyre than 235 in sand. Although the higher tyre is even better the gain vs pain probably isnt worth it.

Hi,
Go for tyres with good strong side walls Michellin's or BFG's are good, and AT's, not muds. The side walls will take a hammering when running at low pressure in the sand, and you'll get a much more comfortable ride on the piste at lower pressures, do beware of cornering at speed on low pressures though and re-inflate on surfaced roads. I bought a set of Michellin's in 2004 for our first trip to Tunisia, never had a flat out there and I've been 3 times now, they've done over 50,000 miles now and I still have 3 on the car with 8mm of tread left on them. Current cost is £112 each.

Due to the extra weight of a roof rack, RTT, tools, spares, 4 persons, 3 x 20 litre jerry's, and camping equipment for 4, I opted for +2inch HD (19mm wire) springs on the rear, front are standard, the car still sits level now.

I've not been to Morocco yet, only Tunisia, but the set-up above has worked fine and I plan to drive the Discovery to Kenya within the next few years.

There's some info on my site at Home page

Kevin

Oh, take the tow bar off it'll get in the way.

I went to Morocco back in 2006 with standard 205 road tyres on my 300Tdi disco... it got through OK but I'd have liked something a little wider.

Now I'm running 245/75 R16's on Discovery steel rims, front springs are standard, rear are OEM H/D springs (as used on Camel trophy Discos) which has lifted the rear by around 1"

The tyres are a vast improvement (general grabber AT2s) and I only needed to nip the corner out of the rear arch.

245/75 R16 is not a common choice, but they suit the disco brilliantly.

Well thank you all for the input. Everyone seems to have their own favourite which doesn't necessarily make things easier for me! I suspect I am going to keep things standard and stay with 235/70 for the purposes of this journey. Our route isn't extremely tough so it should be good to get some experience on the tyres and then before my next major trip decide whether or not the standard tyres were good enough.

This way at least I don't have to worry about other mods to the vehicle, not to mention how the hell I go about getting tyres of various sizes to see which fit better etc.!

Hi , a few experiences with my 300Tdi Disco to share...
Best sand tires I ever had were Michelin XPC's, in 235/70 R 16.
Could air them down to 0.8 bar, no problem unless you encounter stones.
Did about 80.000 k's on them, including 1 Morocco and 2 Tunisia trips.
Now running General Grabber AT2's in 245/70 R 16
Slightly stiffer then the BFG's, but overall good performance. No modifications on the car, but on full lock they sometimes graze at the radius arm.
Not too good in sand though, compared to the XPC's.
Only modification's to the Disco is a set of polybushes and OME suspension, rest of the car is bog standard.
Found spare parts though a tad expensive readily available in Morocco, given you get a local garage to do some phoning around. Needed a vacuumpump for the ol' girl, took the local guy in Zagora 3 days to come up with a brand new one , still in original factory wrapper. (And hey, what's 3 days on the edge of the Sahara ! )
Plus , if you stick to 235/70 R 16 tyres, that's what a lot of the cars over there use, so should you destroy a tyre, spares should be no problem.
If you need mechanical assistance near Zagora, contact Aziz garage on 00 212 66 66 30 83.
They're on GPS N 30°19'362 - W 5°50'330.
Greetz,
Joey