245/75 R17 JK Wrangler Tyres on a Standard Height Commander?

[Hanna]

Hey all.

I know these tyres work great on a Commander with a lift, but has anyone tried running these at standard height and if so, will they rub whilst just driving on the street?

I have a set of these that I need to fit to my Commander before I move to Karratha in 2 weeks, mainly so I can clear out the garage a bit!

I tried to order my OME lift today, but ARB currently has a lead time of around 3 weeks for delivery, which means I won't have the lift in time for the move. I'll have to get it up there.

Anyway, talking to the local tyre shop today, the guy said that if they rub on any part of the car they will not fit them for me. After disagreeing for a bit, I asked him how they can possibly enforce that policy when I could just bring the wheels in separately and get them fitted and they would be none the wiser. He went a bit quiet after that! Muttered about how it was my risk to take etc. etc.

So, other than taking all the wheels off or doing a test fit, can anyone set my mind at ease? As far as I can tell, there's at least 1" clearance around the standard sized tyres when the front wheels are at any angle. Looks like there's plenty of room at the rear. Many people on the US forums have claimed no rubbing at standard height, but most of them are running BFG AT KO's and I know all tyres are different, regardless of sizing.

Cheers,
Hanna

[Hanna]

So the simple answer to my own question is yes!!

I decided to get one fitted up yesterday so that I could check the clearance before taking it into the shop. Whilst the fronts just kiss the rear section of the plastic wheel well liner at close to full lock, there's bugger all in it and I reckon it will be fine. There is a bit of give in the wheel well liners and I'm thinking I might drill a couple of holes in it and pull it back with cable ties. This should give me approx. 10-15mm more clearance. The front well liners are fine and there's no contact at all. There's a pretty consistent 15mm gap there at all angles of the front tyre. I also checked for any other locations that may foul, but it is all clear!

Here's a couple of photos:

Where the rear of well liner contacts.


The gap to the front liner.


The tyre fitted with wheels straight.


A trail to see what it will look like at the height I'm hoping to be with my 2" lift and 1/4" strut top plates (I set this with the jack and it measured 535mm centre of hub to lip of guard as per the info I could find on this forum).


I reckon it's going to look pretty awesome and I can't wait to get it done now.

[Clarky]

The pinch weld sits just behind where it rubs, gut the wife's hair drier out & heat the plastic up in that area & while its hot wedge in a piece of wood. When it cools you should gain some room.

You may find that you still rub when the front suspension compresses but once the lift is in you should be fine. I lived with mine for quite a while & only did the pinch welt mod a few months ago.

[Hanna]

It actually rubs a couple of inches inwards from where the pinch weld is Clarky. In this location on the Commander you have the A/C pipes that run to the cargo area for the third row passengers.

I was just planning to cable tie them back as there are some holes in the subframe directly behind here, but maybe I'll give the hair dryer a go first. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'll be bloody pissed off with the tyre shop if they don't fit them up because of a little bit of rubbing on the well liners. They don't foul anywhere else and it's not often that you hit major bumps when the steering is almost at full lock.

I'll see how it goes.

[Hanna]

Well, they're all fitted now and looking good. Well, looks much better than it did anyway..... Just need my lift now and it will look great. It really pronounces the rear to front rake of these things - over an inch!



The good news is that it is only the front right hand side that just touches the well liner - the passenger side is fine. I took it for a decent drive to check tyre noise and speedo check with the GPS etc.

The tyre noise is fine, barely noticeable over the old H/T's it had on it before. The speedo reads under by about 2-3km @60km/hr and by about 5km/hr @100km/hr. I will correct this when I get my Hypertech 752501 and adjust for the tyre size. I wish I had taken notice of what the previous revs @100km/hr was, but I know now it is sitting at around 2,050 RPM anyway.

Interesting to note that the dash mounted sat nav speed must not be calculated via satellites as it read about 7-8km/hr lower than the GPS on my phone. What a piece of shit!! That was the only reason why I was keeping it and now I think it's going into the scrap bin.

Also picked up my 3rd Rhino Rack cross bar and fitting kit, so I will actually be able to mount and load the roof rack properly! Baby steps.....