[rajesh_sg]

I am in the process of buying a thar and shortlisted the below options for tyre & wheel upgrade. I will be using it as my daily ride and 2 vacations in a year mainly to hill stations. Should I stick with 16 inch or opt for 15 inch wheels and whether to go for AT / MT Tyres and the tyre size without impacting the ride quality.

Wheel:
1. OE alloy wheel
2. Off-road steel wheels

Tyre:
1. Pirelli scorpion
2. Michelin LTX
3. Yokohama Geolander
4. Maxxis Bravo
5. Continental

Please provide your valuable inputs.

[dhanushs]

Good that you started this thread. Will be very useful for Thar owners.

The way, I have seen is Thar owners mainly upgrade to 3 sizes. 31", 32" and 33" overall diameter. Some to 35" as well.

- For 31" and 32" you don't need to do anything if you are putting them in steel wheels with -15mm or more offset.
- For 33" you will need to lift your body up.
- For 35" you will need to lift your body up AND may need to chop off your body wheel arches if you need real articulation.

Now, coming to your question:

15 inch will give you a better ride. And more rubber in sidewalls. Alloys are lighter and are good for long-term use unless you really like the looks of the off-set steel wheels. Tyre Brand, I dont have much knowledge. In MT's, Cooper, Maxxis, Hankook are all good companies.

[GTO]

A must-read related thread (The Offroad Rims & Tyres Thread).

Stick with 15 inchers on your Thar. Reasons:

1. Lesser chance of damage to the wheel or tyre while on the road / offroading.
2. Better ride quality. Difference will be significant in a car like the Thar.
3. Cheaper tyre replacements.
4. Wider choice of tyres.
5. Smaller wheels with big tyres look amazing on Jeeps!

I'm running 225s on 15" rims on my Jeep since years. The best combination IMHO.

Originally Posted by rajesh_sg

2. Michelin LTX
3. Yokohama Geolander

These two are the top choices. Have used them both and will give them 5 / 5 stars.

Steel wheels look yuck. Go for high quality alloy wheels and you won't have any issues. I've been offroading in these since almost 20 years now:

[rajesh_sg]

Thanks dhanushs & GTO for your inputs. What is the best tyre size to opt for in 15".

[Jaggu]

Daily drive with no major offroads, stick to AT, maybe slightly wider rubber at 245 70 16 and alloys with minor offset to clear the extra width at full lock. Michelin, Yoko and Conti have good options of AT which will offer good ride and handling. You can also add rear wheel spacers to match the width of rear axle with front, this will aid in handling and braking on rough patches.

[crdi]

Is the stock size of 235 70 16 the maximum that the stock steel rims of thar crde can tolerate? Any options for slightly wider tyres on stock rims?

Have a phobia for wheel nut slippage, especially in a mahindra and most alloys seem to have deep set holes for the wheel nuts, which is making my options very limited. Aftermarket steel rims appear to have a large increase in offset. Already have a set of rear wheel spacers installed.

How exactly to measure the offset difference between aftermarket options and the stock steel rims, Is there any gauge like thing to measure the same?

[dhanushs]

- The stock rims IIRC are 7J. You can look up online as to how wide you can go. But 245/75-16 should be enough.

- The offset of the rims will be written on the rim. Or you should ask the dealer.

[crdi]

Originally Posted by crdi

How exactly to measure the offset difference between aftermarket options and the stock steel rims

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-articl...wheel-markings

The link gives a better idea about reading the markings on the wheels. The accessories seller might be only interested in matching the pcd and the number of holes.

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

.............. You can also add rear wheel spacers to match the width of rear axle with front, this will aid in handling and braking on rough patches.

Jaggu how safe is using spacers? Does it compromise the rigidity of the rear setup?

Safety in terms of High Speed driving or off-road driving? And its a given that anyone would be using the best quality ones available.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

Jaggu how safe is using spacers? Does it compromise the rigidity of the rear setup?

Safety in terms of High Speed driving or off-road driving? And its a given that anyone would be using the best quality ones available.

Had never seen an issue either on my jeep or that of my friends who use the spacers. We had got it from Swastikfabs and would definitely recommend.

High speed stability increases with the corrected width of axles, much more predictable handling while turning at higher speeds.

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Had never seen an issue either on my jeep or that of my friends who use the spacers. We had got it from Swastikfabs and would definitely recommend.

High speed stability increases with the corrected width of axles, much more predictable handling while turning at higher speeds.

It seems that the spacers from Swastikfabs is different form the others available in the market. These i think are fixed from behind the drum brake if I understand correctly.

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

It seems that the spacers from Swastikfabs is different form the others available in the market. These i think are fixed from behind the drum brake if I understand correctly.

Don't remember exactly how it was fitted, but it was robust and came with the studs etc. Had the projection for the rim centre which is a very crucial thing for wheels.

https://www.swastikfabs.in/index.php...product_id=383 is the product I guess.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by rajesh_sg

I am in the process of buying a thar and shortlisted the below options for tyre & wheel upgrade. I will be using it as my daily ride and 2 vacations in a year mainly to hill stations. Should I stick with 16 inch or opt for 15 inch wheels and whether to go for AT / MT Tyres and the tyre size without impacting the ride quality.

Wheel:
1. OE alloy wheel
2. Off-road steel wheels

Tyre:
1. Pirelli scorpion
2. Michelin LTX
3. Yokohama Geolander
4. Maxxis Bravo
5. Continental

Please provide your valuable inputs.

I hope you have got the vehicle. If yes - Congratulations.

Having go through this confusion a few months ago, let me try and give you some information from my side. I used T-BHPs forums to read through before making the decision. Thar is my daily drive, I do around 60KM a day. I take it out of town once in two weeks. I have not done any round trips exceeding 500 Kms so far. sorry for the long post, but I hope its useful for you.

A few points to keep in mind before altering the specs.

1. Thar is seriously fast for a Jeep, more than it can handle itself.
2. The IFS not very tolerant about Offset of the wheel, handling WILL change.
3. Brakes have a good bite compared to old Jeeps.
4. The vehicle`s handling is tuned towards Bridgestone Dueler D689.
5. No ABS \ EBD, vehicle is rather heavy, so Tires are the only thing thats keeping you on the road.
6. Gearing is fairly tall as is so a larger tire will need some modifications to final drive, also will throw mud all over if used in combination with offset wheels.
7. If you like your jeep being clean, please ensure that front wheels are well within the wheel arch extensions and adjust the mudflaps. Important for daily drivers.
8. The rear track is not as wide as front, so during tight turns, rear wheels will stay on the road, Helpful in narrow hill roads.


Options I thought of.

1. Black wider steel wheel - Rejected, as they were far too heavy and will ruin the wheel bearing. (Confirmed with SE)
2. Alloy wheel - There are some decent options in 16 inch as well, Plati & Onyx has some good designs that looks like steel wheel as well, but far lighter. Some wider ones can take the wheel out of wheel arch extensions. So I decided to stick to 6.5 J.


So here is what I finally did.

Wheels : Get alloys, but stay within the wheel arch extensions.


During the launch of Thar CRDe a few of them were shown with Neo Wheels Claw alloy wheel (The red Thar , this is 16 inch and was there in my existing scorpio , so I decided to use that alloy)

Neo Wheels Claw 16 Inch is 6.5 J spec, same as stock however the offset will ensure that Tire sits perfectly within the front wheel arch extensions, Steering feedback becomes more prominent as a side effect, slightly wider stance than stock - to me it looks good and feels good too.
This alloy wheel can be found in the Thar release presentation by BD sir himself, please see link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCVuAM8EMuM

Tyres : Stick to Stock tyres.

I recommend sticking to Bridgestone Dueler D689 - for normal use, it works really well.

I am not running on this now since I have swapped the tires with my Scorpio. I am using the same size JK Ranger AT.

With this set up , both the looks and performance is intact.
I have observed some heavily modified Thars struggling on the highway, i`m sure thats a tradeoff dedicated offroaders are willing to make.

Hope this helps.

[damanbir]

I am currently running 31" Nexen Roadian MTs with 16"x 7.5J alloys on my 2013 Thar CRDe which is my daily driver and I am fairly happy with the performance of these tyres.

My usage is 70% City, 20% Highways and remaining 10% for Mild offroading, and being MT I have faced no grip issues on tarmac or offroad. I have done multiple long hauls with them, the longest being Chandigarh-Pune and they were up to the mark, only fly in the ointment being the excessive road noise on highways, which I have managed to covered up with a good ICE.

I have Clocked close to 62k Kilometers on my first set, and they look good for another 5k. Is this tyre life normal for MT tyres?

The car does tend to roll when cornered even at mild speeds, but that is characteristic of the Thar I Guess and Body on Frame chassis in general. Also the car tends to sway/wobble when taken over rumblers. Do the tyres have a major contribution to both these phenomenons?

I am considering ATs for my next change, but want to know whether they are as durable and rugged(in terms of mild offroading and puncture resistance)? Also how do they fair in terms of road noise?

Thanks

[rajesh_sg]

Kosfactor,

Thanks for your valuable feedback. Yes I have booked my Thar & will be getting it in 1st week of Nov-18.