Suzuki Club UK

over the bank holiday i had a couple of new tyres fitted to the front of my sj!

brought em a couple months ago simply because i couldn't turn down the offer. i paid 60 squid for two general grabber st tyres on 215/ 80 15 fitted.

on the back i have a set of cooper at's (215/75 15).

i know its best to have the same size all round but i needed the generals to be fitted due to the side walls starting to crack on the coopers on the front.

However, in the wet the zuke is now very tail happy! (more than usual ) now im not a fast driver by any means but i span the lil f**ker on a roundabout in the wet at uber low speed, roughly 10mph. a full 180!! thankfully nothin coming the other way!

the tread on the rear is cool, but with the slightly bigger profile on the front and smaller on the rear the handling is, well, twitchy in the wet

i guess the point im trying to get at is, should i put the old tyres back on, or put the new tyres on the rear or take it well squeezy till i can afford some new bigger tyres for the rear? or did i just get unlucky?

please dont mistake me for some crazy boy racer, im really not

What ever you do don't run it In 4wd with mismatched tyres, because of the different rolling diameter and the sj not having a center diff it can lead to diff wind up and an imploding transfer box! You should be ok in 2wd but even in 4wd in the mud your putting extra strain through your transmission. If i was you id put my old matching tyres on until I could afford a new full set of matching tyres

ok cool, i hardly get the time to go off road, but cheers for advice. i was a bit weary bout the slightly different profile but i was told it'd be ok as long as the different tyre sizes were on the same axle. like the 215/80 15's up front and the 215/75 15's on the rear.

so if i were to engage 4wd off road, it would have the same effect as if i were running same size tyres all round but on the road. by winding up the tbox / axles?

lil hazy with how the 4wd system works

your rear tyres are an inch smaller in diameter than your fronts.

So in 4wd they will be slightly wheelspinning all the time just to keep up with the front wheels, hence the poor grip in the wet.

when you spun on the roundabout were you in 4wd?

As said, don't run it in 4wd on the road or you'll break it.

should be ok in 2wd but I wouldn't use 4wd until you get some matching tyres

p.s. 90% of people that tell you things about cars don't know anything about them!

That advice would have been ok on a Landrover etc but not on a Suzuki.

ah got ya!

no i never use 4wd on the road.

however now i can justify spending some more dosh on some boots!! nice one!! lol

so in 4wd does it have like a center difflock as opposed to each diff locking?

sorry for the dumb questions just never had a zuke before

cheers
steve

There is no diff in an SJ transferbox so there is no need for a centre difflock.

However yes in theory when you are in 4wd it is the same as a landrover with the centre difflock engaged. i.e. the front and rear axles and they both drive at the same speed.

right, now i get it. cheers scott!

ill get the wallet out and get some more tyres...

ah man but now im thinkin i could just go for some mt's all round for some extra cash.. gaaaa!

i mean i gotta start sorting her out soon anyways, do i just go whole hog and get a wheels and tyre package??

i mean it would look good and be more capable off road...

can anyone recommend and packages at a good price that i could get away with on a standard zuke? lol

steve

I personally wouldn't get a package including the wheels... I'm sure you can clean and paint your current wheels and make them as good as new!

I'm going to give the same advice I always give... if you want MTs that are OK on the road as well.

Insa Turbo Saharas or Kumho KL71s

If you're standard height I would probably go for either 195s or 215s (preferably 215s).