2019 Defender XT HD 10 Cab lift and 30" tires

[Andystoy19]

This is a single door machine sometimes referred to as a 3 up. Stock tires are 27x9x14 front and 29x11x14 rear, MAXXIS Bighorn 2.0 tires. Tires were inflated to 16.5 psi front and 21.5 psi rear and clearance at the front was 12 1/2" and rear was 13 1/2". Deflated the front tires to 10.5 psi and rear to 12 psi. and front clearance stayed the same and the rear dropped to 12 1/4". Stock springs were set at the softest setting front and back. Air pressure on the stock tires especially the rear tires has a big effect on the ride height or clearance of the machine. The dry weight of this machine is listed at 1844 lbs. with 47/53 front to rear without options.

Adjust spring setting front and back to the stiffest position, roughly 0.75" movement on the adjusting collar and I got an increase in clearance of 3/4" at the rear and the front so roughly a 1:1 increase in clearance, front at 13 1/4" and rear at 13". You can use this measurement to estimate your increase in lift if you decide to use the spring lift method which is a collar installed on top of your bottom adjusting collar. The increase in lift may not stay at 1:1 when you increase the size of your spacer because the springs are progressive (become stiffer when compressed) and you are decreasing the amount of travel that the shock assembly was built with by the amount of spacer you installed.

Battle Armour 2" chassis or bracket lift, the four brackets are the same so they install front or back, no problems at all with installing them. Clearance after the lift was installed increased by 1 1/2" at the front and 1 3/4" at the rear. I tried to contact Battle Armour about the discrepancy in advertised vs actual but no answer? The front brackets fit as designed with the inside tab resting on the top arm as expected. The rear bracket tends to rock side to side on the bottom bolt because the rear arm is open and the tab has nothing to rest on. I questioned this as well but no answer from BA? I will modifiy the rear brackets by adding a tab on top to restrict the rocking motion after a few rides. The brackets measure 1" center to center at the bolts. The bolts were torqued as per instruction to 45 ft. lbs.

30" Cryptid tire install, the front tires are 30x10x14 and the rear are 30x11x14 installed on the factory rims. No problems taking off the factory tires or installing the new ones, note the 11" is slightly shorter when installed than the 10" according to the tire spec. sheet . Factory front 9" tire 21 lbs. Cryptid 10" 43 lbs., factory rear 11" 28 lbs. Cryptid 11" 46 lbs. The increase in rotating mass from the tires alone is 80 lbs. The new tires are roughly twice as heavy as the originals. The 30" result in a decrease of gear ratio of roughly 11%. Decrease in HP available is 80/7 = 11.4 HP due to the higher rotating mass of the tires and a gear reduction of 11%. The CVT clutch will see this as a higher load and compensate by staying in a lower shift ratio but a clutch kit will be in order (perhaps similar to the XMR which has similar tires, I haven't researched this yet). Additionally I will be looking at an engine tune which should bring me up to 82 HP according to the programmer?

The final clearance with the tires inflated to 15 psi front and 18 psi rear is 15 1/4" rear and 16 1/4" front and the springs at the stiffest setting. The defender has a 1" higher lift in front and it looks aggressive. All these measurements are taken with the cab empty but all options mounted. I have not found any tire rubbing front or back at this point and no

Edited May 26, 2019 by Andystoy19

[Dan]

We need pictures of your ride

[Stapleton]

I second Dan's statement pics please .... cause in thinkin about a battle armor 2 inch lift possibly small spacers to track back out to stock or just over and 28s cause I dont want to get into clutching or at least not yet lol 

[Andystoy19]

Edited July 9, 2019 by Andystoy19
Hope this helps

[Andystoy19]

1 minute ago, Andystoy19 said:

Finally figured out how to add pics????

[Dragoon]

Looks awesome!

[JDK]

That looks sweet. I have the max and just installed the Battle Armor lift today, no question it increased the height. Planning on going up to 29” or maybe 30” tires myself but am also worried about the clutch. I will likely go with a less aggressive tire, which could save some weight. 

How has you clutch held up since upgrading to the cryptids?

[Andystoy19]

I haven't put on too many miles but so far so good. On the level I use Hi range and in the rougher stuff I use Low range. Where you notice the tire weight the most is on top end on the road, I only reached 58 mph corrected top end. In the spring I will probably install the Dalton clutch kit which includes helix, primary and secondary spring and clutch arms DBMT-1000-2. 🤔

[JDK]

Thanks for the response.  I am also really mindful of where/when I use Hi/Lo range.  Not only is it easier on the clutch it really prolongs belt life.  And they don’t just give those belts away.

[Jim Golden]

I have a 2020 defender Hd10 limited looking at changing tires what’s the max size recommend without clutch work and not messing with clutch/ belt problems 

[Andystoy19]

IMO you can probably go to 30" with the springs cranked to maximum and a Battle Armor bracket lift. The tires may fit without the lift and because the 2020 has more power and a different clutch calibration (helix and secondary spring) you may be okay without any modifications in that area. In my pictures above the Cryptid 30" are only about 29" in diameter but they are twice as heavy as the stock 27" tires that came with the machine. If you don't go into the deep (mud and muskeg) you can choose a tire that is less aggressive and will weigh less putting less stress on the drive train. I do not run spacers on the front or back.

I haven't had any belt problems with my setup on a 2019 but I haven't put on very many miles and am careful to use LR off road. I have ordered the EPI mudder clutch kit WE437427 and it is in the mail, I will update my build once it has been installed and I see what the results look like.🙂

[A hunt 2 remember]

As for clutching.... I have 32" AT Warriors and have had no issues... I  have nearly 1000 miles on Bear since his tire upgrade. I am running a battle armor 2" lift that worked perfectly for GC... But having a 2019 I also needed to add 2" forward front A-arms.  (The tires rubbed coming downhill hard on the fronts, especially while turning) I can still get to 60mph corrected.... So, I'm feeling pretty good about it...

[TxHyLyner88]

This may seem like a silly question, but I’m away from my machine and it was just purchased recently so I’m new to defenders. Bought the 2020 HD 10 pro. Looking into new tires for my factory wheels... are the wheels actually wider in the back than the front, or is it just a difference in tire size? Currently on 31x10-17 Tires with no suspension mods and no rubbing. (Aftermarket Wheels and tires were from my last machine) 

[A hunt 2 remember]

48 minutes ago, TxHyLyner88 said:

This may seem like a silly question, but I’m away from my machine and it was just purchased recently so I’m new to defenders. Bought the 2020 HD 10 pro. Looking into new tires for my factory wheels... are the wheels actually wider in the back than the front, or is it just a difference in tire size? Currently on 31x10-17 Tires with no suspension mods and no rubbing. (Aftermarket Wheels and tires were from my last machine) 

I believe my 2019 stock wheels were 5+2 in the front.... (7") and 7+2 in the rear (9") i can look tomorrow but pretty sure that was stock. But if your on 31's already I'd stay with that...

[Byde_It]

I am impressed and surprised you achieved the clearance you did on the front. While I haven’t used the lift kit you specify, I have used HCR high clearance arms (supposed to be good for 3” lift) as well as 32” Fuel tires and S3 springs. Haven’t ratcheted the springs but I’m sitting at 15” of clearance on the front and by the sounds of it I’d only get 3/4” if I were to ratchet them anyway, leaving me short of your 16 1/4”. 
 

This could be due to a heavier cab ( I drive the Max Limited) but it could also be a function of where I’m measuring. What location did you take your measurements at?

 

 Thanks