2003 Land Rover Discovery TD5: 4X4 Shed

IT’S BEEN a very quiet couple of months since I first parked the gold Disco in the Walker driveway (much to my fellow Landy owners’ disappointment, I can report no oil stains yet).

A combo of things, ranging from the whole family copping a huge dose of Sydney’s rampaging flu for a month, to being out and about with Editor Matt to meet some industry folks up in Sydney, has meant my shiny example of Solihull’s finest has seen very limited use.

Much to my shame, the Disco has even been the subject of the ‘school run’ and has only seen a dirt road very briefly on one single day this past month. This has suited me, however, as I have been tooling away in the background sorting out what I want to fit to the big rig for its future camping and touring duties.

One of the most important choices in any off-road vehicle build is ensuring you have the right tyres. I’m a massive fan of Light Truck (LT) all-terrain tyres, but I decided to try a slightly different tack, owing to the fact the majority of the Disco’s driving will still be around town and on bitumen.

Plus, I want to keep some semblance of the excellent fuel consumption these vehicles are capable of when in stock form. To this end, I selected Hankook Dynapro ATM 235/70R16 tyres.

These are an exact match size-wise to the standard rubber and, although chunkier in profile, will hopefully not ask too much of the, err, leisurely TD5 when it comes to getting moving. Hankook does a number of LT variants in the Dynapro ATM range, but the size I was after was only available in the regular construction, but ‘regular’ in this instance is still a robust, beefy tyre.

The Dynapro ATM appearance is characterised by the chunky wraparound tread, which is designed to protect against side staking and cuts. This works in conjunction with the thick sidewall rubber gauge for extra protection, and it should aid in traction driving through narrow ruts.

The tyre carcass is reinforced, while the jointless bead wire will ensure the tyre stays put if aired down for sand driving. Stephen Bird and the lads at Jax Brookvale very recently had the four tyres swapped over, balanced and ready to roll within half an hour, so I’ve only had a brief stint with the new rubber.

Having said that, the few highway drives since fitment have been fine – the tyres emit no noticeable additional noise, even though the tread is more aggressive than the stock ones, and grip in the varying conditions has been fine so far.

The Hankook Dynapro ATMs – and the Discovery – will see their first real test sometime next month when we head off for a weekend up the coast for a spot of camping.

The first step always takes the longest, so now that these tyres are fitted, hopefully the next few items on my must-have list will come together a bit faster and I can start planning a big camping adventure for spring.

TOTAL KM: 134,100km
DATE ACQUIRED: April 2017
PRICE: $15,000
KM THIS MONTH: 240km
AV FUEL: 10.5L/100km