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Conan



Member Since: 05 Sep 2016
Location: the danger zone
Posts: 53

Belgium 1996 Defender 90 300 Tdi HT Coniston Green
Advice needed - Wheel size
Hi all, I would like to upgrade the wheels on my Defender 90. I currently have standard steel rims (number on it says 5.50x16x33) with Michelin tires (7.50 R16 C).

I'm looking for a beefier look, I don't know if it's possible but I would like slightly wider tires (see the pictures below, the current tires don't come all the way to the edge of the wheel arch).
I would like to keep the truck stock (no modifications), I don't want my truck to be higher either (it barely fits in the garage). I think 16inch rims are a good size, I'm not a big fan of tall rims.

What combination rim/tire size should I be looking at? Should I care about the offset of the rim I will pick (I read about offset before posting, I just don't know what I should be looking at)?
Thanks in advance for your help.


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Post #730284 21st Sep 2018 8:21am
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Everything that you'd like is possible but there are lots of different ways to achieve them. Firstly, do you want to retain steel wheels or would you prefer alloys? If the latter, then standard LR alloys such as Boost or Freestyle will fit without modification and, at 7 inch wide, give you access to tyres right up to 285 wide. Standard sizes for those rims are 235/85 and 265/75, both of which will be wider than you current ones.

265 tyres on LR alloys with 30mm spacers will bring the outside edge of the tyre out to the edge of the wheel arch, for instance.

If you want to keep steel wheels, then LR 'Wolf' wheels are slightly wider than standard ones at 6.5 inches. This allows fitment of tyres up to 265 wide. The offset of these wheels is slightly less than standard alloys, at 20mm rather than 33mm. This, coupled with the narrower wheel means that the outside edge of the tyre is pretty much the same as with alloys, give or take a couple of mm. Again, 30mm spacers will bring the tyres out to the edge of the wheel arches.

Beyond that, if you venture into the world of aftermarket wheels then you can have pretty much any combination of width and offset that you'd like.

There's a thread on here called something like 'the definitive wheel and tyre thread' that has lots of pictures of different combinations for inspiration. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #730286 21st Sep 2018 8:48am
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geobloke



Member Since: 06 Nov 2012
Location: Nottinghamshire
Posts: 4350

United Kingdom 
With the 5.5" deep rim you should be able to squeeze on a 265/75/16 tyre. So same height are your current tyres, but 3cm wider. These will fit without any other mods to your 90, apart from changing the steering stops a touch to account for the wider tyres. Additionally your speedo reading will remain the same too.

There was a debate that 265/75/16 tyres are too wide for 5.5" rims, if you choose to accept this due to your countries vehicle safety regulations or personal preference, then you will have to budget for a set of wider 16" rims; something like a set of wider Wolf steel rims or even a set of alloys. Depends what you like the look of.

As you have a 90 you can fit any of the Land Rover alloys fitted to Defenders or Discoverys (pre-TD5) on to your vehicle without having to worry about the load rating of the rims.
Post #730287 21st Sep 2018 8:56am
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
265's are a lot more than 3cm wider than the 7.50's the OP currently has fitted. The latter have a nominal width of around 190mm. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #730288 21st Sep 2018 9:03am
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geobloke



Member Since: 06 Nov 2012
Location: Nottinghamshire
Posts: 4350

United Kingdom 
Yes my apologies you are quite correct. It is a habit to refer 7.50s and 235/85s as being of equivalent to one another. Whereas they are in overall diameter they do, as rightly corrected by LRA, differ in tread width.

Therefore, you currently have tyres with a width of 190mm and have the option of going up to 235 (being 4.5cm wider overall and 2.25cm further out towards the wheel arch trim) or up to the larger 265mm (7.5cm wider overall and 3.25cm further out towards the wheel arch trim).

You will find that going to a 235 does not change the overall look of the vehicle by much at all. If you do want a more pronounced meaningful stance then the 265 does this well. I personally like the look of wider tyres on a Defender.
Post #730290 21st Sep 2018 9:25am
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
Whilst I appreciate that it's been done, I wouldn't be comfortable with 265 tyres on 5.5 inch rims. I believe that most manufacturers, where they state anything at all, specify a minimum width of 6.5 inch for that size. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #730294 21st Sep 2018 9:33am
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Conan



Member Since: 05 Sep 2016
Location: the danger zone
Posts: 53

Belgium 1996 Defender 90 300 Tdi HT Coniston Green
Thanks to both of you for your input. I will probably be looking at a 6.5x16 rim then, so I can fit 265's safely.
I wanted to avoid putting spacers on, first because I'm not sure they are legal in my country, and second, because I read bad things about them. what's your guy's opinion about them? correct me if I'm wrong but I would need a larger offset (more than 33) if I want to fit 6.5 without spacers then, right?
Post #730297 21st Sep 2018 9:41am
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geobloke



Member Since: 06 Nov 2012
Location: Nottinghamshire
Posts: 4350

United Kingdom 
I agree entirely LRA. 265s on a 5.5" rims are not recommended, I wouldn't, but people do.
Post #730304 21st Sep 2018 10:24am
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LandRoverAnorak



Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11240

United Kingdom 2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Orkney Grey
There are lots of myths about spacers but if installed correctly and of decent quality then they're perfectly fine. Lots of people on here use them. Having said that, I appreciate that they are illegal in some countries.

Offsets work by the smaller the number meaning the further the wheel is pushed out of the arch. You can buy aftermarket alloy wheels with a lower offset (10, 0 or even a negative number) but the only alternative Land Rover steel wheel is the 'Wolf' with an offset of 20. Again, there are steel aftermarket alternatives with lower offsets but they're likely to be a minimum of 7 inch wide (like LR alloys) and look very different. Wheels known as 'eight spokes' and 'modulars' are two very common steel wheels. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia
Post #730305 21st Sep 2018 10:27am
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Cupboard



Member Since: 21 Mar 2014
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 2971

United Kingdom 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 HT Corris Grey
Hold on a minute, you all seem to be talking numbers that contradict any I've read before.

Going by Cooper's (US) website, these are the allowable and recommended rim widths for their tyres:

235/85R16: Allowed 6 - 7.5" - Recommended 6.5"
255/85R16: Allowed 6.5 - 8" - Recommended 7"
265/75R16: Allowed 7 - 8" - Recommended 7.5"
285/75R16: Allowed 7.5 - 9" - Recommended 8"

The standard steel wheels are only 5.5" wide and whilst I have seen people put 235s on them it's outside manufacturer specs, was never done by the factory and I wouldn't personally want to do that in case of issues with insurance. I really don't think that 265 on those wheels would be a good idea. The Wolf wheels are 6.5" and so are also outside the allowable range for a 265, you need either a 235 or a 255.

Please also bear in mind that performance does not increase with width, it increases with diameter. If you go from a 7.50R16 you will degrade on an off road performance (cornering will be better but it's not like Defender suspension can do cornering well) and at the same time increase fuel consumption. I've run rings round people (once literally on a muddy field) with far more agressive tyres and more capable vehicles with 7.50s on a stock 110.

If you want the Tonka Toy look then do whatever you like. If you want good performance, then the only way to go from a 7.50 is 255/85. That being said, 235/85 isn't a bad choice because of the greater range of tyres available.
Post #731499 27th Sep 2018 12:01pm
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