****inthemud

p.s: the 17's will come when I get the 37's!!!!

Perhaps I should have mentioned that I don't think I have the -30ET backspacing on my current 8inch rims hence the spacers. Therefore the 10's in this case would negate the need for the spacers which I can only see as a good thing. If I had the money I would go to someone like A.R.T and have them made but I think having one set made for my other truck is enough (still saving up!) and I think these particular tyres will sit safer on the tarmac and possibly the slippy stuff with a flatter profile. I will report back as to how they balance up compared to the current mods which where a nightmare. Previously they didn't balance up too badly on the BFG's but they had a totally different shape on that size rim.

At moment, with the price of certain wheels out there and not wanting some nasty alloy shinys, I think I am going to go down the challenger 5 spoke (mach 5 pattern) route. I just can't argue with that money and the last set I saw looked pretty decent despite previous concerns about the prettiness of the welds. None the less - SOMEONE NEEDS TO START MAKING A 9J RIM IF YOU ARE LISTENING OUT THERE!!!! I'll have to find some piccys to show my quandry to show you guys!

manufacturer states 8.5 - 11inches. In theory an 8j is 8.5 from lip to lip - I guess this is what they mean as 8.5 would be a very weird minimum size. I ran My previous 35's on 8j's no problem and not really an uncommon practise. Nearly every 10J on a defender will require deep arches if you want to stay legal! - but i don't want to get started on that topic as I have covered it with others somewhere else on here. For the record though I will be running a -30et offset to eliminate my spacers and retain a decent turning circle.

The current rims have deformed around the back of the stud holes - hence the reason I think they sit poorly on the hubs. I would have thought brand new maxis would balance up OK, they're not my first set 35's.

I have thought about it but I have some concerns over the strength of the rim whilst off road. Also these were very very hard to balance and I think banded rims may make that harder. However I don't have any experience of banded rims....

Meant to say - if the moderators think this may receive a better response in another category please can it be moved? THANKS!

Hi All, Right, so I've just replaced my old 35 x 12.50 x 15 BFG muds with Maxis Creepy Crawlers in the same dimensions. However I'm not as happy with the profile of the Creepys on the 8 inch rims that I'm using. Ive always liked the tight fit with 12.5's on an 8inch rim previously but the the Creepys have a much squarer profile. Im not a huge fan of wide 10" rims so I thought 9" would be perfect but I can't seem to find a 15x 9 inch rim anywhere. As it happens I am running spacers for the 8's that I have and would also love to get rid of those with 30mm more offset. Im not really interested in spending a fortune on custom rims for this truck - now I'm thinking perhaps I should just put up with the fat look of 10's - but i really don't want to extend the arches AGAIN! If anyone can point me in the right direction of a deep offset 15 x 9 steel rim I would be eternally grateful!! cheers.

Time for a little update to show you guys the progress. As you can tell I haven't had much time to work on this but I feel the progress is good. Just got finish welding up the bash plate then its ready for drilling the wing bolts to throw it all back together! Also I picked up the material to construct the rear mount. I will hopefully be finding someone to chop and notch 3 bits of tube to make a tubular centre mount too!

NO my rad is in the back. Not sure which rad you are referring to?? It was originally in the standard factory position and still had plenty of space for an 8274 or similar behind without the viscous fan - believe me I checked! However the factory position would have left it vulnerable without additional protection obviously.

Some pics I meant to add the other night. Will hopefully be doing more tomorrow. Flat piece at the front with be for bolt through rubes in the crossmember. It needs gussets to prevent flex left to right. Comments welcome.

Thanks for coming back to me on this one Daan. I am slowly trimming my way back to the cross member but not past it. Once the ends are finished off properly and the winch mount is complete I believe it could be arguable in the event of an inspection. It does seem that the rules in this area really apply to the alteration of wheelbase. Another website (which typically I now can't find) has listed many of this type of mod without issues until the wheelbase was altered. As fo r the bash plate. I am going full width with plenty of angle but not maximum height in order to save weight and maximise on the approach angle. It will come down just below the bottom of the chassis rails. I see this as happy compromise in all areas - thanks to the inputs of those who have commented thus far. I will add an update of last nights "fondlings" whilst making up the underside bracing/support.

Hi lewis, really like that tubular steering Guard. That's exactly what I mean! Is that guard your own creation? Is that truck on the road? Cheers

one more thing: **-- ??SHOULD THIS BE MOVED INTO "modified vehicle category" ??--** cheers!

...SO, as I started this topic for my own purposes, I thought it only fair to those who have offered their kind words, to provide an update. After much toying with slight differences bet ween the wings and "nudging" things about 5mm here and 10mm there, I have finally tacked up the basics in position and made a rough cuts to the chassis front end. I will be trimming the 90 corners off the winch tray and the cardboard mock up bash-plate is massively oversized for me to work from. That will become exactly that - A "bash plate" and not so much a steering guard which I am thinking that I will add a tubular loop - more common to the comp safari boys - but hey if it protect the box for those guys then I reckon it will do the job for me whilst saving some weight! Thanks for the comments so far. Daan - any more thoughts on IVA opinions for this much appreciated? pictures below should hopefully be in order: