proper tyres on standard wheels

[brighouse shed]

sorry if it's been asked before

i have a 1991 90 200Tdi hardtop pretty much as it left the factory.

i want to change the tyres as the 205/60 x 16s on it avon ranger are a bit silly looking and have only about 4mm of tread so i am looking at a set of A/Ts cos my main use is snow and taking my dogs out so as to leave normal cars clean and un dented.

My thought is Goodrichs as had them years ago on a daihatsu in 235/85 x 16 but i want to keep the original cream wheels so can anyone tell me what i can fit and also can i use one of my old tyres as a get you home spare?

[western]

a set of 7.50 tyres will fit your standard 5.5 inch wide rims, 235's are best fitted to 6 or 6.5 inch wide rims at the minimum, though they would fit the 5.5 inch wide rims but not recommended.

[brighouse shed]

thanks for the reply but not got a clue on tyres so what is 7.50 i assume this is inches but that would be only 200mm and the 5.5 would be 140mm

sorry for being a bit thick

what size should i look at?

thanks

[western]

no problem, Yes 7.50 is in inches it's the tread width as opposed to your current 205's which is measured in mm across the tread, 7.50 is a optional or was fit on 90's & standard for 110's.

the 235's are mm too measured at the same area, & are the virtually the metric equal to the 7.50 inch tyres.

hope that helps.

[Retroanaconda]

In old money a tyre size was written 7.50x16 where 7.50 is the width in inches (and also the profile height of the tyre) and 16 is the rim diameter.

A metric equivalent would be 200/100/R16, but 100% profile (as in the same measurement high as they are wide) tyres are rarer these days, which is why 7.50s look skinny!

These days Defenders are supplied with 235/85/R16, which is about the same height as a 7.50 but slightly wider

Beaten to it!

[brighouse shed]

now it makes sense so 225s for me

[Retroanaconda]

My maths was slightly off, a 750 tyre is actuall 190mm wide, not 200. So an exact match would be 190/100/R16.

Either way, 235s will be fine. Personally I like a thinner tyre, I think wide wheels look silly on Defenders, 255 is about as wide as I'd go I think!

Will raise your gearing slightly too, the larger diameter 235s

[brighouse shed]

hey it making sense

increased gearing might be good i reckon each gear number is mph you should shift at so raising it may be an idea

[western]

hey it making sense

increased gearing might be good i reckon each gear number is mph you should shift at so raising it may be an idea

if you change from 205 to 235 or 7.50 tyres, your speedo drive gear in the transfer box output housing will need changing to a FRC3310 20tooth colour blue, as fitted to 110's that rum these bigger sizes.

[brighouse shed]

never thought of that one another trip to paddocks then

[tweetyduck]

Thats good info. I know mine is blue so my 235's are reading the correct MPH. Thanks Western, i was concerned about that and you've confirmed that i can cross it off my list.

[nicks90]

ermmm, not always.

my 90 hat 205 tyres when it was new and it now has 265/75 tyres on - speedo now reads accurately! I'm sure they are designed to over read by a significant amount from the factory (and by law istr), and my bigger tyres just seem to have corrected that.

[Diff]

You 'should not' fit 235/85x16 tyres to Standard Landrover steel wheels, which have a rim width of 5.5inches.

7.50 x 16 tyres have a nominal width (across the widest part of the side wall – not the tread) of 7.5 inches. 235/85 x 16 tyres have a nominal width (across the widest part of the side wall – not the tread) of 235mm (approx 9.4 inches). Actual tread widths can vary quite a bit depending on make.

Both have a similar nominal diameter of 31 inches.

Here is a post I made on another thread a little while ago:

From a technical point of view, BF goodrich and every other tyre company I have found details for, say that 6 inch rim is the minimum wheel rim width for 235/85x16 tyres. Therefore you will be hard pushed to justify their fitment if you had a problem with an insurance claim or a brush with the law.

Having said that many people do fit them to the standard 5.5 inch wheels without ill effects. I used them for many years without problem, but then switched the same part worn tyres on to some 7 inch modulars and there was a very noticeable improvement in the cornering and handling.

I would not put them on 5.5 inch rims now.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Diff

[brighouse shed]

Diff

thanks that makes it pretty clear, guess i am sticking for the time being with lickle tyres, unless i can find a 7 inch version of standard wheels.

[Diff]

Diff

thanks that makes it pretty clear, guess i am sticking for the time being with lickle tyres, unless i can find a 7 inch version of standard wheels.

Hi Brighouse,

If you want the standard look, with wheels that will be wide enough for the 235/85x16 tyres, then you want the 1 ton/130 wheel. This looks the same as the standard 5.5 inch wide land rover rim, but it has a 6.5 inch wide rim.

I believe the part No. is ANR 1534.

You can get them here: http://www.vass.co.uk/specials.asp?TyreID={94992A8E-3C0E-462B-AEAE-7BA3B425FAB5}

Regards,

Diff

[brighouse shed]

hi diff

that's ace

tried last night but could only find split rims and alloys on my search though knowing about 1 tonne wheels would have helped

thanks

brighouse

[brighouse shed]

just thought the following links may be useful regarding wheels fitted to landys and tyre dimensions

would like to claim exhaustive search etc but stumbled on it looking for 1 tonne wheel packages

original tyres dims and nearest 185/70x16 equivalent:

http://members.shaw.ca/jbarge/britishtires.html

wheel part no.s and all dims:

http://members.shaw.ca/red90/roverwheels.html

[Mo Murphy]

Surely any 110 rims will do the job, after all the factory fit 235s as standard to them. Shouldn't be too hard to find a set of 110 rims and they'll be a darn sight cheaper than 1 ton rims.

Mo

[Diff]

Surely any 110 rims will do the job, after all the factory fit 235s as standard to them. Shouldn't be too hard to find a set of 110 rims and they'll be a darn sight cheaper than 1 ton rims.

Mo

Hi Mo, no, standard 110 steel wheels are still 5.5 inch wide (even the latest tubeless ones), as mentioned above, and come fitted with 7.50 x 16 tyres. They are too narrow for 235s.

New Land rovers which have 235/85X16 tyres from the factory, have either 'wolf' steel rims (eg fitted to current 130s) which are 6.5 inches wide, or Alloy wheels which are 7 inch wide.

Hope this helps,

Regards,

Diff

[Mo Murphy]

Well, I stand corrected Diff ! I've always thought 110 rims were 6" wide. There you go, live and learn

Mo

[brighouse shed]

sorry it's the daft question again

having run company cars for 25 years the last car playing was a fiat 132 so technical stuff way beyond at moment.

my question i see lots of big chunky tyres on defenders on seemingly normal wheels so when does the tyre become too big for the rim, as some i see look like balloons yet still work. i remember fitting 185/70x13HR on my fiat and the whole thing shimmied on every corner. This was obviously not right but with a defender i am not gonna throw it into a corner so where's the break point?

thanks

[western]

depends on the recomendation of each tyre manufacturer, for example my 255's BFG state the minimum rim width is 6.5 inches, mine are on 6.5 wide XD/Wolf rims.others speify 7 inch wide as the minimum, check the tyre makers website fitting info, for the best guidance.

[Diff]

sorry it's the daft question again

having run company cars for 25 years the last car playing was a fiat 132 so technical stuff way beyond at moment.

my question i see lots of big chunky tyres on defenders on seemingly normal wheels so when does the tyre become too big for the rim, as some i see look like balloons yet still work. i remember fitting 185/70x13HR on my fiat and the whole thing shimmied on every corner. This was obviously not right but with a defender i am not gonna throw it into a corner so where's the break point?

thanks

Have a look here for all the typical sizes:

http://www.bfgoodrichtires.info/index.php?a=tires.technical_details&name_copy=off_road_suv.67

Or if you go to this page, scroll down to the middle, and click on the 'Specs' tab you will see a chart with typical manufactures sizes and rim fitment specs etc:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T%2FA+KO

Regards,

Diff

[brighouse shed]

thanks diff

reckon i am sorted