6.50 tyres & series wheels

I can't find the thread now, but I recently read of someone mentioning 6.50 tyres & it reminded me of a set of split-rims I rescued a long time ago that were fitted with very badly cracked 6.50's. I had them shot blasted & painted for a now abandoned Landy project. So, I'm curious as to how many Landrovers, military I'm guessing, were fitted with these types of rims. Not the half ton for sure, as they are heavier than a standard rim & would have defeated the 'Lightweight' idea required for airportability.

Split rims were fitted to military 80, and 86 models as standard and became an option [for the military] on later models including series 2. Not fitted to air portable, not many 2a lightweights were made.

tottot said:

Split rims were fitted to military 80, and 86 models as standard and became an option [for the military] on later models including series 2. Not fitted to air portable, not many 2a lightweights were made.

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How enlightening! Ta for that. The differing stud/nut sizes between series 1's & 2's must then mean there are at least 2 types of split rims out there I'm guessing? At the time I never thought to check mine - not looked at them for a few years now & they are among my Landybits collection! As a young lad when my dad purchased our series 2 swb & the subject of suitable tyres came up we, being Landy nuts, observed 6.50 x 16's fitted to coastguard Landy's wherever we came across them. Dunno what reason though...

The wheel nut size changed in the 60's [67 I think] No change to wheel. Studs come in two versions-9/BSF up to series 3 16mm.
Three versions of nut. Double sided 9/16 up to late 2a. Single sided 9/16 BSF with 26mm AF [rare] very late 2a and 16mm ,26 AF for series 3 and all steel wheel later model trucks.

I served in HM Coastguard 28 year's and drove many types of vehicle. In my early days it was mostly Series 3, Ninety, and Bedford pickup. As far as I recall Landy's were on 7/50 16's That is not to say series 2a's were not on 6/50 16, most military SWB's were.

tottot said:

The wheel nut size changed in the 60's [67 I think] No change to wheel. Studs come in two versions-9/BSF up to series 3 16mm.
Three versions of nut. Double sided 9/16 up to late 2a. Single sided 9/16 BSF with 26mm AF [rare] very late 2a and 16mm ,26 AF for series 3 and all steel wheel later model trucks.

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Verrry informative! Ta. Your post reminded me of the old Landrover ads that used to appear in mags etc before the world went into PC mode;- 'We've got the biggest nuts!' I suppose there is just one question left to ask. Is anyone out there running split rims on their Landys or are todays increasing road speeds making them difficult to balance/ or plain just too heavy?

I have an old non roadworthy 2a with them on. A mate of mine used to own it [ the Covid took him] He just liked the look of them but I am pretty sure he never split one.
Horrible heavy rust trap things is my opinion.

I had an odd encounter with wheel nuts on my new to me Series 3 yesterday.
The first wheel came off easily but the brace kept slipping off the nuts on the other wheels. I thought I had earlier series flat nuts on but they were series 3 that had been turned around the wrong way. It also didn't help they had been put on really tight, a deep socket and a meter long breaker bar eventually got them off.

Edit: These 205/80/16 are replacements for the old 650×16 that were previously on there.