Changing wheels 1994 county

Hi all
Picked up the new project today. 1994 county!
Planning on changing the wheels to the standard white steel wheels. Want to fill the arches up a bit more with bigger tyre as well. Is it just a case on bolt on the new wheels or is there more to it.....?

What's on the car at the moment ? (pic ?_

Here it is.... so I’m thinking solid steel wheels and bigger tyres to fill the arch space

Yes, standard steel wheels will bolt straight on ... https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313&_nkw=224527712264&_sacat=0

Gcornwall said:

View attachment 246174 Here it is.... so I’m thinking solid steel wheels and bigger tyres to fill the arch space

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You can get standard wheels, which will bolt on using steel wheel nuts. Alloy wheels have different nuts, but the same studs.

Those tyres are probably 205 75R 16s, or 225 75 R16s. 7.50R 16 are a better tyre for that vehicle, and widely available.

235/85R16 are almost identical to the 7.50’s and will have more choice. Fit on a set of Wolf steel wheels or keep the Rostyle wheels.

Those Rostyle wheels are way nicer than steels, and very original

Thanks all, that’s great. So as far as getting a larger tyre... what’s the biggest off road style tyre you can fit in the standard steels? Thinking the BF Goodrich type ones with medium tread

Gcornwall said:

Thanks all, that’s great. So as far as getting a larger tyre... what’s the biggest off road style tyre you can fit in the standard steels? Thinking the BF Goodrich type ones with medium tread

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Why? 7.50s are standard for that vehicle, and work well.

Gcornwall said:

Thanks all, that’s great. So as far as getting a larger tyre... what’s the biggest off road style tyre you can fit in the standard steels? Thinking the BF Goodrich type ones with medium tread

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Why ?
Cos it looks "cool" .. ?
Cos my 'truck' will go faster .. ?
Cos with bigger tyres I can drive over bigger rocks .. ?
So I can slide/drift round roundabouts .. ?
Red and standard is boring I want one of these .... to fly round the narrow Cornish lanes and go to the shops in ...

Gcornwall said:

Thanks all, that’s great. So as far as getting a larger tyre... what’s the biggest off road style tyre you can fit in the standard steels? Thinking the BF Goodrich type ones with medium tread

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That isn't the right question

You can fit a lot of tyres to a wheel, but that doesn't mean they will be suitable when fitted to a vehicle.

Standard steel rims are ok, but narrow and with a shallow off set (they sit inboard). This means you are limited on the width of tyre that will fit and anything overly tall will hit the radius arm at full steering lock.

What are you actually wanting to achieve and do you have a budget?

It depends on what you want to do with the vehicle, 7.50's are tall, I prefer them to wide tyres as they cut through mud better to find better grip, XZL's would fit the wheels you have at the moment, they are quite tall but not silly wide and they are the hardest and most durable tyre I have ever used.

I am looking to better fill up the arch space, give it a more substantial look. I think it looks a little perched on its current wheels. And to fit a tyre suited for mild off road use. But I want to keep the classic look hence the white steel wheel... yes a budget but that’s just not to spend masses, I’ll have to be guided a bit buy what it’ll cost

Gcornwall said:

I am looking to better fill up the arch space, give it a more substantial look. I think it looks a little perched on its current wheels. And to fit a tyre suited for mild off road use. But I want to keep the classic look hence the white steel wheel... yes a budget but that’s just not to spend masses, I’ll have to be guided a bit buy what it’ll cost

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7.50's height wise, you dont want to go much taller on standard suspension, cost wise you have to factor in 5 wheels which wont be cheap, second hane you might get a set with tyres on but that will limit your choice of tyres. XZL's also come in a metric size. Then you have more road noise with wider tyres, as for classic looks, your wheels alreadey have that, you might be surprised how good the existing wheels will look with new tyres on them.

Gcornwall said:

I am looking to better fill up the arch space, give it a more substantial look. I think it looks a little perched on its current wheels. And to fit a tyre suited for mild off road use. But I want to keep the classic look hence the white steel wheel... yes a budget but that’s just not to spend masses, I’ll have to be guided a bit buy what it’ll cost

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Not really sure what you mean by fill up the arches? In which dimension?

Are you actually going to go off road? If the tyre is too big, it'll rub. Big tyres can also blunt acceleration and run the risk of breaking diffs/axles.

235/85R16 was the mainstay standard size for a Defender. It is a good size and works well. I believe 265/75R16 was also used in some markets. About the same height, but wider. You might need a wider rim.

7.50 x 16 is an older size but also standard fitment. About the same height as a 235/85, but narrower.

In all cases the standard steel rims will sit the wheels very inboard. Wheel spacers or wider off set rims may well look better and allow less rubbing and more steering lock.

There are lots of variations of standard steel wheel. Early ones require tubes, so opt for latter tubeless ones. I think they are all 5.5" wide, so pretty narrow, you won't be able to fit a wide tyre to them. The wheels on yours at the moment are Range Rover Roystyle rims. Not sure if they were fitted to some county spec models or not, but you do see them on some era of 90. They are 6" wide, but a different offset.

Land Rover 130 rims (or Wolf rims) have a modular look with holes around the edge, these are a slightly better offset and wider.

There are aftermarket Land Rover style rims these days too, some as wide a 8" allowing an even bigger choice of tyres to be fitted.


If you want to go 'bigger' a 255/85R16 is quite a nice size and tall. About as big as you can fit on a stock 90, but it may still rub off road. Check a tyre makers site for rim specs for tyres.

285/75R16 is another option, but is likely to stick outside the arches, which will be illegal. This is much wider and will require a wider rim. Lot and lots of other choices, really depends on your actual goals, what compromises you are prepared for and how much you want to spend. A new set of rims and tyres could easily set you back £1600. But there are other options that are cheaper.

Gcornwall said:

I am looking to better fill up the arch space, give it a more substantial look. I think it looks a little perched on its current wheels. And to fit a tyre suited for mild off road use. But I want to keep the classic look hence the white steel wheel... yes a budget but that’s just not to spend masses, I’ll have to be guided a bit buy what it’ll cost

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You won't get through most of the Green Lanes in Cornwall with wide tyres.
I know, because I have driven almost all of them.
And when I last looked, there are about 3 places in the county you can do Pay and Play, not that I would want to anyway.

Thanks for all your advice.... after some thought I’m probably going to keep the rostyles on and get them re painted and change the tyres.... so the next question is can I fit tubeless tyres? And if so does this restrict choice?

Gcornwall said:

Thanks for all your advice.... after some thought I’m probably going to keep the rostyles on and get them re painted and change the tyres.... so the next question is can I fit tubeless tyres? And if so does this restrict choice?

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If they are tubeless rims, you can fit tubeless tyres.

There is probably more choice available in tubeless than in tubed, but plenty in both.

miktdish said:

Why ?
Cos it looks "cool" .. ?
Cos my 'truck' will go faster .. ?
Cos with bigger tyres I can drive over bigger rocks .. ?
So I can slide/drift round roundabouts .. ?
Red and standard is boring I want one of these ....View attachment 246206 to fly round the narrow Cornish lanes and go to the shops in ...

Click to expand...

You might want to get some spare stub axles and bearings.