Floatation Tyres on a Defender??

Hi guys,

First off, I'm new to all this messing with tyres, rims etc etc. I'm also rather fresh to offroading in my 110 but have been doing it long enough to get stuck to the axles many times in bogs around the West of Ireland!

Basically, I'm looking at fitting something like a set of 300mm wide R12/R15 floatation agricultural wheels to my 110. They are 32 inch diameter which is the same as the 235/85-R16 BF Goodrich All-Terrains that are currently fitted so if I remove the plastic arch extensions I'm thinking I might get away with it. The main reason why I am considering these wheels is because there's a rusty set of them in the yard where I work and I could get them very cheap! Any thoughts on fitting such wide tyres? One thing I am worried about is breaking half axles etc cos of the added force of a wider wheelbase. I don't have salisbury's or anything like that in case you're wondering!

Please let me know your thoughts and I'll take it from there! They could be a waste of time and if so I'll forget about it. I know they'll be rated only to agri speed of say 50KPH but that wouldn't bother me if I could float across some of the boggiest mountains in the west! B-)

vinyvamos said:

Hi guys,

First off, I'm new to all this messing with tyres, rims etc etc. I'm also rather fresh to offroading in my 110 but have been doing it long enough to get stuck to the axles many times in bogs around the West of Ireland!

Basically, I'm looking at fitting something like a set of 300mm wide R12/R15 floatation agricultural wheels to my 110. They are 32 inch diameter which is the same as the 235/85-R16 BF Goodrich All-Terrains that are currently fitted so if I remove the plastic arch extensions I'm thinking I might get away with it. The main reason why I am considering these wheels is because there's a rusty set of them in the yard where I work and I could get them very cheap!

Any thoughts on fitting such wide tyres? One thing I am worried about is breaking half axles etc cos of the added force of a wider wheelbase. I don't have salisbury's or anything like that in case you're wondering!

Please let me know your thoughts and I'll take it from there! They could be a waste of time and if so I'll forget about it. I know they'll be rated only to agri speed of say 50KPH but that wouldn't bother me if I could float across some of the boggiest mountains in the west! B-)

Click to expand...

i ran 305 mm wide tyre for 2 years on my 90 had no problem at all and i know quite a few others that run that width

i ran 305 mm wide tyre for 2 years on my 90 had no problem at all and i know quite a few others that run that width

Click to expand...

Excellent! That's the answer I wanted to hear! B-) I will see what I can do with these wheels then. It looks like I'll have to chop out the centre discs, get new ones laser-cut (easy peasy where I work! ;-))with the right stud pattern and centre bore, then weld them in carefully with continuous checking of measurements and spin them on a hub after tacking and before seam welding.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Or am I going WAY too overboard here? Basically, has anyone modified rims before. e.g. for a different offset or something. There's a fitter in our R&D who has done it to wheels like these with no problem...

If you can do it as well as the guys who make the wheels innthenfirst place then there's no problem.

I run 15x10s, -50mm offset, they were about 225 new. Obviously no good if you're trying to do it cheap.

But yeah, if you can do it, give it a try and take care. It certainly won't immediatly destroy your truck if that's what your asking - might just take a few hard knocks to break something instead!!

OK cool well I can give it a try! The rims will probably be dumped otherwise so there isn't anything to lose really.

When you say -50mm offset which way are you going there? I assume you're going out the way to clear the radius arms better?

-50mm means the wheels stick out past the hub 50mm over centre. So yes they are very wide track indeed.

I have no clearance issues!

I dunno about the tyres, but why are you using smilies from diff lock?

Disco01 said:

I dunno about the tyres, but why are you using smilies from diff lock?

Click to expand...

:doh: coz there aint no one on difflock to use em

Series71 said:

:doh: coz there aint no one on difflock to use em

Click to expand...

snigger

I dunno about the tyres, but why are you using smilies from diff lock?

Click to expand...

HA! I copied and pasted my post from Difflock to here . Was that a no no? HA!

-50mm means the wheels stick out past the hub 50mm over centre. So yes they are very wide track indeed.

I have no clearance issues!

Click to expand...

Ok cheers I see now what it means! So no clearance issues with 10" wide? Nice! I'll just modify one rim first and see how well/bad it fits. I was measuring one of my hubs last night and I'll need 14" min diameter on the inside of the rim to clear the calipers...

Well, I say no clearance issues.

What I really mean is that it doesn't foul the suspension. I have had to fit extended arches (which cut away a lot of bodywork anyway) and make a slight mod to the leading edge of the boot floor wheelarch area, I welded a smooth piece over instead of having the seam there where it arch meets floor.

Otherwise it is fine, and this is disco. I think defenders have more clearance anyway.

I run 33x12.5"x15, no Spacers, standard setting on steering lock stops.

Apart from slight rub on uber articulation it works very well