Series 2a wheel swap

Newbie here, so please excuse the very basic question.

Just bought my first Land Rover, a series 2a 88. Been off the road for many years so tyres knackered. It will be used mainly on the road. Rebuilding on a budget with my lad, who is just about to turn 16 so I'd better get cracking. I've seen a few defender wheel sets for sale in the usual places with Michelin 7.5 x 16" tyres for sale, presumably offered by folks who have fitted fancy alloys. These look like a cheap way into a newish set of rims and tyres. Are there any pitfalls? Alternatives? (I'm aiming for a fairly standard look, taller gearing is OK)

Go for it and sell yer old ones. I did the same and got rid of tubed tyres replacing with modern tubeless. Just double check they are tubeless.

A perfect solution. Got my set for £50. Seven years later the rear Michelins are still good.

The wheel studs can be different size. No big deal, but worth investigating.

Pretty much any live axle land rover steel wheel will fit, dont worry about studs/nuts they will fit, the Michelins are a good choice, dont got any wider as it will make the steering a real pita at slow speed.
If they are screw in studs dont over tighten the wheel nuts.

lynall said:

Pretty much any live axle land rover steel wheel will fit, dont worry about studs/nuts they will fit, the Michelins are a good choice, dont got any wider as it will make the steering a real pita at slow speed.
If they are screw in studs dont over tighten the wheel nuts.

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If they are screw in studs; wack a big splodge of weld on the back.
Works for me

Bobsticle said:

If they are screw in studs; wack a big splodge of weld on the back.
Works for me

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Dont last, tried it yrs ago and they always came loose, in the end I drilled out the threaded hole and fitted the longer knock in studs.

lynall said:

Dont last, tried it yrs ago and they always came loose, in the end I drilled out the threaded hole and fitted the longer knock in studs.

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Bigger dollops with a 4mm stick.

I got a set of old LWB 109 rims....more offset than defender rims so to me look better.

I fit 205x16s on them....tubeless..been on well over 20years.

Defender steel wheels fit fine. 7.50 is a good size and its not a huge job to swap to the 16mm suds if you have to.

I replaced my old wheels with new defender wheels and it transformed the look and the steering. It was all over the place.on the old wheels and knobbly tyres.

Col