Width of a factory 15" rim / wheel

[nathanwind]

Does anyone know the width of the factory 15" rims for the Series? That's what I'm running on my truck, and I'm in need of new tires and wanted to order them up (but I'm away from my truck until next week or I'd just measure them myself). Is the width of the 15s 6.5", just like the 16" rims? Or is it smaller?

Also, I know most recommend the 16" rims, but that's another $400+ for a set of 5 so just going to put new rubber on the 15s.

Was looking at 30x9.5-15, but that requires a minimum of 6.5" rim width. So I may have to go with the slightly smaller 235/75-15, which requires min 6" width (and I know lots of folks run this size on the Series).

[greenmeanie]

You'll find the standard series steelies 15"&16" are all 5.5" wide. You can get 1 tonne/NADA 110 rims and IIRC wolf wheels which are 6.5" wide. There are also Discovery steel spare wheels that are 7" wide.

235/85R16 is an equivalent size to 7.50R16

[nathanwind]

Thanks, 5.5" makes sense...that's kind of what I was thinking. I know RN carries the 16x6.5 rims...just don't have the expendable $$ at the moment.

Now, the million dollar question - will the 235/75-15 BFG All-Terrain TA's fit this? It *says* a rim width of 6"-7", but I know lots of folks run these on their factory 15s. Anyone have issues?

I also know even with the 16x5.5 rims that RN sells they state to use the 235/85-16 tire (which likewise has the same rim width recommendations). I'm guessing I'll be fine, but as they say better safe than sorry...

[mongoswede]

Its likey that they will go on the rim and work but if they are a little to wide they may be sort of balloony...shouldn't be much of an issue for a series rover and the speeds they are not capable of :) higher speeds the handling will suffer.

[nathanwind]

Any idea of a sizing that will be less "baloony" on the 15s? I'm trying for the tall skinny look a la the RN catalog covers from the 90's.

I know the proper answer would be to put 16s on there, but again trying to avoid that. Thanks for all the guidance...

[mongoswede]

Any idea of a sizing that will be less "baloony" on the 15s? I'm trying for the tall skinny look a la the RN catalog covers from the 90's.

I know the proper answer would be to put 16s on there, but again trying to avoid that. Thanks for all the guidance...

I have a set of bfg mud terrains mounted on the 15 rover wheels and they are 33" tires...very pizza cutter...tall and skinny. They came with one of my projects and are currently keeping my hybrid project elevated.

[73series88]

my tires are 31 10.5 15
and IMHO they dont look balloony
no clearence issuses
and im running parabolics.
aaron

[nathanwind]

Aaron:

Nice '73...I like the fact that you put an earlier grill on there, looks sharp. Actually, looks a lot like my '71 shown below. Which, as you can see, has small-ish tires on it. And thanks for the feedback/pics of the 31x10.5's...they actually look great, and glad to know you didn't have any mounting issues with the width. Big help!

PS - what size is your bonnet mounted spare? Is that also 31x10.5? (just asking since it's a nice side profile shot to give width perspective)

PPS - the 3rd pic I attached below is not of my ride, but of someone's FJ running 235/75-15's...just in case anyone wanted to have a perspective on this size mounted on a 15x5.5 rim.

[nathanwind]

PPPS - Also a couple more that folks may find helpful if they have the same question I did, since I've turned these up in my research. The 2 additional pics below are 215/75-15's and 33x10.5-15's respectively (all mounted on 15x5.5 rims).

[73series88]

that spare is actually from the tires i had on there before
wrong size
heres the the shot with the correct spare
it is a great size
when i had my rhd 2a it had small tires and people would ask where i got the mail truck?
hated that look.
good luck aaron

[nathanwind]

Aaron:

Thanks for the additional pics...I see with the rhd 2a you even had those small tires on the 16s.

Hey, if you ever make it up to the Lake George NY area from CT shoot me a note.

[yorker]

235 75 15s used to be a pretty standard 1/2 ton truck size, they were also a popular sizer on 88's in the 1980's and early 1990's. They aren't very tall and skinny though. BFG used to make 33-9.50 15s that worked well on Land Rover's 15" rims. They also made 30 9.50 15s, that were a popular upgrade from 235-75 15's.

The size of tires on these trucks used to be dictated by the load they were expected to carry- not asthetics. As a result 88's often had 6.00-6.50 16s, which were ~28-29" tall. 109's had 7.50 16s- ~31" tall, and 109 1 tons had 9.00 16s, ~34-35" tall.

Nowadays everyone seems to opt for the 31" and taller skinny tireson 88s, but if you look at original pictures from the 1960's and 1970's they generally ran much smaller tires. So with 30x9.5-15's or 235-75-15s/ 225-75 16's, you may look a little short and fat by today's standards but they will work just fine. 31 10.50s are the more or less flotation tire size for 235 75 15's-They work ok but look kind of balloony which was the whole point of that size...

I think one of the original sizes that came on LR 15" rims was H78 15, at any rate I know I have seen a lot of H78 15 tires on LR's in the past , it is an obsolete size now:
http://www.turbinecar.com/misc/Tire_Chart.jpg
http://www.turbinecar.com/tires.htm

[cousindave]

I'm running 33X9.50X15 BFG Mud Terrains t

[nathanwind]

Dave:

Interesting...any issues with the 33s? Any chance you've got a pic?

Had my dad head over to the Series to get the current size from my tires...I was convinced they were 215s or 225s. Turns out they actually are 235/75-15s. Look way small as can be seen in my earlier pics. So 30x9.5-15 or 33x9.5-15 may definitely be they way to go (as many suggested). But would like to see the 33s in action...

[yorker]

Dave:

Interesting...any issues with the 33s? Any chance you've got a pic?

Had my dad head over to the Series to get the current size from my tires...I was convinced they were 215s or 225s. Turns out they actually are 235/75-15s. Look way small as can be seen in my earlier pics. So 30x9.5-15 or 33x9.5-15 may definitely be they way to go (as many suggested). But would like to see the 33s in action...

I am not dave but I ran BFG/ATs in 33 9.50 15s from ~98-'04 or so. They wore very well but were terrible in clay/mud so I ended up replacing them when someone gave me set of 16" rims with tires on them. I gave the 33.9.50 15s to my brother who used them on his FJ40 and then later moved them to his FJ80.

Here they are ont he FJ40 as compared to the 7.50 16s on my green 88:
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l119/sepp45/sIIa/2-15cruiserrover.jpg



On my LR they fit fine, I needed to adjust the steering stops a bit. My original motivation for buying them was that they were roughly the same diameter as 7.50 16s, BUT by buying the BFG 33 9.50 15s, I was able to use my original 15" rims, thus I saved $400 or so on new rims. :thumb-up:

Also they are load range C which I think is far better suited to an 88.

[nathanwind]

Huge help, you guys are great - hopefully this thread with pics will help someone else in the future as well. I'll keep you all posted and will put pics up once I decide which size to go...but right now I think it's down to 30x9.5-15s or 33x9.5-15s.

Also, if any of you are in the upstate NY region at all I'm there winter/summer (with the Series), and in Washington DC the rest of the year fall/spring (with the Defender 110).

[yorker]

Yep I am upstate (~ Albany area) all year around as a rule.

[nathanwind]

Bump on this thread, mainly because I have one last question. I'm 99% sold on the 30x9.5-15s in the BFG All-Terrain T/A KOs, mainly because it will be a little larger tire, allow me to keep the 15" rims, and no stop-adjustments needed.

Here's the question: anyone have pics of this size on a Series that they can post up?

[nathanwind]

For anyone following this thread - or anyone with these questions in the future - I finally went with the 30x9.5-15 BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO's...and I'm VERY happy with them. Slightly larger (by 1.5" diameter) than the crappy radial 235/75-15's I had on there and much more suited to the Series.

No real performance decrease, though while it may be slightly slower off the line I really can't tell much of a difference. I did seem to gain a little on the top end however, as I was cruising home about 65-67mph with no problems (with no overdrive, but a fairly new tranny). This size is very well suited for this 88, whereas I think the 33's may have definitely been too large. A 31x9.5 may have been "perfect", but that is not a readily available size so 30x9.5 was a close second. Overall, again very pleased with the size selection - and glad I did not go with a new 235/75-15, though it is close in size it is definitely smaller than the 30x9.5's.

Pics attached showing before-after shots. Excuse the crappy iPhone camera, it's all I had with me.

[nathanwind]

side profile comparison...

[nathanwind]

tread comparison...

[nathanwind]

misc pics...

[73series88]

much better
looks great
aaron