will defender wheels fit on a series IIa swb?

[ctrover]

I've seen some wheels I like for sale from a defender but are located far away.I w ould like to know if defender steel wheels will fit on my 1971 IIa swb before I make the trip to get them.Anybody know?thanks jim

[yorker]

The steel ones fit fine. Some might need slightly longer studs but that is the only issue.

[ctrover]

What about tire rubbing and that sort of thing.Are the defender steel wheels slightly offset to allow some turning room.The tires are 235/r16

[yorker]

The offset may vary as does the rim width- you really need to know which steel wheels they are to know for sure. 235-85-16s may rub especially ion a SWB that has it's steering stops still set for 6.50 16s. It is a simple matter to adjust them and it might not even crop up as an issue.

If they are a good price grab them!

[LH Drive]

I have 4 New 265/75/16 Dunlop Mud Rover tires mounted on stock Series 3 steel rims. I'm also looking for used Defender steel wheels to mount these Mud Rovers on. I had to adjust the wheel stops so they don't rub on the springs, this affected my turning radious but it's not that bad. My gas mileage is 15 mpg on the highway with the Overdrive and less in the city. I do alot of city driving and i'm wondering how much more fuel i'll save if I stick original size tires on instead? say 650 or 750/16's

[yorker]

I doubt you'd save much if anything with 265's. 205-16s or 6.50 16s would make a fairly large difference in your RPM which may counteract the fact that they are easier to turn. 15MPG isn't bad- with 28" tires I used to get ~17mpg without an overdrive (with a rather lean Weber carb).

If you do most of your driving on road though I don't think it would be a bad idea to try out some smaller diameter and more road biased radial tires.

With tires around 28" and no OD you are turning ~3550 RPM @ 55MPH
With tires around 32" "" "" "" ~3100 RPM @ 55MPH