Thread: Wheels and Tyres for a Puma

255/85/16s will rub the flares with -25 offset Kings 7" wide rims which is what I have, but not with flagg's -20 reset D1 steelies. Mine rubs on the exhaust (no prob for anything but an Isuzu) and very lightly on the hockey sticks.
I have also dented two of my Kings rims so will be upgrading to something sturdier.

I like the extra diff to ground clearence the 255's give. It puts you that little bit further away from damage.

Allan

I am running 285/75/16 Mickey Thompson ATZ 4bar, and they are a 50/50 all terrain tyre and I would definitly run them again they are not very noisy and off road they perform well.

My rims are 16x8 -25 offset Dynamic rims, these are from Les Richmond Automotive.

Cal415 has a new Puma 130 and he is running the same rims and tyres size as myself.

You do not need to change gear ratios with a 285/75/16 actually it corrects the speedo to being spot on, as would 255/85/16's. I have heard that the 255/85/16's have to much side wall flex and handling is not as good as a 285/75/16.

When running a rim with a neg 25 offset you will need to run wider flares to cover the tyres. If you run a 0 offset you will fit those tyres under the guards.

I have a td5 so the puma would have no drama with the taller tyres.

There is nothing wrong with the alloy rims they are very strong, but if you do change to a steel rim I would go with the Dynamic rims as they are very strong and made well and go the 8inch wide not the 7's, you have more tyre sizes to choose from.

I have Cooper ST Max tyres, original size on original rims. (2010 Puma)

They are in between a mud tyre and an all terrain tyre. 50% Road / 50% mud and sand.

Very happy with them.

Originally Posted by The Cone of Silence

I thought the wheel choice woudl be easy. "Steel. Black. 16" please." but alas no....I need to think about the rim offset. I love learning all this stuff.

I'm not sure keeping the same wheels is the best idea - I've heard bad things about the alloys and I think I may aswell go for some steel.

If I were to go for the BFG 255/ 85 as opposed to the wider 285/ 75s, what offset would be recommended? More importantly, why? Is the tyre likely to make contact with the body or radius arms at full lock?

Oops, Sorry, by Original wheels I meant for TD5 Defender Steel Rims 5.5Jx16x33 (33 refers to 33mm offset) the other numbers are in inches!!
I would not run Alloy Rims. Same applies to Puma

By screwing the steering stops all the way in the radius arms become your steering lock limiter,

The LandRover Turning circle becomes a few meters smaller as a result. A Tight turning circle is important to me as most of the Time I'm towing a Trailer. When I first got my Defender it Had Alloys & the turning circle really sucked, like a semi trailer.

pics below explain





On full lock tyre rubs on radius arm & makes the shiny area.



Narrow Rims with Less offset give even smaller turning circle.
To acieve similar to original (legal) offset Wide rims are wider on the inside as well as the outside = larger turning circle.

To help explain why I prefer Narrow wheels / tyres here are some pics of a home modified bush rim that my Mud tyres are mounted on. (reversed Stage 1 rims) versus a standard(TD5) Defender Rim







Standard rim above

Modified Rim below

Alloy rims are very strong, and stronger than most steel rims. The only advantage is if you bend a steelie you may be able to bash it back out that is if you carry a lump hammer in your tool kit ( I bet most don't).

How many people play that hard they bend the rims any way, exluding comp trucks.

You can buy a zero offset rim in 8" or 7" from Dynamic that will get you out off trouble and is cheaper than modifying standard rims.

[QUOTE=goingbush;1576266]Oops, Sorry, by Original wheels I meant for TD5 Defender Steel Rims 5.5Jx16x33 (33 refers to 33mm offset) the other numbers are in inches!!
I would not run Alloy Rims. Same applies to Puma

By screwing the steering stops all the way in the radius arms become your steering lock limiter,

The LandRover Turning circle becomes a few meters smaller as a result. A Tight turning circle is important to me as most of the Time I'm towing a Trailer. When I first got my Defender it Had Alloys & the turning circle really sucked, like a semi trailer.

has anyone used "tyre pliers" on the standard defender alloys?

There is some speculation that they might damage an alloy and that this wouldn't happen with steel rims?

The current defender alloys have a safety bead which is similar to a D2 wheel and thus, makes it very hard to remove a tyre from the alloy wheel.

Its not impossible but have used the highlift jack instead of tyrepliers to break the bead.

I have some lengths of garden hose with a slit along its length, and placed these on the lip of the alloy wheel whilst using tyre levers to remove the tyre.

For bush travel I prefer to use steel wheels.

Regards

john D - Defender 110 2.4