I have no idea why this was done, but I assume that it was so that they could use tyres that were more readily available there. Until quite recently, the go to size tyres for four wheel drives and light trucks in Australia has been 16", following on from the wartime jeep, and many other WW2 vehicles.
But this did not necessarily apply everywhere.
I remember that when I first came across Landcruisers when a field crew I was in charge of was equipped with them in 1965, despite the fact that they were fitted with 16" tyres, the workshop manuals referred only to 15" ones. I assumed then, and still do, that the English language manuals were written for the USA. There were other differences in the manual, such as column change gearshift, and dashboard transfer lever. I vaguely remember that all the drawings showed LHD.
John
JDNSW
1986 110 County 3.9 diesel
1970 2a 109 2.25 petrol
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