Thread: Question about mixing tyres/rims

Hi all,

Tried to research but could not find the answers to my particular questions.

I am aware mixing of different diameter tyres is not good. Is it an issue regardless of terrain? I imagine it might not be as bad in soft sandy terrain. Or does that make it worse?



And my main question is; if the tyre diameter is the same, are there any issues using different width rims or different offsets?

eg: tyres 235/85r16 on

Defender Boost alloy 16x7 +33mm
Defender 'wolf' style 16x6.5 +20.7
Perentie rim 16x6 +33mm

And if there are issues, what sort of issues would occur?

Are the issues only likely on road or both on and off road? For off road I'll break it up into two types - firm but slippery OR soft sandy terrain

The scenario I am thinking about is; out in the middle of nowhere, spare(s) are already in use when I get another flat. Can I use the spare from a trailer that is the same diameter but possible different rim width/offset?

Originally Posted by BreakingBad

I've got no intention to run them as a normal setup.

And obviously if push came to shove I'd do whatever I could do to get back to civilisation, and what I do would be highly dependent upon the situation, but I'd still like to know if it's likely to be bad to use different rim widths/offsets. It could be many km's even 100's of km's to reach civilisation. Am I correct in assuming damage is more likely at the front so it would be better to fit the different width/offset rims to the rear? The alternative would be to swap the tyres between the rims which would be a right pain in the ...

And does the terrain make any difference? eg: hard corrugated dirt tracks vs soft sandy terrain?

And before someone pipes in to say - just fit the trailer with the same rims as the vehicle - it is my intention but I'd still like to know as other participants may have different rims on their vehicle/trailer.

As I was saying, it wont do any damage. I would expect a degree of inconsistency in handling though due to the offset difference, most notably pulling to one side. The terrain wont make any difference, the softer and rougher the more I would expect it to pull. You’re not really talking about big offset changes though and I wouldn’t expect it to cause any problems which are that bad.