Landy tubeless rims?
 

Land Rover do some tubeless steel wheels now and I'm considering going tubeless due to the high cost of good quality tubes.

Are the landy wheels ok? Any known problems? Anything better? With Michelin 7.50 R16 XZY's?

I realise that Wolf wheels are highly recomended, but from memory they are heavier and thicker? As I put one on the bonnet I'd like it no thicker than the LR wheels are.

Many thanks again!

yes they are heavier but only slightly thicker. i carried a second spare on my bonnet and noticed no difference to the previous steel rims. on the weight side, my tubeless wolf rims with a michelin xzy 's weigh near 30kg apiece.

here's pic. michelin xzy, wolf rim on bonnet

Yes, Wolf rims are heavier and thicker (from my head they are almost twice as thick as standard). Also they are 6,5" wide versus classic 5,5". Good for say 235/85R16 tires.

So not so good for 7.50 R16's? I'd like to know the weight difference if anybody has any ideas?

I know I would have to change the bolts as well on the wheels as they will be too short.

Any comments on the Land Rover tubless tyres?

I think the wolf rims (fine for 7.50 x 16) are about 13kg each. And I guess standard landy wheels are a few kgs lighter.
looking on my list, all the standard steel wheels (5.5 and 6.5) are for tubed tyres (strange?). And the wolf rim is available as tubed or tubeless. A tubeless wolf rim is about £60 inc vat.
Standard landy rim (5.5) is about £35.00 inc vat.
Go wolf tubeless, you know it makes sense!!!

Bye..

Ps, for anyone interested, Prosecco in Lidl has gone up! It's now about £3.50 per bottle. Darn!! Gone are the cheap days of drinking....

oh, I forgot to say. Longer studs are available. I can't remember the part number and it's a pain to look up. But I guess they're £2 or £3 each. You need 20!!
Best to have them, but you can get away without.

Cheers,
Matt

ever single current military landrover (wolf) that has wolf rims has 7.50 r16 tyres (goodyear G90).

if your wheel studs have a groove across the end of them then they are long enough for the wolf rims.

Tubeless rims
 

My Def. came with TL rims direct from Land Rover SV, I believe, but not the wolf type. The 8-spoke type seem tough enough and are always on ebay for pennies.

Not sure about the round-holed 'modular' type?

and every single 130 has factory standard wolf rims and 750 as well.
wolf rim's is your choice.strong as hell,never ever bended a wolf one.(can't say that for the rest)

OK, it seems Wolf's are the way to go. A little bit wary of being able to replace one along the way if needed, and extra weight isn't needed, but at least 4 out of the 6 will have their weight in a very good position.

They do have the advantage of looking a little bit sexier as well ;-)

Costs:
£192 = 12 times Michelin tubes (£16 each)
£ 60 = Change all old tubes to new ones and keep 6 spares
£252 = Total

or

£282 = 6 times either Wolf wheels or LR tubeless wheels (£47 each)
(My landy place will swap the wheels over and keep my landy rims in exchange)
£32 = Two tubes to take
£314 = Total

Excellent position for stability - but not so good for the drivechain!

Where did you find Wolf rims for £47 ?

Paddocks have OE ones:
http://www.paddockspares.com/sp/cate...el_Wheels.html

or Dunsfold who I use for my landy stuff said the same price - I believe they are LR ones if there is any difference?
www.dunsfold.com

Still, I need a new rear axle so wheels will have to wait for a while now....

It's a lot of money though Darrin, for a set of wheels which you already have (OK, not wolf type heavy duty ones).

but have you bent many of your standard 110 rims? there's thousands of them out there working away no problem, plenty in the desert too i'd imagine.

maybe spend your hard earned on a shiny disk braked salisbury instead?

Hi Darrin,

I went tubeless with XZY's but my rims are not Wolf, rather LR standard type plain rims but tubeless. The part number is stamped on the rim if you need it. I got them from VASS with brand new XZY's on for £75+vat each. They are not thick like Wolf so you do not need long studs (mine are short studs). As for weight, dunno - the tyre is very heavy by itself. With a Wolf rim you officially need long studs, but I've seen them fitted to short studs and they pass the MOT ok.

VASS sell cheaper XZY's in varying mileages, as well as brand new with tubeless rim.

One word of advice - mine needed a LOT of balance weights fitted by the local Quickfit - the high weight meant that driving out of balance rims was very unpleasant, so get them balanced regardless after purchase.

Cheers,

Andrew.

Jamie,

The cost of staying with tubes is less, but I also have to store about 8 tubes inside the landy somewhere which takes up quite a lot of space (and they get damaged over time unless you are really careful). And tubes are becoming more expensive as less peopel use them. So looking at going tubeless.

LR tubeless rims seem to be about the same price, so going for the Wolf ones may be worthwhile, they do give you an extra inch of width as well(!) and I have put a large dent in one of mine previously, but who knows if the Wolf's would do any better in the situation below. So all gristle to the mill at this stage - I have to save up for the (damn, bloody, %$££&!) rear axle.

Andrew,

I have bought all my XZY's from Vaas. They are great ;-)

I already have all the tyres so will probably just get the wheels. Even though I have done 50,000km on them, they hardly look worn (some of the edges are wearing really quickly due I presume to the high speed cornering I am now capable of (new engine, gearbox, transfer box, intercooler etc).

What PSI do you run them on?

http://www.lon-cap.com/a/uploadedIma...obatics....jpg

some info on wolf rims from LR4x4.com

And some more

It would seem that it doesn't really make much difference by changing the wheel studs... they're the same length as the ones on disk braked axles anyway??

Hi Darrin,

I have stuck with XZY's over 100k miles and they're pretty much bombproof in my experience but I intend to change to BFG A/T's next year when my rebuild gets under way due to the XZY's being too narrow and stiff in dunes or soft sand and my needing frequent dragging out. Also a bit dodgy on damp tarmac if you are prone to fast driving on bends...due to hard compound and lack of flex...

Pressures

Road 28/35 unladen, laden 40 psi in rear
Piste - drop to around 20/30
Soft sand 15/18 Max 40 mph
Very soft 12/15

All figures are -ish. Doesn't seem critical off road, the tyre has large reserves of strength if you get it wrong.

Cheers for now,

Andrew.

Land Rover Tubeless Rims
 

Hi,

Hopefully this helps you guys. I have spent the past year traveling from London to South Africa in a Land Rover 110 fitted with tubed Goodyear G90'S on standard LR steel rims. We managed to get over 20 punctures with this set up, entirely due to tubes (good and bad quality) scuffling and tearing and also weakening due to heat.

What is incredible is that after covering over 90 000km's these tyres had hardly worn at all. Goodyear subsequently sponsored 5 new ones.

These were fitted in South Africa onto the same standard rims WITHOUT the tubes, as they clearly state TUBELESS on the sidewall. I have traveled back to Tanzania on these tyres and now use the vehicle on bad roads throughout Northern Tanzania and haven't had a puncture in over 30 000km

As long as the rims have a good smooth surface around the valve holes, the seal should be fine. Often older rims rust from the inside or paint build up around the valve hole causes a leak.

Hope that's of use to someone.

Matt Covarr

Wolf Rims
 

Worth remembering if you're tracking down secondhand Wolf/130 rims or indeed ordering brand new ones, is that they come in both tubed and tubeless variety.
Identifying which is which is easy. The wheels are stamped with either 'Tubed' or 'Tubeless'.

The extra width and weight is marginal. It's a no brainer. Go with Tubeless Wolfs!

Kev

XZY tyres need to be rotated front to rear and left to right or they wear badly on one edge at the front. If your tyres start squealing on turns it definitely time to swap them.

Andrew.

We are running BFG AT 245/16 Tubeless on our Discovery with steelwheels off a discovery Comercial as the stud spacings on the wolf do not match. the steel wheels so far are fine and tubeless. But for our trip I wouldnt have bothered changing and sticked with the alloys.

Also a vote for wolf tubeless
 

I had 4 on my 110 Defender - std wheel studs but no drama, and running 265 BFG M/Ts - only bought them 'cause the original wheels were absolutely knackered and could hardly be balanced. Have to say they were built like brick s********s and also looked great as Darrin has noted! Well impressed with the BFGs as well so have them on 105 series rims on my troopy now. However I did have a very bad experience with an African tyre fitter and alloy rims on a 105 cruiser!

I have been wondering why Toyota still go with split rims (on basic vehicles) but Landrover for years have only fitted one piece rims? I am well aware of certain advantages splits have - particularly with very stiff sidewalls, but have always wondered why the two manufacturers had a different idea...? Or maybe "the flying ring factor" got out of hand in Solihull?

Gil