To throw a bit of light on the tubeless rim thing; insurance aside, it's the nature of the rim that causes the danger. Mass produced steel rims are simply two pieces of stamped sheet steel spot welded together. the join in the base of the rim is a fairly deep V; as the wheel turns, the bit of V facing the road is slightly more open than the rest, i.e. a given piece of tube will see the V opening and closing against it like a pair of pincers! This is true for quite a few production cars, hence the insurance blanket ban. I don't know about original equipment LR rims though. The relatively cheap white 5 spoke wheels are welded all round the rim so shouldn't present a problem. Imho, if you take a set of wheels proven with tubes the insurers won't even know. The only pb I see is the danger of pinching the tube during the wrestling match with the tyre levers. I've got split rims and I love them.
Tyre size: Rich mentioned in the Unimog post that he had searched for 20" mog tyres and wheels for his 101, which is essentially a series. Perhaps you could elighten us with your experiences Rich. Otherwise Michael has some fairly convincing arguments.
Good luck
Luke
|