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[limestone69]

I'm finally in the thick of it.
New chassis is here, the 88 is almost completely apart, motor is in the shop getting cleaned/checked/.020 over.
I'm going to pull the axles, strip them clean everything, put them under the new frame.

something i need to address, is wheels/tires.
Mine is a '69, and has a set of 15" wheels on it. I hadn't realized how unusual that was until i started looking for a spare rim.
before i buy tires, is it worth swapping them for 16's?
It's a bugeye, and i kinda wanted to keep it as close to factory as possible.

[Old Hywel]

15” was a common fit for N. America, I believe. Where are you?

[nanuq]

Mine are 15" in Alaska, so I can run a 9.5" LT tire and return a 33" diameter with lots of tall sidewall cushion.

[limestone69]

15” was a common fit for N. America, I believe. Where are you?

in the states, but I think everyone around here swapped for bigger wheels.
I'll keep looking.

[Larry S.]

Mine are 16".

[genocache]

Hywel is correct most NADA rovers came with 15" wheels. That's why 16's are so hard to find over here.

[Larry S.]

15” was a common fit for N. America, I believe. Where are you?

in the states, but I think everyone around here swapped for bigger wheels.
I'll keep looking.

Hywel is correct most NADA rovers came with 15" wheels. That's why 16's are so hard to find over here.

Huh... I thought the 16" was the standard here in the States.   

This brings up another question, but for another thread.

Grover, a '63 88", has four 16", 5" riveted (#231601) on the axles, but the spare tire is 16", 5.5" riveted (272309) for a 109".  I've ran into a few other 88" owners that have 109" rim for a spare as well.

[Larry S.]

I just looked at my copy of a September '63 sales sheet for the eastern USA - 16" tires are the only option listed.   

[w3526602]

Hi,

When I was at RAF Sharjah (two hoots and a holler from Dubai) we were running some of our 86" S1s on 900 sand tyres , but I can't remember what wheel size they were sitting on.

We also had an 80" fire truck (that caught fire), and a S1 ambulance, that the ambulance driver crashed into the MT yard gate post.

Then one day a strange looking Landy appeared, which I now know was a brand new 88" S2 ... which was promptly bagged by the CO.

[w3526602]

Hi,

There is something in my mind which might preclude 15" wheels ... assuming I thinking Land Rover, not Reliant.

Will the wheel fit over the brake drum? Remember the wheel rim has a well, which has a smaller internal diameter than the tyre bead. And the braked drum has an O/D greater than the 11" I/D.

Ahem! My memory banks have been vindicated.   I was sure that one of our 86" Landies at RAF Sharjah was fitted with 900x15" sand tyres.

My parts book, Page 1H 16, lists a wheel, Pt.No.526753(S) America and with 829-890-900 x 15 Sand tyres.    Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to list a 15" tyre.

Returning to my opening sentence ... there is still something in my mind, but I can't get a grip of it, that suggests that some modification or other needed the fitment of ... er ... Defender? ... Range Rover steels? ... or something like that to a Series. 

I would not have considered fitting disc brakes to a Series, and Reliant Sabre 15" wheels DO fit over Scimitar GTE brake calipers. Barbara's Sabre  was fitted with chrome plated suspension taken from a Motor Show GTE. (the 2552cc Sabre weighed approx 750kg. GTE weighed approx 1250kg) There was no need for a servo.

602

[biloxi]

In the  60's and 70's people started  to buy 4 wheel drives and other vehicles  for recreational purposes .To drive on the sand on the beach they wanted wider tyres. A lot of cars at the time only had 3-speed gearboxes without synchro on the 1st gear. To increase the width of the tyre without increasing the diameter they decreased the rim from 16" to 15". The selection of off-road tyres in16" was limited to bar threads and RTMs. That's how I remember it.
.W.
 

[biloxi]

I forgot to mention that we're talking about rag tyres, radials were a definite no-no for off-road use.
.W.

[limestone69]

pretty interesting stuff.
i'm going to try to keep the 15's, if only to not be the typical american who turns everything into a monster truck.

here's something totally unrelated,

My daily is a 2007 MINI.
I was trying to decide whether or not I had room in my shop to set the new chassis, and build the 88 up in my work area. I figured out yesterday (by using a masking tape rectangle on the floor) that the MINI has a bigger footprint.

[Larry S.]

i'm going to try to keep the 15's, if only to not be the typical american who turns everything into a monster truck.

Uhmm...  mine's not even close to being a monster truck.  That's typically the j**p crowed, at least in my area.

[biloxi]

In the  60's and 70's people started  to buy 4 wheel drives and other vehicles  for recreational purposes .To drive on the sand on the beach they wanted wider tyres. A lot of cars at the time only had 3-speed gearboxes without synchro on the 1st gear. To increase the width of the tyre without increasing the diameter they decreased the rim from 16" to 15". The selection of off-road tyres in16" was limited to bar threads and RTMs. That's how I remember it.
.W.
 

Btw  I do know how to spell Bar Treads...Sorry
.W.