Correct me if I am wrong, but US wheeling is mostly rock crawling or overlanding (eg. long distances), in Australia they have corrugations, beaches and–again–long distances. But in Europe we’re stuck with (in?) mud. Right?
My Cruiser is not a museum object. I want to wheel it everywhere, and so far if it moves, it’s going off-road. (With the exception of picking up kids from school to shock some parents, mostly for kicks.)
But going back to the mud. Polish (European?) school of mudding is to boot it and hope momentum keeps you going. I don’t like that at all. I am sure I can get enough momentum in a Volvo estate to go through some mud, but my theory is: if you can go through something, you ought to do it slow as well.
And wide tires prevents me from doing this. I like the tall-and-skinny look. But the main advantage of 9" to 10" tire is you’re not pushing this much mud in front.
And this is exactly how I ended up with 235/85R16 tires on original BJ42 wheels. The left side of the picture has spacer on top 31x10.5r15 tire.
I ordered these right after reading Jonathan’s article on wheels and tires on Exploring Overland. Not only he has an incredible story, but collected a set of pictures that shows the progression through the years.
He went with with a set of 16" wheels with hubcaps I can’t afford. But I was lucky to find a set of five original BJ42 16" wheels. They need a sanding and a respray, but for now I am stuck with green wheels on a red truck.
I don’t think I have any lift in my Toyota so a 32" tire fits with no problem whatsoever. One size up and internet says I’d need a 2" lift.
I bought the truck with a used set of 31x10.5r15 and here’s how it compared height wise. The truck lifted by a good 3cm when mounted. Even though wheel size calculator says the difference is just 2cm in diameter (1cm lift). I guess these AT were that old.
Browsing through archive I found these three options as well:
- 255/85R16. Here’s IH8MUD user with a set of these without a lift. I really like it and it’s a true 33" tire. However I don’t seem to find Cooper STT Pro in this size. He has the same wheels as mine and he’s snorkel is ridiculously low. But he also has a roof mounted gun, so I’ll shut up now.
- There’s this 15" that I forgot the size for. I like it very much, but went with the 16" wheel as it was original to the truck and I could fit disk brakes in the future with no problem.
- 255/100R16 is what some Unimogs rolls on. 36" tire.
Build log:
- 4 Cooper tires at $584 with shipping
- Five original wheels at $200 with shipping
- Mounting was free from a neighbouring shop, where guys were happy to chat Toyotas in the mean time
