Series 2 Defender wheels for Series 2a

I have just bought Defender tubeless wheels so that I can fit decent radial tyres to my Series 2a. The wheels have a date stamp of 13 12 on the front. Stamped on the back is what I thought was a part number of 1011117. Having Googled the number I can find nothing to shed light the spec for this wheel. Any thoughts or suggestions?

205/80/16s mate.

Thanks. That's the tyre size that was on the wheels when I bought them but the tyres were scrap. I had them removed yesterday so that I can refurbish the rims.

Why are you bothered about the numbers? As long as they are a matching set they will fit your series and will fit a 16" tyre. Unless it is the HD wheel (wolf has holes in) then it will be the standard spec for a defender steel wheel.

NB948 said:

I have just bought Defender tubeless wheels so that I can fit decent radial tyres to my Series 2a. The wheels have a date stamp of 13 12 on the front. Stamped on the back is what I thought was a part number of 1011117. Having Googled the number I can find nothing to shed light the spec for this wheel. Any thoughts or suggestions?

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Thoughts or suggestions on what? What is your actual question, is it about rims or tyres?

I think I'm happy now that they are definitely Defender rims. The only potential issue with fitting them to my 2a is that it might have 9/16" studs and wheel nuts. Iuunderstand that from around 1969 these became M16. Is that a problem? On the tyre front, I had been thinking about 205s. Is there any merit in going for the 235 alternative?

What sort of use do you have for your 2a, just road, light off road, green lane's, RTV trials, high or low miles per year ect ? Will help us guide you. Studs are not an issue.

Just road use. (I'll have the original set of wheels which have Deestones on them which could potentially be used for any non-road but no plans for that.) It's mostly just pottering about locally but I have taken it on holiday which is usually 90 miles away so reduced engine speed (and noise) on longer journeys would be useful! I recognise there's a trade off with acceleration.

Defender wheels fitted our 2a with 7.50/16 and looked just right.

NB948 said:

Just road use. (I'll have the original set of wheels which have Deestones on them which could potentially be used for any non-road but no plans for that.) It's mostly just pottering about locally but I have taken it on holiday which is usually 90 miles away so reduced engine speed (and noise) on longer journeys would be useful! I recognise there's a trade off with acceleration.

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Size wise you have a bit of choice. A 205/80R16 would have sort of been a standard fitment back in the day. Not quite this size, but it is pretty close. They will work fine, but are on the smaller side and will perhaps leave it wanting a little visually.

A 7.50 x 16 is also a standard size and is a fair bit taller while remaining narrow. This will improve the looks, off road performance and allow slightly better cruising speeds. There isn't a huge amount of choice in this size though, although some good options.

Next up is a 235/85R16, this is about the same height as the 7.50 just a little fatter and is a standard Defender size. These can work too and give more choice than the 7.50 although IMO the 7.50 is a better size, esp on a Series.

Anything wider and you'd probably need to consider different rims. Wider tyres are also likely to make the steering heavier too.

I would avoid going for anything period looking tread wise. Most of the old looking tyres are completely rubbish on or off road. Mud Terrains will look the business, but tbh if you don't plan to off road a more road biased tyre or All Terrain might be a better bet. But does depend on what size you go for.

BFG offer the KM3 Mud Terrain in 7.50 size. It is an extremely good tyre all round, so still suitable for road use. But they are a bit pricey.

If you mostly plan on road use, something like this will probably ride and drive well:

Simple rough rule is, the fatter the tyre the less lock you will have.

I've discovered there's a wheel nut (Part No 576103) for the 9/16" BSF studs which is 27mm across the flats. This is the same width as the M16 nuts used on the Series 2A from suffix H, Series 3 and Defender. Seems an ideal solution for fitting the Defender wheels to the narrower studs.