So we’ve been banging on about this for a while and I think I’m ready to take the plunger after seeing Jason Trotters Florida wheels on Farcebook. I’m going to go for some 16″ transit wheels and have them machined in the same way Jason had his done: “Drilled the wheels with an 82 degree 6 flute countersink very carefully.” Just need to try and figure out what tyres to put on as I’ll then be adding the lift kit I;’e been hankering after on German ebay. I was going to do the lift first but I reckon getting the wheels on is the way to go… with me?

By way of an update on this here’s a comparison of wheel sizes. Note that the rear wheel arch isn’t a problem for bigger wheels but the front wheel arch has a width of 730mm or 28.7 inches at it’s widest point. 

The default wheel/tyre combo on my LT28 are as follows: 

185/75 – 6Jx14 – PCD:5×160 – ET:93 – 185/75/14 – 633mm diameter 

Jason is running the following: 

205/80r16 110S Goodyear Wrangler AT/S – 734.4mm 

He has had to make minor modifications to the inside of the wheel arch to accommodate them. To run the big wheels as suggested by Carsten (Maschine) who sells the lift kit you’d need to take an angle grinder to the wheel arch to cut the outer edge back to the inner edge – not that difficult but obviously cosmetically different:

Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac Tire LT245/75R16 108Q – 773.9mm

This leaves 6.1mm clearance (3.05mm each side).

If you don’t want to cut the wheel arches your choices for tyres are really limited. Don’t forget that your tyre walls have a load rating appropriate to the vehicle axle weight, so mine are 107/109. As of today these are the available options:

215/75r15 106Q Kumho KL 71 – 703.5mm 

225/75r15 110S Bridgestone Dueler A/T 6 – 718.5mm 

225/70r16 107T Nokian Rotiiva AT – 721.4mm

As I so like the look of Dan Whittaker’s T25 I’m gunning for the Bridgestones. They are also the only brand I know!

Here’s a mock up  the 225’s:

Here’s what I did in the end…

I did angle grind the front arches – just in the black section of the Florida’s side paintwork (but realised afterwards that I only needed to do the front of the wheel arch which is for some reason nearer the tyre) – fitted a 3″ lift kit (from Carsten in Germany… here’s the link to the German ebay page for the kit), bought 4 scruffy-looking Transit steel wheels and had them sand blasted and painted RAL 7039 Quartz Grey, counter-sunk the nut/bolt holes using a £25 82 degree drill bit (bought here) and fitted them using the stock fittings. 

Overall I;m very pleased with the look of the van now. The rear is slightly lower but this is just tired rear leaf springs which I will upgrade (to LT31/35 at some point). The ride is actually better, and thanks to the upgraded front springs (here’s another link for you... yes they came from Germany too!) there’s no difference in wind due to the extra height.

There’s a photo diary of the fitting of the lift kit here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.10153882672109421&type=1

Please do ask any questions though 

…oh and I fitted General Grabber AT 235/75 R15 109 S tyres for £70 from ebay (Pneus online who don’t seem to stock them any more)

One other point – Insurance. I contacted my insurer and told them that I had modified the suspension by upgrading the front coils and rear leaves and that I had fitted bigger wheels and there was no additional raise in my premium (Adrian Flux)