Carlston

The OP already has non-standard tyres...225/45R18. He wants to tow a small boat up steep gravel sections and has asked for gruntier 4wd tyres so that his boat doesn't get stuck at the bottom. There is very little choice of quality all-terrain tyres in the standard 215/60R16 and 225/50R17 sizes...hence the suggestion to look at non-standard tyre sizes. 215/65R16 in particular, has plenty of all-terrain options. The OP will have to consider whether what he chooses is safe and legal. It could be argued that towing a small boat up steep gravel sections is unsafe...you would certainly need to be a skilled driver...and having suitable all-terrain tyres is going to help.

That's true. Here's a just a couple of steel rims from the Skoda Octavia MK3 and Skoda Karoq. 6Jx15 ET43 5/112 57.1 Skoda Octavia MK3 https://www.oponeo.co.uk/steel-wheel/alcar-kfz-7755#21238164 6Jx16 ET43 5/112 57.1 Skoda Karoq https://www.oponeo.co.uk/steel-wheel/alcar-kfz-6665#21261430

You have a huge amount of choice. 16", 17", and 15" if you're front discs aren't bigger than 288mm diameter. If your front discs are 312mm diameter you need at least 16" rims/wheels. Also, it depends if you want to stick with standard tyre and rim sizes. If so, then 15" wheels are out of the question because it's not an authorised size. According to wheel-size.com 215/60R16 and 225/50R17 are standard tyre sizes on the Yeti. Steel rims can be cheap to buy new. I wouldn't fit old steel rims because if they are rusty around where the tyre bead sits, they will slowly leak air. If you don't have a slow leak, tyres will only lose about 3psi every 6 months. I always visually check my tyre's air pressure before every journey. Because you are based in New Zealand, you might have a bigger choice of allowable tyre and rim sizes. In some European countries, you have to stick to the Skoda approved list. You might also want to check what tyre sizes have good availability and affordability in New Zealand. The standard 215/60R16 and 225/50R17 sizes could be expensive. Also, if you want All-terrain tyres you may need to look at higher profile tyres such as 215/65R16 to get a good selection. Maybe start off by comparing the availability of 215/60R16 and 215/65R16 tyres. Here's a couple of Bridgestone all-terrain tyres with good Euro labels E C 72dB that also have the all-season 3PMSF symbol for good snow traction. Bridgestone A/T 001 205/70R15 96T https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=F7tY9N4yOMOolo4u.110.416335275&sowigan=GAN&Breite=205&Quer=70&Felge=15&Marke=Bridgestone&ranzahl=4&Herst=Bridgestone&m_s=3&Ang_pro_Seite=50&sort_by=brand&rsmFahrzeugart=ALL&Label=E-C-72-2&details=Ordern&typ=R-341387 Bridgestone A/T 001 215/65R16 98T https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=F7tY9N4yOMOolo4u.110.416335275&sowigan=GAN&Breite=215&Quer=65&Felge=16&kategorie=6&ranzahl=4&sort_by=brand&rsmFahrzeugart=ALL&Label=E-C-72-2&details=Ordern&typ=R-341391

Has anyone fitted wider tyres to their 5Jx14 rims? Vredestein Quatrac 5 all-season tyres are available in 195/60R14 86H. Same outside diameter as the 165/70R14 size. Hankook Energy Eco 2 K435 summer tyres, Kumho i*cept RS (W442) winter tyres, Kumho EcoWing ES01 KH27 summer tyres, Toyo Proxes CF2 summer tyres, are also listed on mytyres amongst many others. You may be wondering if 195/60 fits on a 5.0" wide rim? Well, 185/70 is a recommended size for a 4.5" wide rim and 205/50 is a recommended size for a 5.5" wide rim, so 195/60 should fit a 5.0" wide rim because 195/60 is in the middle of 185/70 and 205/50 and 5.0" is in the middle of 4.5" and 5.5". Here's a chart: 185/70 4.5" rim (Recommended size) 195/60 5.0" rim (Should fit) 205/50 5.5" rim (Recommended size) Another way of looking at it, is that both 185/50 and 205/70 is a recommended size for a 5.0" rim and 195/60 is in the middle of 185/50 and 205/70 so should also fit. Here's another chart: 185/50 5.0" wide rim (Recommended size) 195/60 5.0" wide rim (Should fit) 205/70 5.0" wide rim (Recommended size) The load index for a 165/70R14 tyre is 81 (462kg), whereas the load index for a 195/60R14 tyre is 86 (530kg), so you can lower your tyre pressures by about 5psi when replacing 165/70R14 tyres with 195/60R14 tyres... or more precisely multiply the fraction 462/530 by the tyre pressures that you use for your 165/70R14 tyres. This of course assumes that your tyre pressure for your 165/70R14 tyres are correct. Always seek expert help if in doubt.