As our 4x4 vehicles get bigger and heavier, and more and more four-wheel drivers are having the GVM increased on their builds to accommodate heavier loads legally, something often forgotten about is wheels and tyres.
A key part of most GVM upgrades is uprated suspension components but between the suspension and the track are the wheels and tyres.
Wheels and tyres are rated and stamped with the loads they are made to carry and a lot of OE alloys that come standard on new 4x4s, as well as many aftermarket wheels, won’t meet the load rating of a vehicle with an increased GVM.

There are a few wheel companies promoting high-load rated wheels for such vehicles but one that caught our attention last year was Loaded Wheels. The reason? Loaded Wheels not only has some great looking wheel designs, but it’s a Queensland business staffed by blokes with a long history in the wheel and tyre business; blokes who know what 4x4 vehicles need in Australian conditions and who saw a gap in the market for quality high-load rated wheels.
Loaded Wheels launched with just two designs, each named after iconic Australia destinations – the Stockton and the Gunbarrel – but it was the company’s new-for-2025 Gibb 1675 wheel that won us over when researching rims for our LC79 build.
Named after the usually rough and rugged Gibb River Road in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, the 1675 part of the name refers to the load rating which is 1675kg per wheel. All three wheel designs in the Loaded range share this 1675kg rating for heavier vehicles.
Using flow from manufacturing, Loaded Wheels are able to manufacture stronger wheels without adding mass to them, so the wheels themselves aren’t excessively heavy. This process and design also leaves more space within the wheels to accommodate large brake rotors as found on many modern 4x4s.
Currently the Stockton, Gunbarrel and Gibb wheels are available to suit most popular 4x4s on the market in a range of 17-inch and 18-inch diameters, and with a variety of finishes including machined, matt black, bronze and grey.
We went with the machined finish for the centres of the Gibb wheels with black outer rings, and we reckon they suit our white LandCruiser beautifully.
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