I know I keep saying this, but you must not fit tubes on tubeless rims.

It is dangerous and your insurance will no longer be valid. Technically you will be breaking the law as you will be driving without a valid insurance policy.

The reason it is dangerous is because the tube cannot function properly because its cross section is not a sphere. In fact you must not fit tubes inside very low ratio tyres (ie below 70%) because the sphere is too “squashed”. The 7.50 R16 has an aspect ration of 100 in case anybody is wondering.

But with today’s tyre technology you don’t need tubes anyway.

Sam is making an excellent point. If you trash one or more of your tyres in North Africa, the only size you will find locally is the 7.50 R16. Believe me, I’ve looked!

I suggest you either stick with what you’ve got or use the similar sized 235/85. Getting through soft sand is all about rolling circumference (not static circumference which is a different thing altogether), or width. The Michelin 7.50 R16 tyres have a rolling circumference of 2,450mm, compared to 2,443mm for their 235/85 tyres, so virtually no difference once you take tyre wear into consideration.

If you decide to change, then if you want really tough tyres to deal with the rocky areas I suggest you go for the BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A LT235/85 R16. If you want a more flexible tyre to deal with soft sand go for the Michelin 4X4 - O/R 235/85 R16.

If you stick with your XZYs remember that they have a maximum speed rating of 75mph. This is the maximum speed that a perfect tyre with exactly the right pressure can sustain in a laboratory for 30 minutes. If you belt down the European motorways with an overweight 110 for hours at a stretch at 120kph you will almost certainly destroy one of your tyres before you even get to North Africa.