This sentence comes from Aromorsite http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/main.html
…“In February 1944, steel road wheels with internal rubber cushioning, adopted from the Tiger II, were mounted in the Tiger I. These were chosen because of their ability to bear the weight of heavy armored vehicles…”
“Internal rubber cushioning” how does that work?
There is a cut-away view of a all-steel road wheel on page 143 of Spielberger’s Panther & It’s Variants. It’s a bit difficult to explain without a drawing, but basically the outer steel rim of the wheel is sandwiched between two rubber rings contained inside the body of the wheel.