Are tyres mechanical?!

[Arthurdaily]

Well perhaps not - but do have a question about tyres. The times has come to get valves and tyres fitted to at least two of my wheels now. But WHAT tyres - I don't mean brand, as I will be going for the cheapest,

But I mean what size is best for a Morris Minor 71 saloon?

[bmcecosse]

145 x 80 x14

[mike.perry]

155/80/14. If you want to find yourself in a ditch on a wet night then go ahead and buy the cheapest tyres

[Arthurdaily]

lol - it seems, however that everybody seems to recomend the cheaper Toyo tyres anyway!

[irmscher]

Toyo are not very good with your wife and child in the car you dont want cheap tyres better safe than sorry considering the wet weather Mike is right they dont do pockets in shrouds try the tyre place in Hazel grove i think its called A1 they are doing good deals

[Arthurdaily]

What would you recomend irmscher?

[irmscher]

Camac brilliant tyres and a good price have a look at Mrmorrisminor,s thread in general discussion regarding tyres

[liammonty]

I've used Toyos (as well as other tyres) on 5 Minors over the past 15 years, an they have been absolutely fine. Some say that the Bridgestone 145 tyres are less flexible in the sidewall, which helps, but I've had no trouble with Toyos at 30 psi all round. They are a decent quality tyre and if there's nothing else suitable that you prefer, then just use them. To say that they are unsafe is nonsense! Try comparing them to a crossply...

[irmscher]

Why would you compare a radial to a crossply

[Neil MG]

I'm very happy with my Dunlop crossplys!

[dukeminor1971]

Changed my crossply's to Toyo's... feels like a different car... stops quicker and doesn't wander all over the road anymore

[StaffsMoggie]

Still prefer Firestones, thats if they are still available.

[robedney]

Coker Tire (US) has the Firestone F560 - 145R14 available at $75 each. Being on this side of the pond (the colonies) this might be what I buy. Thoughts??? See http://store.cokertire.com/firestone-f560-145r14.html

[bmcecosse]

I'm surprised it doesn't give the section height - but if it's 80 section (and very likely is) then it will be fine !

[54woody]

>> Coker Tire (US) has the Firestone F560 - 145R14 available at $75 each.

Yes, they have the Firestone 145R14 listed on their website, but when I inquired last month they were out of stock and had no ETA on when these tires would be available.

[Arthurdaily]

Hi all - can't find anybody who stocks 145/80/14s or 155 locally unless I want ultra cheap chinese tyres... bum... looks like I'll have to order online and take tyres down somewhere to fit 'em. My question is thous what is the difference between 145 and 155? Is there any one which fits 'better' in some way?

[bmcecosse]

155 - 145 = 10! The 145 is the better option for standard rims.

[mrmorrisminor]

I've been deliberating the same problem. until recently I've been running firestone 145s (over 100k miles in 14 years on various minors) and they are by far the best, giving excellent handling, sadly no longer available....

The only 145's that seem readily available are bridgstones which, in my experience are great on the front, giving good grip but terrible on the rear, making it very sloppy due to the flexibility of the side walls...... both the traveller and my 4 door saloon gave the same poor handling..... When investigating, people advised that the toyos were even more flexible than the bridgstones...

Recently I purchased some 155 nangkangs and these are an improvement when used on the rear, but are a bit bouncy at times when running light.

My traveller now has 145 bridgestones on the front and 155 nangkangs on the back and it sticks like glue in the wet, even with disk brakes, but is rather sloppy when loaded (in comparison to firestones)

So.... we are at the mercy of the tyre manufacturers on this one

[bmcecosse]

I thought someone recently indicated the Firestones were available again?

[robedney]

A little confusion here. Coker Tire does seem to have the Firestone F560 - 155R14 in stock -- with the 145R14 back-ordered. Based on what folks on the forum have reported, this ought to be a good tire, and the 155 size ought to be OK (I have no personal experience with this tire, and I am not associated in any way with Coker). Coker is in the US, but lists a UK distributor. Theoretically, if there were enough interest, a UK distributor might be convinced to stock these tires -- thereby reducing the shipping costs. Coker's site: http://www.cokertire.com/