Wheely confused....

[Andy W]

Unless I am mistaken (wouldn't be the first time ) the normal wheel widths are 3" at the bead (4" outside edges) for the regular wheel & 3.5" at the bead (4.5" outside edges) for the LP917 wheel.

I have one wheel which appears to have been from an LCV (it looks to have been green originally & I have been told that LCV rims were painted as per the vehicle's body colour).

However, it is 4.5" at the bead & 5.5" at the outside edges.
It is not banded, has no LP number on the hubcap fitting flats & unfortunately is pitted where the stamps inside are.
You can still see the Dunlop logo & what may be "LP..7" inside though.

Any ideas?

[RobThomas]

Have you checked the PCD of the wheel nuts isn't 4.5 inch?

I have some 4 (5) and 4.5 (5.5) inch wide rims for our Lowlight which have a 4.5 inch PCD. Morris J4 Van.
Top photo is me comparing a J4 wheel to the Ford transit rimmed Minor 1000 wheel which also uses a smaller centre to locate the wheel to the hub. The second shot is a bog-standard 3-inch (4 at the outer edge) Minor 1000 wheel.

phil2a.jpg (238.7 KiB) Viewed 3062 times

bob4.jpg (1.19 MiB) Viewed 2948 times

[ManyMinors]

I think what you have there is a rather rusty LP917 4.1/2" wheel isn't it? They measure about 5.5inches across.
For the record, I don't think any LCVs had body-coloured wheels as standard. I think they were generally silver although those supplied to the GPO were black I recall?

[RobThomas]

I've got some identical looking ones in 15-inch dia, too.

[Andy W]

Ok, I see my error I think!
Thanks both of you.

The PCD is def. as my "68 Traveller...the LP917s were obviously wider than I thought then!

I had also been under the impression that LP917s were always stamped on the hubcap flats but it obviously varied.

[RobThomas]

The centre hole on the Minor wheel is about 66mm and the early MM 4.5 PCD wheels is about 69.5mm.

Cambridge wheel is 4 inch (5 at rim) and the J4 is 4.5 (5.5 at rim). My previous post was not entirely clear on that.

[welltravellered]

Has anyone ever tried these? They appear to be the closest match to the original 5.20 tyre size. Are they suitable for a Morris Minor?

https://www.camskill.co.uk/m4b0s4741p11 ... oise%3A_XC

[liammonty]

They’re similar in width, but at 70 profile are massively smaller in diameter than the 5.20 crossplies. For what it’s worth, BMC offered 145 80 R14 radials as an option on later Minors....

[welltravellered]

I think 70 is the load rating on those tyres. They are 135 R14 size and if the profile isn't quoted then you assume the profile is 80 or 82 depending on who you speak to.

[liammonty]

‘My bad’ - I misread it. Even at 80 profile, I think they’d look tiny and they will affect the gearing on an already low-geared car, though I suspect the car would handle fine on them. Personally, though, I’d be inclined to stick with 145 80s.

[ManyMinors]

Frankly, I can't imagine why anyone would even consider a narrower tyre than standard when they cost over £100 each
There might not be a huge choice of tyres for the Minor but the Bridgestones suit very well and the newly re-introduced Pirelli is an interesting although more costly alternative.
For those on a budget, the Nankang 155 section tyres are good value and very effective.

[welltravellered]

Thanks for that info. There's more to it than I thought.