Wheel and Tyre Widths

[Donald Ross]

Hi

I currently have fitted to my 1970 Morris minor 2 door saloon the original 3J wheels with 155 radials fitted and i have decided that when the time comes to replace the tyres it may be a good idea to replace the wheels with new 4.5" ESM wheels with the added safety bead.

Is it advised as a good idea to fit 4.5" wheels to a minor saloon ( as the 4.5s are mainly advertised as for van or pickup) I have grumpy/marina disks fitted i assume this would not cause any interference.

Is it a straight swap with the 3J wheels ( no need for spacers as per even wider wheels?)

I know this seems to be a topic of opinion with regards to the fitting of tubeless tyres in the original 3j wheels and as most radial tyres if not all are tubeless it seems like the natural upgrade to me but i would be interested to hear your opinions on this.

All advice and discussions appreciated

Donald

[TobyAdam]

Hi Donald,

Upgrading to 4.5" ESM wheels with the safety bead is generally a good idea for added safety and compatibility with modern tubeless tires. They should fit your Morris Minor without the need for spacers, given that you have Marina disks installed. This setup is often recommended for better handling and safety, even though the 4.5" wheels are typically advertised for vans or pickups. It’s always a good idea to double-check clearance, but many have found this upgrade beneficial. Looking forward to hearing others' experiences and thoughts on this!

[les]

I run 4.5 rims without this ‘safety bead’ and use 155 tyres, have found the ride ok.

[svenedin]

I run original wheels and tyres with inner tubes. Never had any issues with that.

Stephen

[stuffedpike20]

I have run both, and the wider tyres make the steering quite a bit heavier.

The pickups and vans have thicker steering arms than other minor models. I don't know if there is a risk of snapping a steering arm by fitting wider wheels to a non commercial minor though.

Phil will be along soon to say 'yes' or 'no'.

[philthehill]

My Minor is fitted with 8 cwt steering swivels and the thicker steering arms mainly because I have 7J alloy wheels fitted with sticky slicks. I did originally run the slicks with standard swivels and standard steering arms and never had any problems but to reduce any risk of steering arm failure or distortion I replaced the swivels with the 8 cwt items.
Regarding the swivels I also fitted the larger diameter Marina stub axles to the 8 cwt swivels to reduce the risk of stub axle failure. The use of the Marina stub axle allows for the use of standard Marina front wheel bearings.
Interestingly there is no increase in metal around the steering arm when the 8 cwt steering arms are used and the amount of metal around the Marina stub axle is the same as that of the Minor.
As regards heavier steering I have never felt/noticed that the steering is heavier when wider tyres are used and that is with a 13" dia steering wheel fitted.

[stuffedpike20]

I find the steering a lot heavier with LP917s compared with standard narrow minor wheels.

My narrow wheels have got 145s on them. When I had 155s fitted, they cracked between the treads.

Just my observations.

[geoberni]

Hi Donald,

Upgrading to 4.5" ESM wheels with the safety bead is generally a good idea for added safety and compatibility with modern tubeless tires. They should fit your Morris Minor without the need for spacers, given that you have Marina disks installed. This setup is often recommended for better handling and safety, even though the 4.5" wheels are typically advertised for vans or pickups. It’s always a good idea to double-check clearance, but many have found this upgrade beneficial. Looking forward to hearing others' experiences and thoughts on this!

Welcome Tony

Don't put your faith in the Safety Bead without knowing the back story.
See this past discussion viewtopic.php?t=72647 from 4 years ago.

[ManyMinors]

It is a question of horses for courses isn't it? The single most important thing is to have a good quality set of tyres. If your car is a relatively standard Minor 1000 you'll gain nothing by fitting wider wheels and tyres and will probably spoil the light and responsive steering which is one of the best features of these cars. It seems fashionable for every car to have wide wheels and tyres now but it is quite unnecessary. My Traveller came to me (in the 1970s) fitted with 4.5" wheels as fitted to the later 8cwt vans. The tyres were also wider and the steering was moderately heavy. When I removed them and fitted standard 3" wheels and new 145 section tyres, the car was transformed and I have stuck with them on our Minors ever since. I know that many cars are fitted with 155 section tyres often in the mistaken belief that more rubber on the road is a good thing. They are sometimes more readily available too but these tyres are a little too wide on a 3" wheel. As we become more and more used to wider wheels and tyres, a Minor 1000 can look a little feeble on skinny ones and if you want to update the appearance and fill the wheelarches a bit more then carry on but if you simply wish to have a car which drives and performs well, then standard wheels and good quality 145/80/14 tyres will be very satisfactory.
Over the years I have used Goodyear GPS tyres which were very good (sadly unobtainable now I think). I then went on to Bridgestone tyres which have also proved very satisfactory but are starting to crack now. Having experienced them with good results on another car, I will purchase Blockley tyres next. Personally I have never worried about the lack of a safety bead and have never experienced any problem. It is important to maintain your tyre pressures correctly. I have generally not had inner tubes fitted to tubeless tyres and, again have never had a problem with this.