Morris Minor Owners Club

Is it ok to put modern radial tyres on the old rims. I have a 1962 minor car and have purchased two new tyres for it-155/14's. I have had two of the old cross ply tyres removed and am taking them in to get sand blasted and painted cream before taking them back into tyre place to get tyres put on.
Also should I put tubes in the new tyres. He seemed to think the rims looked ok and with the amount of flexing that goes on it would be better to try and do without tubes if possible.<br><br>

Yes - 155 tyres will be fine on the rims without tubes provided the rims are not so rusted that the beads can't seal! 155 tyres are slightly wide - but many (including myself) use them on standard rims. You will want 28/30 psi in them. You do know you should NOT mix radial and Xply tyres ?

It is legal but extremely un advisable to fit cross plys on the front and radials on the rear

The only thing I had difficulty with and that is my minor wheels needed a larger diameter tubless valve. No-one had any or were willing to order any in. I got quite annoyed as the tubes also needed a collar, which broke on removal of the old tyres. So I went to an alloy wheel specialist and got them to fit a re-usable chrome valve that will never need replacing for £4.50 per wheel. It looks quite cool too!

Not legal in New Zealand to have a mix of crossplys and radials. Should not pass 6 monthly vehicle warrant of fitness inspection if vehicle has a mix.
I have got 165/80R14 on mine all round.Overall tyre heigh very much same as the original 520*14 crossplys

tom roys stock the larger valves,just got four.

155's are a bit too wide for the rim but are very common and generally people don't have a problem with them.
The worst I've ever seen is a 185 on a standard rim.
The rim width (3.5") would normally take 135 and 145 radial tyres


The wide van rim is 4.5" and suits 155's and 165's very well.
175's are ok on the van rims but unlikely to clear the top trunnion properly.

rayofleamington wrote:The worst I've ever seen is a 185 on a standard rim.

I always remove my chrome dust caps before they are thrown across the workshop floor and check that they have the large diameter valve stems before they rip the old ones out.

I've tried a few combo's of tyres and the pic of my car on its side for welding shows it wearing 185's on the standard rims and it looked a bit like noddys wheels aand the only issue I had with them was multi storey car parks where it would scrape the wing on lock as it went up or down the ramps when you turn in. Now I've got 185's on the minilite alloys you can get from minor parts suppliers and theres no probs looks good too.

Phil<br><br>