Morris Minor Owners Club

I'm going to be getting rid of the Minilites on my Minor and hopefully replacing them with some van wheels but I dont know how wide a tyre I can seat on van rims? My Minilites accept 185/55's fine and I would like something close to that if I can?

The standard tyre is 165/80x14. You need to know the width of the wheel rim and fit tyres that are compatable

I havent got any van wheels yet just hoping to get some. How much wider than saloon wheels are they?

Minor rims are 3" wide and van rims are 4".
Van rims are fine with 155 and 165 tyres.

The 'normal' 8CWT van wheel part number is 'LP917'. The extra 1" width is shared 2/3 to the outer edge and 1/3 to the inner edge.
On the rear any tire up to 185 is possible, but on the front, 165 leaves only a very small clearance to the top trunnion (if any). 175s will foul the top trunnion unless spacers are used.

The 'rare' wide van wheels are LP936 (If I remember the number correctly).
These have the same centre and rim as the LP917 but the rim is put on with the offset side to the outer edge (they stick out much further) and with these there will be much increased tyre clearance on the front trunnion.

Aftermarket wide van rims:
There have ben more than one version, but I think most were nearly identical. These comprised of a Minor wheel centre and a modern rim (Ford / Nissan etc..) welded on. These rims were/are 4.5" wide but the rim offset is slightly different so that a 165 tyre has an increased clearance to the front suspension compared to an LP917.

Hope that helps!

Yes thanks that does help. So basically either van rim will actually accept 185 widths, but the more common ones will need a spacer to stop any fouling at the front (with the rarer type maybe not needing spacing). Is that right?
The next question then is what's the middle measurement - 185/??/14. I currently have 185/55/15 on my Minilites but much as I love them I've got to change back to steels of one sort or another and this looks like the least bad way to do that.

profile:
this affects the gearing ratio and the 'look'.
To get the same rolling radius, a little bit of maths is required.
The 165/80/14 and 155/80/14 has nearly the right rolling radius compared to the original crossply.

the 80 part means 80% ratio from width to profile.
on a 165 width, 80 profile tyre this gives 132mm (165x0.8 )

To get the same overall radius on different sizes, you need to try and match the profile depth.
175/70 = 122
175/75 = 131*
175/80 = 142

185/65 = 120
185/70 = 129*
185/75 = 138


This works fine in theory, but not all tyre combinations are available - if they've never been used on a modern car, you'll probably not be able to get them.
1

185 width is very much 'pushing it' on the van rims. 165 would be ideal - profile to suit your whim - but I suggest 70 would be about right. so 165 x 70 x 14 tyres!

romfordian wrote:I havent got any van wheels yet just hoping to get some.

Good luck and if you find 2 sets at anything like sensible money please let me know

I suggest 70 would be about right.

why??

185 width is very much 'pushing it' on the van rims.

completely agree - personally I'd recommend 155 or 165, as per previous post.
Fitting 185 on a 4" rim is nearly as bad as fitting a 155 on a 3" rim!
(although for some reason, this is popular on 3" rims!)

They are really 3.5" and 4.5" rims! And - I suggest 70 section - because anything less would look silly, and 70 should give the right balance of handling, without increasing the rolling radius.

I didn't buy it but I am sure in Classic Car Weekly there was a set 4.5in minor wheels for sale. They wanted £55 per wheel I think, sorry but for more info you will have to go and read/buy CCW.

I bought one before Christmas - and STILL haven't had a chance to read it! I seem to spend my days shovelling snow........

The ad was in this weeks but l only read it when SWMBO is going round tesco's. When you have finished shovelling come and do some up here.

You're lucky - you get to read mags ? I get chained to the trolley!

"I get chained to the trolley!" I used to but it's quicker without me picking up things that we don't need and generally making a nuisance of myself. I still haven't worked out how to get out of the paying and packing/unpacking.

Ahh - but I have to make sure we get all the things we (I) DO need! I pack systematically - make it so much easier to unpack/put away when home!

BMC you are just too good to be true, I hope your better half appreciates it

I'm only allowed to push it. I'm not allowed to put anything in it. Unless my vertically challanged wife cant reach the top shelf and then only under strict instruction. Apparently I'd buy all the wrong things - like beer.

I used to but it's quicker without me picking up things that we don't need

I had the opposite approach (whinging about the cost, everytime anything was put in the trolley) but similar effect - now I just get a phone call when she's ready to be picked up!