Morris Minor Owners Club

What is the advice on fitting 165 x 65r 14 tyres to a minor saloon - the part worn man near me (used him before for other tyres) has 5 - fitted,balanced with new valves all for just £60 cash. He has no 165 x 70s which I understand is the preferred spec. Any help most welcome

Are you fitting these to standard minor rims or wide van / banded wheels. If standard wheel rims then 165's are too wide! You need 155's or 145's. If you do indeed have the wider rims, then the only issue will be a slightly lower profile tyre, and i cant see why that would be any major issue, slightly lower gearing i suppose.

i have 165x65 r14 tyres on my morris minor on standard rims they do fit and have no problems apart from the tyre dosent fit under the boot floor

i also have 165s on my car, standard rims, did 7k last year like that no problem, id say go for it, the price doesnt seem bad.
they are also 65r on the front aswell, so the same as what you are looking to buy, they do look a little bulgy on the wheel tho as the lower aspect shows it up more

If you depart from standard sizes you need to notify your insurance company.
I wouldn't advise anything but standard, just cos they fit doesn't make them right.

165 x 65 are definitely far too wide for 3 1/2" wide rims! A 165 tyre is 6.5 " wide - on a 3.5" wide rim is just madness - the car must wobble about like a jelly...... 155s are bad enough on standard rims - spot-on with 4.5" rims though! Much steadier.

Back to the point about insurance.

If the tyres are not as recommended by the vehicle manufacturer - or, given that the original crossplies are virtually unobtainable now - the nearest acceptable radial alternative, in the event of an accident, the wrong size tyres can invalidate your policy.

I have been told that even the wrong speed rating on the right size tyre is enough to give the insurance company an excuse not to pay out. BE WARNED!

Note taken about the insurance, they were originally on the car when i brought it. they were all brand new, they still had the stickers on! so didnt really wanna shell out on a set of new tyres!

Ive just measured one of the rims and its 4" wide, from outer face to outer face, is that wider than normal?

No, the measurement is taken inside, where the tyre bead would sit, so 3 1/2" would be about right.

Ok, looks like im off too the tyre fitters tomorrow!

Just to be clear, either 145s or 155s, full profile tyres?
I cant believe i never noticed something was up! You live and learn everyday eh!

As bmc says, I just looked on our tyre bible for Fedral tyres and for 165/65/14 the approved rim width is Min: 4 Max:5

Ideal for going on van rims then.

I suggest that you should also read the very recent thread

http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=41446

about the decision between tubed and tubeless. Be warned that very few tyre suppliers know enough about old wheel profiles to advise you reliably.

Kevin

Don't really see what you mean re the other post. Thats mainly about tubless v tubed tyres
We operate a tyre bay and we advise customers correcty. Everything we do is to british standards and ETRTO guidlines!

Modern tyres by desgin are tubless anyway, tubing a modern tyre is not recomended mainly due to modern construction of tyres and wheels, which are designed to be tubeless, and repaired without tubes. The older riveted and split rims should be tubed as should cross plys, as the tube gives support for that type of tyre. My opion it's madness to use cross plys when modern radial tyres in sutable sizes are commonly available. Look out the purists are about to shoot me down, i've got a 54 Series II running on 1000 rims shod with 155x14s anything bigger and you start to get problems, i think. My son had a custom 68 pick up shod with MGB GT wheels 185 60 14s fitted fine on the back but caused no end of problems on the front until he found the correct width of spacers to use.

drivewasher wrote:Don't really see what you mean re the other post. Thats mainly about tubless v tubed tyres
We operate a tyre bay and we advise customers correcty. Everything we do is to british standards and ETRTO guidlines!

Indeed it is: but the OP, who was clearly not too familiar with some aspects of tyre choice, may not have thought about the advantages and disadvantages of tubed and tubeless tyres. While your tyre company may be able to explain them to customers, I am suggesting that many can't or won't do so.

If a customer comes to you with a Morris Minor saloon, on original wheels, and simply asks for a set of tyres, what size and construction would you recommend? Tubed or tubeless?

In reply to Alan: tubeless crossplies have been around for many years, and when radials became more common in the sixties, some regarded the associated return to tubes as a somewhat retrograde step.

Kevin

I think the point was that they were tube tyre rims not tubeless rims. That said I don't suppose a tubed tyre is any less likely to come unseated than a tubeless and hence the lack of concern regarding fitting tubeless tyres. I have crossplys (Dunlop D75 tubeless) on my series II that I use as my daily driver. I like the look and the feeling they give and I think it very much suits the car. With the 803cc engine there is not too much chance of getting into trouble! I'm not saying that I recommend this to others; I don't have seatbelts or flashers either. The car is pretty much as it left the factory and that to me is very much the appeal. Real nostalgia, but still a very use-able everyday car.

Were radial tyres ever offered as an option extra on Minors? If so, does anyone know what size was recommended by the factory? The Dunlop crossplies offerd by Minor spares places are 5.2 inches wide, which is only 132mm. In the light of this, 165s would definitely be too big at more than an inch wider than what the rim was designed for.

chrisd87 wrote:Were radial tyres ever offered as an option extra on Minors? If so, does anyone know what size was recommended by the factory?

Dunlop SP 145-14 radials became available late in production.

Read somewhere that Panda cars (or some of them) were specified with Michelin X tyres from new (one would assume in 145 size). Presumably the Police would have the latest in tyre safety as well as visual safety with reflective number plates.