Morris Minor Owners Club

I was ordering some motorcycle tyres from this website, and decided to search for Minor tyres. Came across these. Certainly seem much cheaper than the Bridgestone Ecopia, which now retail at about £60. I wonder if anyone has tried them on a Minor? My only concern is that the profile is a bit low at 70%, so roughly 10mm lower than the Bridgestones.

It's a very strange size 150/70 .....and a 3D tread indeed! I have a suspicion that ALL treads are 3D - it's when they become 2D that they become illegal!! The 70 profile will look a bit odd on a Minor - big gap round the wheelarch.

I've never seen another 150 width tyre either. I did think the 70% profile was a bit on the low side for a Minor, but then again they are cheap!

Interestingly the same site that I linked to list a 135R14/80 tyre, which might also be a good fit on the Minor wheel rim. I seem to recall somebody saying that they had 135 tyres many moons ago, and that they were impressed with them.

chrisd87 wrote:I've never seen another 150 width tyre either. I did think the 70% profile was a bit on the low side for a Minor, but then again they are cheap!

Interestingly the same site that I linked to list a 135R14/80 tyre, which might also be a good fit on the Minor wheel rim. I seem to recall somebody saying that they had 135 tyres many moons ago, and that they were impressed with them.

Yes! Your Minor will steer and drive very well on 135 tyres. I did have those on my Traveller for many years till they wore out....

135 is the direct equivalent of the old 5.20 X 14 crossply tyres -so they should be ideal!!

These guys sell 135 80 14's, but i suppose there for Space saver wheels.

http://www.tyretraders.com/tyresearchre ... reType=All

regards

Jordan

Well - it does say 'temporary use' - so may be a problem if there was an accident and it could be traced back to the tyres......

I would not use space saver tyres as main tyres. It is a great shame that 135/ 14 tyres are no longer available as this is the ideal size for the Minor.

The 135s I mentioned are to be found here. A bit on the expensive side sadly.

I bet the space saver 135 tyres are perfectly good - but it would be risky using them when they do state for 'temporary use'.

It's an interesting thought. The speed rating of the ones Jordan linked to is 'M' - 80mph, so just enough for a standard Minor. The load index is also perfectly acceptable (in fact higher than the Bridgestone Ecopia). Only problem is, if you search for images of 'Pirelli 135/80R14', it seems that they have "SPARE TYRE - TEMPORARY USE ONLY" in huge letters on the sidewall, which might cause a few issues come MOT time. The tread pattern also looks rather odd, and not very deep. You can also be fairly sure that in the event of an accident, the insurance company will try to use them as an excuse to wriggle out of paying for any non- 3rd party damage.

I did wonder if the 'only for temporary use' was only relevant when fitted as a spare on a modern car, as the other 3 tyres are a different size.

Hello Daveyl,

it is the large difference in size that is the limiting factor, requiring a speed limit of 50mph for their use. Steering and braking will be seriously compromised in the case of evasive action being required with a space saver fitted. I am very surprised that they were certified for use on the road, but I guess that the motor manufacturing lobby was too powerful for the authorities?

Incidentally, many years ago I saw a Chevrolet Caprice saloon in Saudi Arabia with a space saver on one front wheel. The shoulder of which was excessively worn, 'temporary use' didn't seem to have translated into Arabic? The understeer on that side must have been horrific, as the standard car understeers a lot anyway.

Alec

I agree Alec - how the use of these silly tyres was ever approved is beyond me. And how much 'space' do they save anyway??

These days you are lucky to get even a spacesaver, you get an aerosol of some sort of glue, a fat lot of good that is when you have a 2 inch slash in the sidewall.

If 135/80R14 is the perfect match for the original 5.20X14 then the 150/70R14 is only 3% smaller in diameter. Don't forget that the aspect ratio is a percentage of the tire width. Beginning with a wider tire means the height is pretty close. The width is also a bit less than the currently popular 155/80R14 so they might look better in that respect too. I'm sorry I hadn't seen those before I bought my Toyo tires, Continentals are considered very good.

That 150 is such a strange size -I'm amazed an tyre manufacturer would set up everything to make a non-standard size. Why would they do that??

A 135 80 R14 might be a perfect match width-wise, but the aspect ratio is miles out. The 80 indicates an aspect ratio of 80% of the width of the tyre, whereas crossplies have an aspect ratio of 100%. You're already low gearing will be reduced far further with 135s, and I would imagine the wheel arches would look very 'empty'.

What about these tyres instead? Would these be OK on the 4.5J van wheel?

http://www.allnewtyres.co.uk/tyre-detai ... ontinental CPC2E 155 70 14 / 1557014 77T New Car Tyres

I'm just looking for a set of 155's and woud prefer to use a recognised brand rather than the cheaper nankang/Kuhmo/Toyo etc.

Any thoughts? Aside from perhaps looking a wee bit small in the wheel arch, are there any other pitfalls to watch out for??

Less miles per 1000 revs - and looking too thin on the wheels. 155 X 80 X 14 is the correct size.