Morris Minor Owners Club

What are the widest wheels that a Morris can take.....what is it that limits the width?

Pete

Well......

What limits the width is the distance from the outside of the wheel arch to the inner wing (on the rear), and on the front, the same as well as the distance from the tyre edge to the inner wing (on full lock).

This tends to limit the size you can get away with on the front.

I have 185/60 14" on the rear of mine, and I guess that you may be able to get away with a 195 (just!).

It also depends on what is available, I have a Ford escort MK2 rear axle, so I can put Ford/Peugeot wheels on mine of which there is a wide selection of sizes in both steel and alloy.

If you have the original minor axle then finding wide wheels to match that stud pattern may be a headache, 165s are quite common, and I have seen a few minors with minilite alloys on sporting 165 tyres.

There is also the aspect of safety, if you are going for wider wheels then there will be less cornering force absorbed by the tyre flexing (as they are probably going to be lower profile as well). Wheels not made for the minor probably have a different sized centre and so will be centred (and held on) by the wheel studs only. This is NOT a good idea as the minor's studs are a bit thin and weak and if they have to take all the weight of the car and the increased cornering forces then there is a danger of breakage!! .

If you are happy with 165s then finding some suitable wheels should not be too problematic although finding cheap ones may be.

If you want to go wider (and who doesn't :D) then you may have to consider a rear axle and front hub change!! (although that is a bit drastic).

Cam.

Thanks for that.........I think I like the idea of using an Escort back axle...any idea how it compares with the minor in terms of length....and are there any problems with using the Escort diff?

Pete

Hi Pete,

It is about the same length (width?!?) as a moggy axle (a couple of mm in it).

The leaf spring mountings are in a different place to the moggy ones, so they have to be ground off and new ones welded into place, also the braking system is different (metric) so you need a new master cylinder to flexi pipe (minor one end ford the other), a new longer flexi pipe and new handbrake cables as the ford end mounts are in a different place to the moggy ones, also new u-bolts, axle locating plates, etc.

You will also need to get your propshaft shortened and the flange changed from minor to ford.

The escort diffs available (I think) are 3.9, 4.2, 4.4.
The 3.9s are widely available, the 4.2s a bit rarer and the 4.4s very rare (I just paid £250 for a 4.4 crownwheel & pinion ).

Another point is the shockers, the bottom mounting would need to be modified to take the lever-arm shocker bracket, but I would recommend that you change over to telescopics, either mounted to the original top shocker mounting point on the body or weld turrets through your boot floor.


If you are doing this change just for bigger wheels then it is a lot of effort, but if you are putting a bigger engine in and the standard axle/rear wheels will not take the power then the escort one is ideal.

If you are suffering from axle tramp then while you are at it you may as well fit radius arms from the axle to the body to eliminate tramp.


Cam.

Thanks for the info'...very useful. I want it for two reasons...first I am thinking of upgrading my Minor, and second I am also looking at the possibility of using the minor drive train in a locost kit car.......mainly because I am familiar with Minors (more so than Fords) but also because I suspect that spares may be more readily available for Minors than for older Ford Escorts (though I am only guessing about this!).

Thanks

If you want an escort axle with all the bits supplied / welded on then I suggest you have a look at:

http://www.jlhmorrisminors.co.uk/index.html

He is a very nice bloke and very helpful, but he is a bit expensive! This is due to him using the best quality stuff and over engineering everything.

Hope this helps.

Cam.

Thanks Cam. I checked out the web site suggested......very interesting but very expensive......£500 for an Escort axle !

Thanks anyway

Pete