Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Tyre sizes and rim size confusion !!

I've got continental 165/80 R15 tyres on my steel-wheeled 4/4. I think these are 5 or 5.5 inch wheels ? But 165mm tyres equate to 6 inches I think ?

Now, I want some wire wheels, and want to be able to re-use the tyres that I currently have. I'm looking at a set of 6 inch wheels, so need to know if a 165 section tyre can fit safely on a 6 inch wheel ?

I've looked at Gomog and some tyre sites, but can't seem to find the answer.

Any ideas ?

matthew

Here's a couple of tyre sites I have saved as favourites which may provide the answer:

http://www.pneus-online.co.uk/equivalency-tables-advice.html

or

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

Here is an automated tyre comparison tool which compares sizes.

www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

You will need to look up on the Continental web site to look up the rim size tollorances for your specific tyre.

Just what I need, thanks uvk44n.

So, my current tyres will NOT fit a six inch rim - boo !

Matthew

The 165/80x15 tyres fit the 5" rim which is standard. I have just bought new wires for my 4/4 and bought the 5x15 stainless from MWS. In fact I also opted for new tyres, as I had a buyer for my chrome wires and it suited us both to leave the tyres on.

You can, I am told, fit those tyres to 5.5" rims, for example minilite alloys.

I would ask two questions:

1. Why buy wider wheels anyway? The 5x15 wires are considerably less expensive than the 6" ones, and I can't see any advantage if you intend to reuse your tyres. 5" wheels and suitable tyres are lighter tahn 6", and the car really doesn't need wider rubber for traction as it is only 800kg.

2. How old are your existing tyres? Even if only part worn, if they are over 5 years old you should probably replace them as they harden and can fail. New Firestone F560s only cost me £50 each fitted.

Finally, the MWS wheels are great quality and are now tubeless (if you didn't know that already). If you ask Charles Americanos (at MWS) nicely and mention the MSCC you should get a discount on a set of 5 - I got 10%.

Have fun

Nigel

Are you interested in selling your old bolt on hubs?.... assuming you have bolt-on's right now.

130 pcd x 4 stud.

Nigel - The car I bought, albeit a 4/4, has the wider +4 wings as the previous owner was going to put 6" chrome wires on it (which I have but I don't like chrome ones, so I'll be selling them).

It needed new tyres as the previous ones were very old, so I got a set of Continental contacts for the 5" steel rims (only last October). I've been really impressed by how much grip they have and I certainly don't need 6" to give more grip - I've not got an overabundance of power ! But they do look a bit odd in the wider wings, so mainly I want to change for aesthetic reasons.

I've checked out the MWS site, and would be interested in the painted ones. But I've found a set of secondhand ones that look OK, so I'll take a punt on those.

Matthew
Matthew

Cerealsurfer

I was thinking of keeping the bolt on steel wheels for 'winter use' fearing that salt and mud would wreck wire wheels in a matter of days. Especially as I'm not that religious on cleaning the car and live up farm lanes !

But then I would have to change hubs twice a year - and I probably can't be bothered to do that.

So I would be interested in selling them - would you want the tyres too ? As per my previous post, they are Continental Contact 165/80. Bought from the factory last October, they have done about 2000 miles and are really impressive, wet and dry. I think the tyres cost me about £65 each (I bought 4). The wheels themselves are in OK condition - a bit of surface rust is starting to come through - needs some elbow grease and a coat of silver hammerite ! I can take photos if you like.

Let me know if you are still interested and we can agree a price.

thanks

Matthew

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