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TR2/3/3A TR3 Tire Size on Minilites

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CCURTISS

CCURTISS

Jedi Hopeful
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I am in the process of purchasing the Minilite repro aluminum wheels from Moss and I am looking for some guidance on tire sizes. My stock wheels are 15x5 and the new wheels are 15x5.5. Stock modern tires would be 165R15.

Has anyone installed these wheels on their TR3 and if so what size tires did you end up going with?

Thanks,
 
This is a good question, as I will be confronted with the same situation in a couple of months when I get new wheels for my TR3.

As far as what you can fit, a 5.5" rim is capable of handling a 205 tire size as long as you keep the aspect ratio 50% or bigger. 5" rims will handle a 185. The real question is what size will fit in the fender wells. That answer may be variable also, depending on the offset of the wheels. So, who can shed more light on this issue? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif
 
Not sure if it's shining any light or not; but my wrecked TR3A was wearing 205/55-15 on 5.5" TR6 rims. They would rub lightly in hard turns, but not enough to harm anything.

OTOH, I had to move the body on the frame slightly, and do a little gentle reshaping of the rear fenders (with my fingers) to achieve that result. Also adjusted the steering stops to reduce rubbing on the front ADDCO sway bar. And of course 205/55 are considerably shorter than the stock tires, which affected my ride height and speedometer accuracy.

If you don't want to make such drastic changes, I'd suggest 195/65-15 as being about the maximum rubber that will fit under the fenders (assuming the Minilites have a similar offset to stock TR6 wheels, which I think is likely). They are also almost exactly the same height as the stock Michelin X radials for a TR3.

YMMV of course, since these cars weren't perfectly identical when new and may have become even further distorted over the years. I'm assuming the reason my TR3A body appeared to be off-center relative to the frame & rear suspension was a previous accident before I got the car; but I don't know that.
 
Aloha Curt,

205 65R15 will fit your wheel and the resulting diameter is 25.45". This is very close to the original 590-15 tire/wheel diameter of about 25.4".
 
My opinion, if you want to get a few tenths extra out of the autocross go with the wider tires, however, I think the car will feel more "alive" lighter steering and feel with 165s.

Also on the street funner to slip around a little at lower, safer speed if you like that kind of thing.

A modern 165 will still have much more grip than the cars did when new.
 
glemon said:
My opinion, if you want to get a few tenths extra out of the autocross go with the wider tires, however, I think the car will feel more "alive" lighter steering and feel with 165s.

Also on the street funner to slip around a little at lower, safer speed if you like that kind of thing.
Click to expand...

I agree- grip is one thing, steering feel is another. For a street car, you're so often limited by traffic and visibility anyway (depends where you live of course). It's also worth remembering that when you put more rubber on the car, you gain the ability to increase side loads on suspension parts, axles, bearings, etc. Ride is another question as well. Having tried 205's on my TR6, I went back to stock size (185's)- as glemon said, modern tires still have a lot more grip!
 
Randall and Curt,

Many, many TR's were assembled off centre by about 1-2" biased to the right. I have had a retired factory design engineer living near me for many years, and he has been a fountain of knowledge, but he couldn't answer that one.

His best guess was that the tooling may have moved around and they had to put the body on so that the steering column came through centred in the access hole in the firewall.

Anyhow, for anyone fitting wider wheels, test the left rear first, as that will always be the troublesome corner.

And (for sidescreen cars) a wider rim won't fit the spare wheel recess, so in the event of a puncture, it has to travel behind the seat, or on a luggage rack. The spare has to remain a 4.5J rim and max 165x15 tyre, or cut the boot (trunk) floor out so a wider spare wheel can drop in, as the racers did.

Regards,

Viv.
 
CCURTISS said:
I am in the process of purchasing the Minilite repro aluminum wheels from Moss and I am looking for some guidance on tire sizes. My stock wheels are 15x5 and the new wheels are 15x5.5. Stock modern tires would be 165R15.

Has anyone installed these wheels on their TR3 and if so what size tires did you end up going with?

Thanks,
Click to expand...
Have you already bought them?
If not check out Hap's price on Superlites.
Don't have his direct address as I am in DC. But here is who he sells them for
https://www.packracingproducts.com/
 
vivdownunder said:
Anyhow, for anyone fitting wider wheels, test the left rear first, as that will always be the troublesome corner.
Click to expand...
Might well be more common, but my previous TR3A was tighter on the right. And unlike TS39781LO, it did not show scars of a previous serious accident.<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]The spare has to remain a 4.5J rim and max 165x15 tyre,[/QUOTE]Good point. On the earlier bodies, even a 165 is a VERY snug fit in the well. When I got tired of having to keep a rope tied around it to get it out, I switched to a 125 "compact spare" from a junkyard.

While it's not a direct comparison (since I overhauled the steering at the same time), the steering was actually much better IMO with the 205/55 than it had been with any of the previous tires. Good feedback in corners, but light on the freeway and easy to park with one hand. I was really surprised, since I expected it to be heavier rather than lighter. The handling was also much improved, with crisper turn-in and incredible traction on dry pavement. In fact, to get the full benefit, I needed even stiffer sway bars (so body roll wouldn't take up all the rear suspension travel in hard corners). IMO the improvement was not so much the increased tread width itself; but mostly getting into a size available in what TireRack calls a "Ultra High Performance Summer" tire.
 
Hey Curt,

Just got the specs from my dad. I’m running 185/60R/15’s on the 3A. I’ve never had a problem with them rubbing.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Gavin
 
Thanks a bunch, my wheels should be in shortly now I have to go buy some new shoes :smile:
 
I ened up going with some 195/65-15's on the new moss Minilite wheels and they look great. I have not had it on the ground yet but it does not look like I will have any issues.

CIMG0718.sized.jpg
 
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