15" Minilites
- Thread starter moonsta
- Start date
JohnGlinn(Cardiff)
New Member
Joe,
I think that the most important thing to consider here is insurance. Your car was built with 14" wheels not 15". I have heard a tale of a P6 being written off in an accident and the insurance company declined to pay out because 15" Rostyle wheels were fitted. This may be an allagorical tale but there is no smoke without fire! Someone else will advise on tyre sizes, I am sure. But don't forget - Tell your insurance company.
Regards, John.
I think that the most important thing to consider here is insurance. Your car was built with 14" wheels not 15". I have heard a tale of a P6 being written off in an accident and the insurance company declined to pay out because 15" Rostyle wheels were fitted. This may be an allagorical tale but there is no smoke without fire! Someone else will advise on tyre sizes, I am sure. But don't forget - Tell your insurance company.
Regards, John.
Hi !!
I fitted 6X14 Minilites with Conti 195/70-14 tyres. Had to slightly modify rear wheel arches. No PAS, so quite heavy on the steering. You will definately experience the same problems with 15" wheels. Assuming you are fitting 6" wide wheels, you will need to fit 205/60-15 tyres to obtain the same rolling diameter as the original wheel/tyres set up (185-14)
I fitted 6X14 Minilites with Conti 195/70-14 tyres. Had to slightly modify rear wheel arches. No PAS, so quite heavy on the steering. You will definately experience the same problems with 15" wheels. Assuming you are fitting 6" wide wheels, you will need to fit 205/60-15 tyres to obtain the same rolling diameter as the original wheel/tyres set up (185-14)
Hi Moonsta
For all those thinking of changing away from standard wheel tyre combination or changing final drive ratio, this is the essential tool. Go to: http://www.roversd1.nl/sd1web/ then bodyshell, then driveline calc.
Personally I wouldn't go above 1 size wider on the wheels.
I believe the insurance angle could be readily dealt with by informing the Insurance Co that quality 185/80 X 14 tyres are no longer available and that therefore you have fitted the closest modern equivalent. (all true - when did you last see a 185 14 that didn't come from somewhere dodgy in eastern Europe - *challenge for John et al*) Key issue for the insurance co ought to be the speed rating!
Folk Lore suggests that providing the wheel offset and overall diameter are the same, then 205 width is fine. Some people say 225 is OK.
I suggest you use the calculator to give yourself a list of possible tyre sizes and see which are most easily available / cheapest. 195 probably won't be a problem unless you spend all your time trying to park the thing, 225 definitely will be.
But then, why not put a power steering conversion on it? Then you have completely free choice. Ian Wilson can do conversions for both 8 cyl and 4 cyl cars. If your quick, one or two people still have brand new power steering boxes available!
For all those thinking of changing away from standard wheel tyre combination or changing final drive ratio, this is the essential tool. Go to: http://www.roversd1.nl/sd1web/ then bodyshell, then driveline calc.
Personally I wouldn't go above 1 size wider on the wheels.
I believe the insurance angle could be readily dealt with by informing the Insurance Co that quality 185/80 X 14 tyres are no longer available and that therefore you have fitted the closest modern equivalent. (all true - when did you last see a 185 14 that didn't come from somewhere dodgy in eastern Europe - *challenge for John et al*) Key issue for the insurance co ought to be the speed rating!
Folk Lore suggests that providing the wheel offset and overall diameter are the same, then 205 width is fine. Some people say 225 is OK.
I suggest you use the calculator to give yourself a list of possible tyre sizes and see which are most easily available / cheapest. 195 probably won't be a problem unless you spend all your time trying to park the thing, 225 definitely will be.
But then, why not put a power steering conversion on it? Then you have completely free choice. Ian Wilson can do conversions for both 8 cyl and 4 cyl cars. If your quick, one or two people still have brand new power steering boxes available!
I have fitted alloys to past classics and told the insurance and it didn't make any difference to my premium,they just like you to tell them in the first place.
By the time i have revamped her she won't be out of site much anyway.........
If anyone wants a tyre size calculator then go to www.polo-gt.co.uk and they have an excellent one on there,even gives you the rolling radius in comaprisons etc.
I was watching a set of 16" cherokee steel rims on ebay earlier after readfing a previous thread on here and was very temted,but will stick with optional extars of the day.joe
By the time i have revamped her she won't be out of site much anyway.........
If anyone wants a tyre size calculator then go to www.polo-gt.co.uk and they have an excellent one on there,even gives you the rolling radius in comaprisons etc.
I was watching a set of 16" cherokee steel rims on ebay earlier after readfing a previous thread on here and was very temted,but will stick with optional extars of the day.joe
Hi All,
If you really must have 185 R14s they are still available check this out:
Longstone Tyres
But if you went for Michelin that would be £552 (£662 including VAT and postage!) and to be quite honest you could probably get a nice set of Jeep alloys (off ebay max £150) and a complete set of 205/50R16 (£323.60 - Firestone TZ200s - inclusive of everything, fitting, balancing, vat, delivery) from etyres.co.uk.
Sticking to the original tyre sizes for normal road driving in my opinion makes no sense at all both financially and for safety reasons. If you have a show car or a car that does verry little mileage then the original wheels and tyre sizes are fine, BUT -
If you buy a set of £25.00 ChenShing China Special 185s for your car, you could have the most fantastic brake setup in the world but if your tyres are made of harder than the road rubber you are not going to stop as quickly (especially in the wet) as someone who has an average brake setup and proper tyres putting that stopping power on to the road.
So my advice is get those alloy wheels fitted, get some modern rubber, drive to the show in control then fit the old stuff so that people can be amazed that you actually got to the show safely on those tyres! or buy the Michelins listed above, which probably cost more than your car!
Cheers
Al
OH yes sorry, tyres for 15" minilites, umm try a 205/65 R15, probably the closest according to Chris Longhursts EXCELLENT PAGES
If you really must have 185 R14s they are still available check this out:
Longstone Tyres
But if you went for Michelin that would be £552 (£662 including VAT and postage!) and to be quite honest you could probably get a nice set of Jeep alloys (off ebay max £150) and a complete set of 205/50R16 (£323.60 - Firestone TZ200s - inclusive of everything, fitting, balancing, vat, delivery) from etyres.co.uk.
Sticking to the original tyre sizes for normal road driving in my opinion makes no sense at all both financially and for safety reasons. If you have a show car or a car that does verry little mileage then the original wheels and tyre sizes are fine, BUT -
If you buy a set of £25.00 ChenShing China Special 185s for your car, you could have the most fantastic brake setup in the world but if your tyres are made of harder than the road rubber you are not going to stop as quickly (especially in the wet) as someone who has an average brake setup and proper tyres putting that stopping power on to the road.
So my advice is get those alloy wheels fitted, get some modern rubber, drive to the show in control then fit the old stuff so that people can be amazed that you actually got to the show safely on those tyres! or buy the Michelins listed above, which probably cost more than your car!
Cheers
Al
OH yes sorry, tyres for 15" minilites, umm try a 205/65 R15, probably the closest according to Chris Longhursts EXCELLENT PAGES
yes i agree after checking my tyre size calculator i came up with 205/65X15" to. about to phone minilite for a quote!!! will prob have to wait till after xmas though otherwise 'er in doors will be moaning..........just dropped off my replacement rear wings off at the painters........i bought the set from the advert on this site and ended up with 5 + front valence for £160,didn't think that too bad.
Hi, just put some jensen interceptor alloys on my p6 [3500s pas etc] wheels are 6.5x15 and used a 205-60-15, they fit just! but the right rear [drivers side] tire rubs on the inner wheel arch which led to knocking lip back with a hammer this is actually quite common as loads of factory vehicles have the axle slightly misaligned to the left or right, i think the most important thing with wheels is the inset / offset as i found there is plenty of room behind the wheel [at least 2inches] [so could be machined i guess]. The stock inset / offset measurments need to be considerd when wheel purchasing to keep to a safe margin.
rovermat
rovermat
Tor
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
I'm a bit confused. This bloke has 15x7 Minilites, 205/55s and no modifications (and no PAS, smaller steering wheel, no complaints). He gets slight fouling at the rear over larger bumps and is working out where. Petter667 says even with the smallest 14x6 Minilites and 195/70s he needs to work his arches. So into the backspacing is where the width goes, fine, but... I don't get this. The 7" ones have less fouling because of tighter-fitting tyres? (Do Minilites simply extend a little too much all round?)
Tor
I'm a bit confused. This bloke has 15x7 Minilites, 205/55s and no modifications (and no PAS, smaller steering wheel, no complaints). He gets slight fouling at the rear over larger bumps and is working out where. Petter667 says even with the smallest 14x6 Minilites and 195/70s he needs to work his arches. So into the backspacing is where the width goes, fine, but... I don't get this. The 7" ones have less fouling because of tighter-fitting tyres? (Do Minilites simply extend a little too much all round?)
Tor
Hi Tor,
Its all to do with the offset of the wheel, even with the smaller wheel if the offset is wrong you will run uinto problems, I have tried to explin in the image below. The pic on the left shows a cross section through the rear end of a P6 with a large wheel that has the correct offset at max suspension travel, the pic on the right shows the same thing but with a small wheel with the incorrect offset. Obviously I have exaggerated the offset to illustrate my point.
For really wide wheels to fit a P6 you would Ideally have the rears with a different offset to the fronts - the rear needs more offset than the front - to counter this problem I had to use spacers on the front of my car when running Cherokee alloys.
Cheers
Al
Its all to do with the offset of the wheel, even with the smaller wheel if the offset is wrong you will run uinto problems, I have tried to explin in the image below. The pic on the left shows a cross section through the rear end of a P6 with a large wheel that has the correct offset at max suspension travel, the pic on the right shows the same thing but with a small wheel with the incorrect offset. Obviously I have exaggerated the offset to illustrate my point.
For really wide wheels to fit a P6 you would Ideally have the rears with a different offset to the fronts - the rear needs more offset than the front - to counter this problem I had to use spacers on the front of my car when running Cherokee alloys.
Cheers
Al
Rumblin_Ron
New Member
Nice one Alimorg, the clearest explanation of offset I have seen in ages.
The trailing arm on 2000's and V8s are different to accomodate the V8s larger wheels (they have a kinck to accomedate an increase in rim width inwards as per your drawing). Theres not much room to increase outward on the P6, which is dissapointing if you want the wide wheel look.
Modern wheels tend to have a lot of negative (inwards) offset, see the thread about fitting Jeep alloys on a P6 (was that you alimorg, I can't remember). Perhaps checking the dimensions of the aforsaid Jeep wheel (with a dealer of wheel supplier) would give you an idea how to go.
The trailing arm on 2000's and V8s are different to accomodate the V8s larger wheels (they have a kinck to accomedate an increase in rim width inwards as per your drawing). Theres not much room to increase outward on the P6, which is dissapointing if you want the wide wheel look.
Modern wheels tend to have a lot of negative (inwards) offset, see the thread about fitting Jeep alloys on a P6 (was that you alimorg, I can't remember). Perhaps checking the dimensions of the aforsaid Jeep wheel (with a dealer of wheel supplier) would give you an idea how to go.
John Larkin
Member
The Denovo wheel carried 205/65 section tyres I believe. Has anybody got a Denovo wheel that they can measure? I think that they were a metric diameter (375mm); it would be helpful to know what the rim width and backspacing measurements were, and then the offset would be easy to calculate.
Tor
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
Thanks for the great graphic AL! I think I get the idea. It seems 7 inches is pushing the envelope regardless. Annoying, those particular ones look so right.
If I recall correctly, AL, you have 5mm spacers at front with the Cherokee wheels. What's your (neg.) offset? Do you have room to spare on the outside at the back? Your lunar grey looks the business with them.
Never seen pictures, even, of the Denovo wheel...
Thanks for the great graphic AL! I think I get the idea. It seems 7 inches is pushing the envelope regardless. Annoying, those particular ones look so right.
If I recall correctly, AL, you have 5mm spacers at front with the Cherokee wheels. What's your (neg.) offset? Do you have room to spare on the outside at the back? Your lunar grey looks the business with them.
Never seen pictures, even, of the Denovo wheel...
Hi Tor,
Yes I had 5mm spacers on the fronts, with 205/50 R16 tyres there was about 1/2 inch to spare on the outside at the back.
Interestingly before I sold it I had a set of 17x7.5" rims off a Grand cherokee to test fit (£40 off eBay!) and they also fitted well under the rear arches, however you would need a pretty hefty (around 25mm) spacer for the front and some very low profile tyres!
I cant remember the Neg offset and as I have now sold the car I cant go and measure it
Cheers
Al
Yes I had 5mm spacers on the fronts, with 205/50 R16 tyres there was about 1/2 inch to spare on the outside at the back.
Interestingly before I sold it I had a set of 17x7.5" rims off a Grand cherokee to test fit (£40 off eBay!) and they also fitted well under the rear arches, however you would need a pretty hefty (around 25mm) spacer for the front and some very low profile tyres!
I cant remember the Neg offset and as I have now sold the car I cant go and measure it
Cheers
Al