Richard Crawley Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 I fitted a set of 51/2J, Moss type Minilite replicas to my 6 & advice I was given said there would be absolutely no problem with clearance. I checked anyway & everything seemed OK. The first time I took the car out & applied full lock, a horrible graunching noise came from the front of the car. Back home I jacked it up & the offside wheel was scored all around the outer edge of the inner rim. I re-checked clearances & everything was fine until I applied full lock when the top outer edge of the upper wishbone arms can make contact with the outer wheel rim, particularly the rear one. So, a word of warning for those about to fit same; take an angle grinder to the top, outer edges of both upper wishbone arms so you don’t damage those nice new alloy rims. You don’t need to remove much, just chamfer the edges at about 30 degrees & this gives plenty of clearance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ron Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 I also fancy a set of Minilite replicas but got a bit put off by a previous post a while back where people had clearance problems, does anyone know of a make that fits without problems, preferably 6J but 5 1/2 would do. Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jemgee Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Sorry to be dense - if the original rims are 5 1/2 J why does a minilite foul the wishbone? PS I'm still trying to find out why my cww are stamped as 5 1/2 K - or is that an Indian reference? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnC Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Jemgee, I'm guessing, but it's probably because the offset is slightly different. It might also be caused by the shape of the casting being different from the inside of the wire wheel (more meat, so to speak). Richard, Any chance you could measure one of your wheels and report back here? I think you already know the definition of offset, but just in case, this page is quite helpful. Offset = (Overall width)/2 - Backspace Where backspace is the distance from the extreme edge of the wheel to the mounting face. As far as I can make out, the offset should be 0.25". Regards, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Neil Russell Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 I am told by a reliable source, that the best wheels to fit are the compomotive version of the minilite. cambridge motorsport has apparently done a lot of work with compomotive to ensure that the correct foreset and backset are achieved so as not to cause the same problems that Richard has had? Does anyone know any better Neil. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richard Crawley Posted April 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Sorry to be dense - if the original rims are 5 1/2 J why does a minilite foul the wishbone? With these wheels I don’t think it’s down to different offset &, I believe, 6J’s have the same offset – i.e. the back is the same but they will poke out the front more. It’s purely due to the fact they are made from aluminium & not steel. Steel wheels are pressed, rolled & welded from around 1mm thick steel plate (guessing here) whereas aluminium wheels are cast. To maintain the strength of the outer rim, aluminium wheels have a much thicker casting here – looks to be about 3mm. This does not affect the overall diameter of the rim &, on the face of it, would not appear to cause any clearance issues but, in reality, the upper wishbone arms (especially the rear) actually slot under the rim lip on full lock. So, if the rim is 2mm thicker, they may foul but it will probably differ from car to car. I would add that we are talking gnats thingy's here; it really is not an issue with these wheels (they are good value) as long as you are aware & take appropriate steps! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ron Posted April 22, 2004 Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Have I got the wrong info here, I thought the later standard TR6 wheels were 6J, TR5s & early 6s were 5 1/2 ?? Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richard Crawley Posted April 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2004 Have I got the wrong info here, I thought the later standard TR6 wheels were 6J, TR5s & early 6s were 5 1/2 ??Ron Ron , the TR6 never had 6J wheels as far as I know. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest OSGOOD ISGOOD Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 I have, this very week, had an identical situation when fitting a set of Wolfies to my Cortina 200e! Mind you the fact that the bloke who swapped my tyres over to the Wolfies and then failed to tighten the bolts on one of the wheels was somewhat more alarming! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest OSGOOD ISGOOD Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 Sorry guys, haven't mastered this site yet! Obviously my comment was in response to the original post! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Red 6 Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 Hello all, The solution is to fit spacers to the front wheels. Most of us who run alloys do this. The spacers are usually thin and they are available from any car accessory shop. The ones to look for are the universal type which have several holes drilled/stamped in them. Do this and the problem will go away. I have never been in favor of grinding away metal from the suspension but it works. Fitting spacers it is said will alter the steering geometry, this is not noticeable to the driver and i have suffered no ill effects. On one of my cars i have 7" rims and the spacer is about a 1/4 inch thich, it works fine (except the steering is heavy at low speeds but with 7" this is not surprising. Incidently the rear wheels rarely need spacers but for cosmetic purposes they are great, with spacers you can bring the wheels to the edge of the body work for the "steroid" look. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ron Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 Richard & Alex According to Roger William's book How to Improve TR5,250 &6 the later 6s are fitted with 6J rims which I must admit surprised me, I thought the 5s & early 6s had 5" and the later 6s had 5.5".??? Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richard Crawley Posted April 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 I have never been in favor of grinding away metal from the suspension but it works. According to Roger William's book How to Improve TR5,250 &6 the later 6s are fitted with 6J rims We are talking about a 3mm chamfer on the extreme, return edge of each wishbone here, it will make absolutely no difference to the strength of the component. I really don't like the idea of using spacers, they put extra strain on the wheel studs & the hub unit itself. Ron, that really surprises me as well & I don’t think it’s correct! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ron Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 I don't like the idea of spacers either as the stub axles seem to be marginal as it is without putting an extra load on them and I'm not very keen on grinding the wishbones as they have been powder coated, hence my original question. Maybe if the Lottery comes up I'll splash out on a nice set of chrome wires for tubeless tyres. Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jemgee Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 I understood you cannot use tubeless tyres with wires. I've got tubed wires and hope I don't find out what its like with a fast puncture in the outside lane of the M6. The last car I was in with a tube puncture was my fathers 1937 Austin Big 7 back in 1955 and speed of the car was not an issue. I have considered the 'gunge injection' into the tube but does any one have any experience with how sucessful it is? I know tyre fitters detest it in tubeless tyres when they have to do a repair. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tom Fremont Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 The 6" Panasport wheels don't give any interference problems; I've got current and prior versions on my '250s. These are readily available in the U.S. and are very high quality - made in Japan. There is a 7" wheel available as well; don't have experience with that one....... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest ron Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 I understood you cannot use tubeless tyres with wires. You can buy wire wheels for tubeless tyres, but they are mega expensive. Ron Quote Link to post Share on other sites
graeme Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 Get the real thing and you won't have any clearence problems. http://www.minilite.co.uk/ Graeme Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tr4Tony Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 I use techdel minilite's (5.5 x 15) on my rally TR4 - no problems whatsoever - but £105 a wheel each. You gets what you pays for ! Regards Tony Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.