Morris Minor Owners Club

morning all,

My rear tyres (currently 155s) are going on for 13 years old and are starting to crack at the sidewall and in between the tread. I'm therefore looking to replace.

Reading posts it seems that 145s are recommended but 155s are fine/at the limit. As i have 155s on the front that are fine i'm minded to stick with 155s, but only seem to be able to find Toyo or Nankang at that size, with bridgestone 145s available.

What would you recommend?

If you've been happy with the Nankangs in the past, I would stick with them. You cannot fit a pair of 145s on the back if you have 155s on the front anyway. I have 155 section Nankangs on one of my cars and find them perfectly adequate and good value for money. I have Bridgestone 145s on the other car and the drive is slightly better - but they are more expensive......I did previously have 155 Toyos but prefer the drive on Nankangs or Bridgestones quite honestly.

I ran 155s for years (okay... 4) on standard wheels and never really liked it, also Toyos. I'd personally recommend 145s, perhaps move the fronts to the rear rather than buy four?

I have no connection with this company, but they do seem to offer a wider range of suitable tyres than any other dealer, and do seem to know what they're talking about: https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/classi ... minor.html

For what it's worth, I've used both 145 and 155 and think that 145s are by far the best size.

thanks for the responses all - I may actually just take the plunge and buy 4 new tyres.

one small question - am I correct in thinking that the 145s will result in slightly higher revs at the same speed as the 155s? Not my primary concern, but as I have a 4.2diff and 4 speed when ever I do a dual carriageway / small motorway stint the engine is not the happiest!

dudload wrote: ↑Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:09 am thanks for the responses all - I may actually just take the plunge and buy 4 new tyres.

one small question - am I correct in thinking that the 145s will result in slightly higher revs at the same speed as the 155s? Not my primary concern, but as I have a 4.2diff and 4 speed when ever I do a dual carriageway / small motorway stint the engine is not the happiest!

In a word, ‘yes’!

I have a 3.9 diff. Going from 155 to 145 reduced speed by 3mph at 60mph on the speedo as confirmed by a satnav. Its not a massive shift

Diverging slightly off topic, but has anyone seen any good deals on tyres lately? Any suggestions for 145 or 155s?

Camskill are doing Nankang 155 80 14s for £39.55 including VaT - I think that’s about the best you’ll find. They are cheaper than the 155 Toyos, and in my experience, much better. I’ve had 2 cars on them and they’ve both driven nicely.

I just got five Bridgestone 145’s from Four Tyres, Werrington Road, Stoke on Trent at £79 each. Beautiful ride on them with very positive light steering.

Soooooo, tubes or no tubes?

MollyOwner wrote: ↑Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:52 pm I just got five Bridgestone 145’s from Four Tyres, Werrington Road, Stoke on Trent at £79 each. Beautiful ride on them with very positive light steering.

Personally, I would prefer to assess my tyres on braking under poor conditions. Function before form. Tyres that wear more quickly, but have good roadholding, are preferable to hard wearing ones that will not stop the car under heavy braking in the wet.

ManyMinors wrote: ↑Wed Jun 13, 2018 12:51 pm You cannot fit a pair of 145s on the back if you have 155s on the front anyway.

whilst i am aware that you can not mix tyres sizes across an axle.. unless you are using a space saver and limiting your speed.. i have never been aware of anything saying your rear wheels must be the same size or bigger than the fronts..

There are quite a few modern cars with different sizes on front compared to rear. I have run a minor with 145 on front and 155 on rear. Seems to work well

Bridgestones without doubt...

Sorry I should have wrote this too. Bridgestone on standard rims was a significant improvement on my car.

mowogg wrote: ↑Wed Jul 11, 2018 9:49 pm There are quite a few modern cars with different sizes on front compared to rear. I have run a minor with 145 on front and 155 on rear. Seems to work well

Quite. However the OP was proposing having the smaller tyres on the rear wasn't he.

oliver90owner wrote: ↑Wed Jul 11, 2018 4:30 pm

MollyOwner wrote: ↑Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:52 pm I just got five Bridgestone 145’s from Four Tyres, Werrington Road, Stoke on Trent at £79 each. Beautiful ride on them with very positive light steering.

Personally, I would prefer to assess my tyres on braking under poor conditions. Function before form. Tyres that wear more quickly, but have good roadholding, are preferable to hard wearing ones that will not stop the car under heavy braking in the wet.

Absolutely agree which is why as a retired police traffic officer I did lots of research first before committing myself to the purchase. Apologies for not including that fact in my initial comment

Out of interest MollyOwner what pressure do you run your Bridgestone tyres at.

Sorry for delay in responding. 28psi all round appears to be the recommended pressure for radial under normal load. Car responds well with those pressure, corners well and held the road well in a large downpour earlier.
Cheers