Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi folks,

I've noticed that the inside of my 165x14 tyres (on van wheels) are rubbing slightly on my new upper trunnions. I didn't notice anything like this beforehand. If it makes a difference the camber is set to about -1 and it has big Wolseley drums fitted. Poly bushes all round. The bottom trunnions are old and of uncertain lineage (before my ownership) but have no play when giving the wheels a shove with it jacked up.

The only thing that springs to mind is - are new trunnions possibly chunkier than old stock?

It’s not unheard of with 165 tyres, it’s not a good situation, that’s why 155s are favoured. If you must have 165s maybe you should consider a different rim offset, although the choice for a Minor is limited.

Ah, so the van wheels don't have a large enough offset? I don't suppose spacers are a good idea? It only needs a millimetre or two.

My Traveller has LP917 van rims fitted with 165 tyres. I can get my fingers between the tyre and top trunnion, however, I have a Ford Sierra/Escort-based front disc brake kit installed, which I gather spaces out the front wheels further than the original drums.

I would suggest in your case that thin spacers of say, 2-3mm thick, would be the easiest solution.

There are some van rims of 4 1/2 inch but not easy to find, they have more of a dish on the outside. I’m presuming that implies there is less rim by the trunnions. Spacers would likely require longer wheel studs.

Spacers are not a terrible idea as long as the studs are long enough, especially if you only need a couple of mm.

I'll order myself some spacers and check to see if I have enough thread to take up the 3mm. If not I can use rear wheel studs or those supplied for disc conversions I suppose.

Thanks all!

If you want to get your fingers between tyre and trunnion I would suggest that you need 15mm - 20mm clearance to compensate for any flexing of the tyre.
Previous to the current set up I ran 6J wheels on the front of my Minor with the standard hubs and had plenty of clearance without the use of spacers.

I've encountered this problem too with Minilities and went down the spacer route, fitting longer wheel studs which are an easy change. This gives adequate clearance to top reunion - 15 mm or so.
Wider spacers than 2/3 mm though - probably 5 or so. Steering lighter but I also fitted new tyres, so probably a combination of factors.

this happened a few years ago to one of our cars. we used a couple of washers on each wheel stud to get the clearance. as far as i'm aware, they are still there 20 years later.

If you are going to use spacers you need to use the full circle type. See link below:-
Whilst fitting a couple of washers between wheel and drum/hub may work I would not recommend it. Spacing out the wheel that way increasing the point loading on both wheel and stud. The wheel centre needs to be pulled against the drum/hub as original spec.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Classic-Mini ... xybqpRh2cE

I have Weller 5 1/2" wheels and had an advisory at last MOT for evidence of contact with inside of tyre and trunnion. There was some play in the trunnion, and after changing this for a new one cured the problem.
I have purchased some 10 mm spacers and longer studs(off Ebay) and will fit at some point.
My van has LP896 4 1/2" rims which have adequate clearance.

I got 3mm some spacers from Moss Europe that are the full aluminium circles. This results in a (very skinny) finger of clearance to the trunnion and looks to be the limit of what's possible with standard studs. The nuts are fully on the threads but very little of the stud is left proud (~1mm).

I will monitor them very carefully - perhaps some chalk on the trunnion so I can see if it rubs off onto the tyre.