Tyres on 16's ?

[JMF894]

Hi all, one or two of you may recall i bought a couple of ex Tuscan 16" OZ split rims the other weekend form Andy Tank. Andy is running 225 50 16 IIRC on the seac and they looked good, certainly not stretched at all.

I have had the old tryes removed from my wheels and offered them upto one of my 15's.

They are a hell of a lot wider, almost 10" from outside rim to outside rim. I just don't see how a 225 could stretch over there safely.

Andy, were some 16's wider than others? What size tyres do people run on their wedges with these Tuscan 16's? I think 245 45 16 has been mentioned before.

Are there any clearence issues, not just the arch but at the back near the spring/damper?

Cheers

Jimbo

[pwd95]

Hi Jim, I had 245,45,16's all round on my old 450SE and on the back of my 400SE. No clearance issues but the rears would touch the inside of the arch on heavy rebound type bumps. Solveable by adjusting the rear suspension to suit I think. Never got round to trying.

[JMF894]

Thanks, i have adjustable damping/height on the rear of the 450 so i can experiment. I'm also hoping the new 450 specific springs that i've just fitted to therear will firm it up as i think the springs i took off were maybe original by the look of them. Interestingly enough they were about 4cm longer than the new ones that i bought from RT Racing.

Jimbo

[Mr Tank]

Jimbo

The wheels you had from me are the same size as the rears on my SEAC.
So 225/50 should be ok. I have no problem with the wheel arches, they are close to the suspension but not so close that you need to worry!

Andy

[The Hatter]

My SEAC has 245/45x16 and it had serious rubbing issues inside the front arches where the inside of the tyres touch close to the chassis... probably not a good idea! I'm not sure how wide the wheels are either, but I assume with split rims the possibilities of various offsets also come into play.

A griffith owner popped by today, it had 16" rims in the same style as the SEAC but a different offset. Are the Tuscan wheels the same?

[barrington]

my 400se when fitted with the original wheels used to rub on the body inside the wheelarch on the drivers side

[Campbell]

Im running 245 45 16" all round on the SEAC on the 9" wide rims with out rubbing issues but may try 235 on the front next time round.
I know Carod's old car 390SE ran 225 40 16 on the front with our any probs and looked rather sweet as he had the rims refurbed

Cambelt

[400SE Dave]

You have to keep an eye on the rolling radius as otherwise your speedo will be well out (as we all know that TVR speedos are very accurate anyway!!!)

To keep it the same I think it should 235/45/16 or 245/40/16. Not sure if these are 'standard' tyre sizes available but I guess that 245/45/16 will still be within the accepted 8% tolerance

[Campbell]

My speedo reads about spot on not with the bigger wheels...


Cambelt

[shpub]

Just a word of caution... Tuscan racer wheels are a 9J fitting (10 infrom edge to edge) and will take a 225/45/16 or a 245/45/16. The problem on the rear fitting aprat from the potential of rubbing on the wheel arch is clearance problems with the edge of the fuel tank and the stay bars. This clearance varies from car to car because TVR were never quite that accurate on where the body went on the chassis or where the fuel tanks were actually positioned.

The stay bar issue can be solved with the rose jointed version I do which offsets the bar and gives about 10mm extra clearance. The fuel tank issue is a bit more difficult to address and may require the tank to be moved or spacers fitted. Either way, it is essential to ensure that the wheel rim doesn't touch the tank edge.

[JMF894]

shpub said:

Just a word of caution... Tuscan racer wheels are a 9J fitting (10 infrom edge to edge) and will take a 225/45/16 or a 245/45/16. The problem on the rear fitting aprat from the potential of rubbing on the wheel arch is clearance problems with the edge of the fuel tank and the stay bars. This clearance varies from car to car because TVR were never quite that accurate on where the body went on the chassis or where the fuel tanks were actually positioned.

The stay bar issue can be solved with the rose jointed version I do which offsets the bar and gives about 10mm extra clearance. The fuel tank issue is a bit more difficult to address and may require the tank to be moved or spacers fitted. Either way, it is essential to ensure that the wheel rim doesn't touch the tank edge.

Thanks Steve i'm off to the garage now to see how close it is!

Jimbo

[Englishman]

barrington said:

my 400se when fitted with the original wheels used to rub on the body inside the wheelarch on the drivers side

And the passenger side on your 450 when loaded up Jim (a certain member of the Dorset TVRCC at the time in the passenger seat):

[JMF894]

Well i have around 10mm clearance btween the rim and the stay bar. I have no tyres fitted at present on the 16's. I assume a 245 will be closer still than a 225? How much wider does the tyre sit over the rim? I bloody forgot to check the fuel tank clearance whilst checking!!!

Jimbo

[JMF894]

Englishman said:

And the passenger side on your 450 when loaded up Jim (a certain member of the Dorset TVRCC at the time in the passenger seat):

Hi David!

I've just fitted new springs to the rear last week so i'm hoping that it will be a little firmer. As you know i've had the rear passenger side rubbing on the arch but just lately not so bad with raised ride height and firmer damper settings. Hopefully the new springs will improve it further. I think i'm erring towards 225's on the 16's in order to keep the width sensible.

Jimbo

[carob]

I had 245 all round at first but they rubbed on the front inner wheel arch. So i changed to 225 on the front and kept the 245 on the rears, problem solved. I also fitted some spacers from Halfrauds on the rear clearance was around 15mm from the bar and tank after that. The guys who run 245 allround on the SEACS dont have the rubbing issues as the body is so much thinner than the standard wedges.

Hope this helps

Rob

[JMF894]

carob said:

I had 245 all round at first but they rubbed on the front inner wheel arch. So i changed to 225 on the front and kept the 245 on the rears, problem solved. I also fitted some spacers from Halfrauds on the rear clearance was around 15mm from the bar and tank after that. The guys who run 245 allround on the SEACS dont have the rubbing issues as the body is so much thinner than the standard wedges.

Hope this helps

Rob

How thick were the spacers?

[carob]

5mm if i remember rightly. They have various sizes. Around a tenner.

Rob