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RE: tires and wheels for a TR3

To: "Triumph Triumph list" <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Subject: RE: tires and wheels for a TR3
From: "Randall Young" <Ryoung@navcomtech.com>
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 08:44:18 -0700
> > keep tr3 sizes or
> > use tr6 wheels & tires
>
> Here is a thought for you.  Spare tyre stowage. the stock tyre size,
> steel disk or 48 spoke wheel is what fits in the spare tyre
> compartment.
>  However all you need is a wheel that fits the hub and is
> the same diameter as the road wheels for a spare.  I run 165R15 tyres
> on 60 spoke wheels.  The spare is the same size tyre on a 48 spoke
> wheel.

TeriAnn brings up an excellent point, even that combination is a very snug
fit in the earlier cars' spare tire wells.  The well was enlarged at TS60k
for just that reason.  I used to carry a 165 tire on a stock steel wheel,
with a rope tied around it so I could pull it out.  It was still nearly
impossible to get it in or out.

>  You could run minilites with a fat tyre that is the same
> diameter as a 165-15 and be OK.  Your tyre dia is limited by what fits
> in the spare compartment if you wish to have a spare along.

Or, you could do what I do now, carry a different size spare tire, and live
with the fact that if you have a flat, it will have to ride home behind the
seats.  Frustrated with finding a spare tire that fit easily in my early
tire well, I'm currently keeping a "compact spare" T125/90-15 tire mounted
on an original rim as my spare. Now, rather than struggling to get the tire
in or out, my biggest problem is keeping it wedged in place !

It's already brought me home once, worked out quite well IMO.  Although the
sidewall is marked with a reduced speed, I believe it is so lightly loaded
on a TR3 that the limit doesn't apply.  I drove roughly 75 miles in under an
hour on it, no problem.

I got the tire at the local "Pull yer own" junkyard.  Came out of a Nissan
Maxima I think (lots of cars with 14" wheels use this size spare), looked
like it had never been used, cost me $10 including the wheel.  (For $2 more
they would have kept the wheel <g>)  It's significantly lighter too, which
makes it easier to handle and might even help performance a tiny bit due to
less weight to lug around.

Randall

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