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Wide tyres on standard rims

malcolm

& Clementine the Cat
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4,608
Location
Bedford UK
I'm trying to work out the maximum tyre width I can fit on 4 inch rims. Ideally I'd like to run 155 tyres, though the internet says 145 would be the maximum.

Anyone run tyres wider than 145 on the standard rims?
 
Hi.
i have just been out to look at daisys tyres and i was suprised to see they are 135/13 .i would have bet my last penny on them being 155/13 in fact i even went to the tyre place to price them new i was quoted £110 for 4 including fitting.So thank you for saving me money once again:rolleyes: :D
 
you know when i think back the first car i had was a r4, i bought it from a soldier in the outer hebrides for £75 on looking back i am sure that had 155 on it:confused:
The car was so rough that nothing ever went the same way at the some time!!But i was really proud of MY car.so much so 2 month after passing my driving test in windsor near london,i told my commanding officer that i was going to drive my pride and Joy home to Manchester to show my dad!
i got the ferry from Lock Maddy on north uist at 4-30am and arrived at my house 5am!! it had taken me 24 1/2hrs to get home.
The only trouble i had was a loose batery connection in Glen coe.
sadly the car did not make it back as it never moved after that Christmas morning,and my dad gave it away to the local garage in payment for work they did to try and get it through the MOT:mad:
Lets hope Daisy has more luck:wink:
So maybe it would be ok tp put 155s on cos my car had them on in 1973!!
Mind you that could be the reason my car felt it was going in 4 difrent directions when i went any whare in it:eek:
 
Clem, before I fitted the Gordini wheels I ran 155's on the standard rims with absolutely NO problems whatsoever.
I asked the guys at ATS what the widest tyre was that I could fit to the rims, 155's was their reply.
So that's what went on.
As you know I now run 175's on the Gordini wheels, also with no detrimental effect.
Hope it helps.

Rudi.
 
Three of the R4s I am servicing are fitted with 155 tyres. I have seen at least two others with 165 tyres on GTL rims, though I had not the chance to drive them.
I have posted it earlier, on some circumstances (wet road) 155s do not perform well, understeer comes a little earlier. I think (exactly as on the 2CV) the R4 had been engineered around these narrow tyres (and handles perfectly). It depends more on the suspension geometry than on tyre width for its roadholding. That's why I am against lowering it (completely upsetting geometry and spring rates) or fitting wide tyres, as many people here would like to do.
 
Thanks all, sounds like 155 are an option. I'm still wondering which rims to put on the Gordini and was inspired by french four's photos in the gallery (the Spanish GTL style wheels with the early L style hubcaps). It's a '67 car and I'm aiming for a close to original '68 look, but the original wheels won't fit over disc brake calipers. Those Spanish wheels look like the best option.

Don't you have a 1400cc car Angel? What tyres do you run on that? I'd be worried about not being able to put the power down with the narrower tyres, though I don't want to go too wide for the reasons you've mentioned. My feeling is I'll get away with 155s if I fit the front and rear anti-roll bars from a van and possibly uprate the dampers a little.
 
I don't have a 1400, Clementine, the Plein Air replica has a 1108cc R5 engine.
Greek imported R4s are fitted with rear anti-roll bar and 16mm front one as standard. Their ride is rather stiff for a R4 (but not unpleasant). You put me thinking if wider tyres work best with this setup,or vice versa...we have all possible combinations here, plus Galaxian's R4 Safari which is of "special version" specification (567) and has F4 torsion bars! Maybe we should organize a comparative test...
If you can find DeCarbon-style shocks (now built by Delphi), go for them, they are gas-filled and perform very well, let's see now how long they will last...
 
It'll be interesting to find out how the cars compare. In a way it's a shame for me to put a bigger engine in. One of the best things about the early R4s was the ride quality, and the suspension upgrades to tighten up the handling with the bigger engine will lose some of that. I'm planning not to go too far with the suspension.

Having said that, I wonder if a lot of the differences in ride quality between the GTL and early cars is a psycological impression rather than real, due to all the rattles and bangs coming from the GTL dash and solid plastic headlining that don't seem so much of a problem in the early cars. I'll be using the early parts so should get rid of a lot of that.

I'll look up the De-Carbon shocks. The rear ones definately need to be at least gas pressurised as they don't seem to self-bleed very well when you get them too hot :twisted:. Gas filled ones could be an idea. I'd thought about Koni dampers as they gave a lovely controlled ride in my MGB, but they won't be pressurised so would probably last a week on our farm track. The standard R4 ones seem both a little weak and a little harsh when new.
 
Wonder if these might be suitable for your project http://www.needforspeed.co.uk/pages/sbv_pl.asp?Vehicle=RN__401&PartType=SUS04, i'm thinking of getting a full set myself when I finally get out of St Jimmys, (Sept-Oct).
https://sslrelay.com/buypartsby.co.uk/kyb-shock-absorbers-rear-details.php?recordID=2046, though these rear shocks at buypartsby are a lot cheaper and they do gas.
For the front, without gas though, here's the link https://sslrelay.com/buypartsby.co.uk/kyb-shock-absorbers-front-details.php?recordID=2046

Rudi.
 
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