Triumph Sports Cars

Just out of curiosity, what is the biggest streetable wheel/tire combo for the front of a TR6?

I'm running 15"x 7" rims with a 245- 60- 15 tire . I have a little rub in the front inner fender which I will make the room. The top suspension by the ball joint where most people will have with rub, I have 1/4" clearance. What ever that offset might be I don't know. This is without any spacer and stock hub.I'm sure with low profile tire you could go larger. Jim Prettyleaf has 8" wide tire.

Calvin

I have 16x7 Panasports on there - but then I'm only running 215/60R16s on a 1" lowered suspension. Stock wheels have a zero offset, and 0 to + 6mm works pretty well. Personally I'd love to swap to 17's - I'm fairly sure it would get rid of my rub at lock. Finding a set of fronts that don't need spacers and use the stock bolt pattern is challenging though.

I'm pretty sure that you can fit low profile tires on 18's if you redrill the hubs. At that point, 8" wide and no rub might be possible.
Of course with spacers and flares, the sky is the limit.

Correction, Jim Prettyleaf is running 8.5 wide tires all the way around, but they are slicks.

I was able to get this photo at the 2008 Triumphest in lake Tahoe.


Alan check his autocross car out here. [www.britishv8.org]




Calvin

I saw the car - was looking at the back end setup - but I missed the wheel width.
How on earth does he fit them in there without spacers?
He must have spent ~ages~ with a grinder - 15x7 rub like crazy stock, so I can only imagine...

Carl,

I can't tell you what is the biggest streetable wheel/tire combo for the front of a TR6 but I can tell you what I'm running on the street at this time. Previously I had 215/60/15 fronts and 225/70/15 rears. Now it's 245/45/17's on all four corners. On the street, I'll have to say this has improved the car's manners immensely. On the track, I don't know yet but I'm itching to find out.



As for clearance with the front tire, there's not a lot but enough. No rubbing, however I did already increase my turning radius with the previous wheel/tire combo by increasing the size of the "vertical link stop". The car has standard length performance springs but has been lowered using modified lower control arms. On a TR6, your biggest obstacle with fitting a larger rim is the upper ball joint and control arm. Anything smaller than 17" and you have a direct hit depending of course on the offset of the rim. With the 15x7' Mustang Turbine rims I had on previously,I had to use a 3/4" spacer to clear the ball joint. That spacer has now been eliminated. These rims just fit over the ball joint after a little massaging with the grinder. Incidentally, these are 17x8", 15mm offset, 5.09" backspace Cobra R's. Because the rim fits in tighter,the tire is still inside the fender.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2008 11:38AM by TR6-6SPD.

Nice job Ken, and better yet, it looks good. That's similar to what I've been working on with the MGB-Roadmaster's wheels and tires. The 17's on the rear let the rim clear the lower upright pivot and carry more tire to the inside. Helps clear the tie rod ends on the front too.

Jim

I ended up with these wheels because the hubs were already drilled to a Ford 4x 4.125 bolt pattern. That can limit your choices.



What do I think is the largest wheel/tire combo? I'm on the the outer limits now with the 17x8" rim. To get a larger rim would mean either being outside the fender or more backspacing. Then you'd have to go to an 18 or 19" rim. Largest tire? 245/45 is the standard for an 8" rim. You could go bigger if you raised the suspension.

If any one needs further details on measurements or wheel suppliers, I'd be happy to share my research.

Ken

Jim,

Thanks for that. Of course a larger rim can open up the possibility of showing off a big Wilwood brake upgrade!

Quote:

what is the biggest streetable wheel/tire combo for the front of a TR6?

Actually, I posed this question for Ken.

Not knowing much about Triumphs, I was concerned about his front/wheel tire choice. Looks like he found out they work AND they look awesome!


Jim,

Now you know what to get Brother Dan for Christmas. :)

WOW!

Kenny, That's the way to go! Put some Bling on that ride!

Here is a shot before and after.


What a difference!

Congrats!

Don, you always make me laugh and you're so creative with that computer!

Ken

Those rims and tires did change the looks of your ride Ken. You would think it was a different car altogether.

Very Nice Look! That's what I call "Blinging Eye Candy" Very nice choice. Now I know why you said your heart was a thumping
:-).

Calvin

It will drive like a different car. I drove the before car. Watch the end of this video for the before car (not me driving) ;)

I am deciding on a tire size and considering 225x55x17. I calculate this to be 8.86" wide with a diameter of 26.74 (stock diameter=26.6 according to Moss)
I'd like feedback on how this tire size would fit. My suspension is slightly lower than stock height with springs and spacers from R Good.
I'm also hoping that a 17" Rota RB wheel clears the upper ball joint as Don Watson mentions in his earlier post.
Don W, your 245X45x17 are almost an inch wider but also 1" small diameter. Would you guess I'm safe with this size?
Thoughts on needing spacers? The wheels are 17X7.5 4x114.3 +4 so the offset of 4 as apposed to 0 may make this difficult.

Thanks for any feedback!
Rob