Wider Wire Wheels for MGB??

[CJ Steak]

Copying my original post from another forum:

I really enjoy the look of my wire wheels and don't want to go to alloys. What I want is a fairly wide rear wheel for a nice aggressive staggered look. I would be running the original front wheels as they are.

I had a set of original wheels widened 2.5"s for my TR6 and was still able to fit trim ring and hub cap on them. It really set off the car looking at that extra meat under the rear fenders.

I want do the same thing with my GT.

I know I can go to a 15" wire wheel that seems to be about a half inch wider... but I'm looking at wanting 2.5"s wider. Some on the inside, some on the outside. I see Austin Healey's with really wide wire wheels... why not the MG?

And "yes" I know about wheel clearances and the rear quarters. I'm willing to roll the fenders if I can do it cleanly and unnoticed to the casual observer.

[Steve Simmons]

2.5" wider would mean a 7" rim. I doubt you will ever fit that under the rear, but anything is possible. For perspective, my GTS has 8" rims and you know how big the flares are.

Personally I would be concerned with the effect on handling that running different wheels front to rear would present. Your car is so well balanced right now that making such a drastic change will undoubtedly upset things. There is also a weight penalty to be paid on an already heavy axle by using larger wheels.

There was a 14" x 6" x 72-spoke wire wheel option when your car was new, so you could always check that option out. Or maybe what you want is a Borrani-style wire wheel, if you can get one in the correct offset for your car.

[CJ Steak]

Hmmm... Borrani wheels look magically delicious... but I have a feeling would be magically worth more than my GT. The deep dish looks is the look I'm going for though. I want a fairly exotic look with deep dish (within reason) spokes.

The 14x6s sound very interesting. Do you have a good source for those? Stock width is 5 or 5.5"? I should know this but always forget.

My TR6 understeered a bit with the wider meats out back. I had to compensate with a thicker rear sway bar and stiffer shocks. Rode like crap but handled very predictably and laid flat in the corners. Man I miss that car.... fun-fun.

[Jimmy]

Chris, you can squeeze 7-inchers onto the rear (and front) with relatively minor body mods.
At least with the offset of the Panasports I have.
If it's a bit tight, do like Tanny and slather liberal amounts of Armor All on the tires to eliminate any friction.

[Steve Simmons]

Stock MGB wire wheels are 4.5" wide.

I can see two primary handling problems buy going to wide rears. One, the car may understeer worse because of increased traction in the rear only. Two, you will be more likely to hydroplane in rainy weather.

The factory optional wide wheels were made by Dunlop. You can buy those from Moss, and probably get Daytons in that size as well.

[CJ Steak]

Steve... it's the price I'm willing to pay to look cool.

I've always liked staggered wheels on cars... Mr. Killjoy.

In all seriousness, any negative effects on handling I'll just tune for like I did with my TR6. I was looking at my car from a certain angle the other day and caught how pushed in the rear wheels were from the factory. It looked really wimpy... If I were doing a full stock resto I would put skinny/tall bias plies on it... but for now I'm wanting the street fighter look with wider tires in back and dropped (albeit tuned) suspension. You'll like it when I'm done... I assure you.


Edit: I hydroplane anyway.

[Steve Simmons]

Fair enough! In that case, I wonder if you would be happy with a standard wider wire wheel rather than a deep dish version. They are certainly easier to find and fit, and probably cheaper. If you had stopped by, I could have put a set of 15" x 5.5" x 72-spoke Dunlop wires on your car to try out, with 195/60R15 tires. I bet that would have been meaty enough for you.

[CJ Steak]

That would've been great to try out! Wish I had more time out there...

I think trying out wheels at your place warrants another cross country trip. I'm sure I could convince the wife on the travel expenses...... not.

I'm sure I'm over shooting the size I really need for my car. I've always been one to "go big or go home" then I find out what I bought was a little too big and have to kick myself later. I'm sure a wider stock wheel would provide enough extra meat. Wish I had someone local to go to so I could try out some different wheels.

Around here, everyone converts their wire cars to steel wheels or alloys.

[Jimmy]

Have you been driving too many Porsches lately, Steve?
On a regular front engine car the front tires tend to be ahead, so hydroplaning shouldn't be much of an issue with wider rear tires.

[Steve Simmons]

All wheels can hydroplane. Generally speaking, the wider the tire the more likely to hydroplane. There are far more factors than that of course, and I"m not saying that wide tires WILL cause hydroplaning. Just that they are more likely to do so than thinner ones, all else equal.

Another factor with wide tires is that they may never heat up enough to stick properly, which means less grip than with a narrow tire. Again that depends on many factors as well as driving style and conditions.

[Jimmy]

Point taken. And since you usually go all of three miles to any run/show, your tires will never warn up enough no matter how skinny.
Is that why you've got bicycles?

[Steve Simmons]

...since you usually go all of three miles to any run/show, your tires will never warn up enough no matter how skinny.

Where the heck did you ever get an idea like that?

Tell you what, next time I drive hundreds, or even thousands of miles to attend a car event (which I often do several times per year) I'll watch for you on the field.

[malcolmr18zoy]

Hi Chris,
Please don't do it. Wide wheels on the back, and not on the front, will make your MGB handle very poorly. The MGB GT is an inherently good handling car just as it came from the factory. The stock wheels are 14x5, and carry a 185/70x14 tire. You could increase the width to 5.5 or even 6.0 inches, and use modern tires to some advantage. There is no reason to use wider tires on the rear, unless the car is rear engined, or extremely powerful. This does not fit the profile of an MGB. The car that you own is a lovely, mk1 MGB GT. this is a great fun car to drive on twisty roads, and will give plenty of driving pleasure, at relatively safe speeds. Please don't try to make it something that it was never intended to be. Try to preserve it the way you have your lovely old Willys.
Malcolm

[Jimmy]

Don't pay any attention to Malcolm or Steve. They're both merely envious because they didn't think of doing it.
I think I know the look you're after, and like it.
Besides, a GT could use the higher load carrying capacity of larger tires to compensate for that big old roof.

[malcolmr18zoy]

OK Jimmy,
I know you have big wide wheels on your MGB, but you also have 330 bhp, and even you don't have skinny wheels on the front. If you put skinny wheels on the front of your V8 MGB, you'd probably not be able to keep up with a well driven stock MGB on a twisty road.
Malcolm

[Jimmy]

Hmm. I've been thinking about putting "skinny" tires on the front...now I have to try it.

[CJ Steak]

Don't pay any attention to Malcolm or Steve. They're both merely envious because they didn't think of doing it.
I think I know the look you're after, and like it.
Besides, a GT could use the higher load carrying capacity of larger tires to compensate for that big old roof.

I've got the look I'm going for in my head and really like it. If it looks like crap in real life (which I doubt), it's just a knock off wrench away from being stock again.

I love British cars, but i've never been one for the "dainty" look if ya catch my drift. I like other cars that look like that, but in my garage, I have to play with them and tune them a bit. Make them "mine" per se. My only rule is any modification I do must look like it was feasible for the era it was in. You won't catch my car with gawdy spoliers, hi-tech gizmos inside, or anything like that. 1969 and older "believable" mods only.

Aside from that, I never modify a car to the point that it can't be returned back to stock in a weekend.

I found an old picture of my car with silver wheels and really thought it looked good. I might be painting them silver again sometime soon! GASP!

[Jimmy]

Chris, I hate to tell you, but we think alike when it comes to modifications.
I have a self-imposed limit of 1965 for my TD, which does make some things a bit trickier to accomplish.
Just like it was hard to find Brooklands windshields with the correct patina.