Tyres

[Dilkris]

The “safety ridge” helps retains the bead during severe side loading.  Which side of the rim has the safety ridge on the TC alloys?

Please see attached photo's - the "safety ridge" or "safety flange" is clearly shown on the photo of the rim profile and is situated to the front face (outer) of the rim.

I don't know about the factory wheels but on the valve stems, have you looked into aluminum ones?

Tire valve "hole" photo hopefully shows how the fitting of 2 piece valve stems would not be possible.   

So there is no confusion as regards which wheels I am talking about please see 4th photo.

I know absolutely nothing about the science of tubed/tubeless tires (tyres??) and rim profiles - I did go back to the first tire guru and advised him that it had been suggested that he was "talking crap" - that conversation did not go well..... and I guess after fitting tires for some 40 years I would assume he knows what he is talking about. I didn't go back to the second tire guru (who equally had confirmed yesterday that I was holding a tubed rim) and repeat the comment.  Once bitten 

Present consensus appears that members are running tubeless tires on these rims without incident, so for me I'm happy to go with the flow. I'll repost again if something of note occurs.

[4129R]

If you are running the recommended tyre pressures, I can foresee no potential problem.

This Forum is viewed by very many Europa owners, many of whom have the Dunlop wheels fitted to their TC and TCS cars.

If there were a problem, I am sure we would have heard about it on this Forum.

[Dilkris]

 

[jbcollier]

Yup, you'll be fine.  Most rims only have the safety ridge on that side.

[Lotsof 3146 R]

Lots of searching for the correct speed rated tyres for 1973 twin cam special - de-federal - I found.
Nankang Econex NA-1 185/70 R13 86H Summer tyres
Hankook Kinergy2 K435 175/70 R13 82H SBL SBL
They are not expensive, set of 4 £159 plus £70 fitting and balancing.
And the handling appears ok.
The topic of speed rating has been covered and disputed before.
Whether you need tyres rated to the design speed of the vehicle in the uk is un clear. But why not most of the non-speed rated tyres where specified as trailer tyres

[Dilkris]

Lots of searching for the correct speed rated tyres for 1973 twin cam special - de-federal - I found.
Nankang Econex NA-1 185/70 R13 86H Summer tyres
Hankook Kinergy2 K435 175/70 R13 82H SBL SBL

I found finding the tire sizes not a problem - the challenge I found was finding 175 and 185/70/13  tires of the same make and tread pattern.   

[jbcollier]

Over here you can put on trailer tires if you want.  As long as the tread depth is more than minimum, you're "legal".  Whether you are smart or not is another question.  Do bear in mind though that speed ratings are for a continuous speed.  It you have a T rated tire and zip up top H rated speeds for a brief period, you'll probably be fine.  Myself, I use tires rated just a bit higher than the max possible speed, just in case. YMMV

[EuropaTC]

The topic of speed rating has been covered and disputed before.
Whether you need tyres rated to the design speed of the vehicle in the uk is un clear. But why not most of the non-speed rated tyres where specified as trailer tyres

The speed rating aspect was debated years ago (80s ? 90s ?) in Club Lotus because the Elans had 155/80x13 HR rated tyres and no-one could supply them. Everyone (including me) just fitted the highest they could get, which was generally the next level down.

Graham Arnold took it up on behalf of the club with insurance companies and, IIRC, with some of his legal buddies.  The result was that basically you could fit anything you could get as long as it had tread & no damage. He did point out that the higher rating wasn't just about the tread being capable of the speed, it included improvements to the tyre walls & reinforcements as well, so "get the best you can".

The later regs have banned tyres over 10yrs old on coaches, lorries, etc but not cars. The wording on tyre suitability is open to interpretation because in the first line it says the tyres must be suitable for the vehicle's speed and then says it must be ok up to 70mph.  So you don't have to fit HR rated, anything over "N" (87mph) is legal and makes a nonsense of the first sentence.

Actual text :

"The Tester will inspect that the tyres are suitable for the vehicle with respect to load and speed rating. The tyres must be suitable for use up to 70mph unless the vehicle is a ‘restricted speed vehicle’."

(it might have changed again, but it was that the last time I looked)

Brian