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MG MGA - wire wheel size

I need to order wires for my mga 1600. I'd like tubeless 5 1/2" or 6" rims with 60 spokes. I called Dayton and ended up looking at TR-6 6" 72 spoke tubeless wheels.

Dayton doesn't have 5 1/2" rims.

The 6" TR6 rims I'm looking at have a backspace of 3.88" and a frontspace of 3.12".

My current 6" 70 spoke rims have a backspace of about 3.25" and a frontspace of 4". They fit OK

Does anyone have any advise or recent experience buying wider Dayton wires?

Thanks, Fred

Fred H

Id check on the net, including the MGA Guru site. My recollection is that TR6 wire wheels do not work well on an A.
TM Going

Fred,

Whatever wheel you decide on after researching it, you might want to buy a used wheel, or borrow one, for a test fit before you buy a set. What's acceptable to one person may not be to another, and the tire size you select makes a difference too. I have bolt-on TR6 steel wheels on my MGA, but wires are another animal altogether.

Ken
k v morton

Fred, I have had TR6 wire wheels on my MGA since 1969. They work great! I bought my second set from Dayton about 3 years ago and they are excellent wheels. I have 185/65 Pirellies on them and the car handles very well, no clearance problems, and has a great stance. Get the tubeless wheels, they work. Russ
Russ Carnes

Thank you all.
TM, I've done plenty of research including the Gura. I'm just confused about backset, backspace, inset, frontspace etc. Also, some posts in the archives say the TR-6 wheel is 5 1/2" ans some say 6".

Russ, my friend, thank you. That's just what I wanted to know.

The TR-6 tubeless painted 15" x 6' x 72 spoke rims have a "backspace of 3.88" and a "front space" of 3.12".

The part number is D457D. If that's the same as you have I'll go with it.

Spring is a'comin here in Wisconsin.





Fred H

Fred,

Another option you might want to look at: Moss lists a 15"x5" heavy duty wire wheel for the MGC.

Ken
k v morton

Fred,

That 15x5 wheel isn't described under MGC. I found it searching for wire wheels. I see that it's listed for Jag and Healey as well. Part number is 454-665

http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/SearchResults.aspx?SearchText=454-665&WebCatalogID=0

Ken
k v morton

That listing is complete error/BS. Jags have a different size hub.

FRM
FR Millmore

It's listed for Healey, mgtf, MGA, MGB, and MGC, so the Jag listing is probably the error. Backspace would still need to be checked.
k v morton

Just a reminder. There are two sizes of splined hubs.

Large and small.

Jaguar's hub diameter is the large one, all the others are the small one. Even though Jaguar has 15" rims the hub diameter is lager than the others and cannot be used on Healy's, MG's, TR's etc etc.

SB
S L Bryant

MGC=5", TR-6= 5.5" (not 6")

Either fits an MGA quite well.

The 6" Daytons will push the envelope on an MGA and will require very careful tire selection to avoid fender interference. The 5" will be dead safe.

AFAIK, only the Daytons offer tubless mounting with sealed spoke wells.

I use 6" Daytons on the Jamaican (could have used 7" but it wouldn't look right) but they have much more fender to fill.

These are the 6" Daytons


Bill Spohn

Thanks Bill. that's what I read in some places about the TR6 wheels being 5.5"

I'd prefer the 5.5" just to save unsprung weight but Dayton seems to be the preferred wheel maker and they do not make a 5.5" rim. I'm mulling over the aesthetics of the 60 spoke rims but the larger rims are all 70 or 72 spoke.

I have 205s on 6" AC Cobra rims right now and they DO scrape the wells on real hard cornering. The problem is, at 60mph I get vibrations. I shipped all 4 rims and tires to Hendriks wire wheel for balancing and truing and they sent them back and said, "can't fix".

I'm also wondering if part of the problem is that the unsprung weight is just too much for the MGA suspension???

Oh well, I think I'm just going get on with it and order the tubeless Dayton 6" TR6 wheels and use a 185 or 195 tire with a low profile.

btw, I looked up you car on the web. Wow you really did a nice job. The plenum is a nice touch.

Thanks, for you input


Fred H

This thread was discussed between 09/02/2012 and 16/02/2012

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This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.