6 replies to this topic

[OllyHuggett]

Hi all, I own a 1991 Rover mini with 13inch wheels and sports pack arches. I want to switch out my current wheels for 10inch wheels but am unsure on how to go about the offset. Would like the offset to be flush with the arches if possible. Any help much appreciated, Cheers. 

[Aria Aradhea]

The biggest thing to consider is actually the disc brakes. If you have the standard 8.4" discs at the front, then the 10" wheels will not fit. You will need to change the discs to 7.5" ones.

[Cooperman]

With 10" wheels the wide Sportpack arches are not ideal.
The widest 10" tyre available for road use is a 165 and thus the ideal wheel width is 4.5" or 5". That width of wheel won't sit out level with the edge of a Sportpack arch extension.
My 1990 Cooper has 5" X 10" BWA wheels and I run without any arch extensions. The wheels stick out around 1/2" from the body and that is not a problem.
The problem with Sportpack arch extensions is the front wings with probably have been cut away.

[ac427]

My 1990 Cooper has 5" X 10" BWA wheels and I run without any arch extensions. The wheels stick out around 1/2" from the body and that is not a problem.

Is that with 165 tyres?

Edited by ac427, 28 February 2023 - 03:07 PM.

[Cooperman]

 

My 1990 Cooper has 5" X 10" BWA wheels and I run without any arch extensions. The wheels stick out around 1/2" from the body and that is not a problem.

Is that with 165 tyres?

 

Yes, 165/70 x 10. I also have a set of Minilite 4.5 x 10, ST-type which I use on my 1964 'S' and that also doesn't have arch extensions. I mix-and-match them on my two cars. I also have a pair of 4.5" 'S' steels and they all fit without extensions.

Personally I don't like extensions because they are easy to break off (on my rally cars) and the fixings are a rust trap.

I can see why the OP wants to go to 10" wheels as they are soooo much better for ride & handling that the 13", but the ideal width is 4.5" to 5" with the 165 tyres. I do know a 165 x 10 will go onto a 6", but it is a bit of a stretch. Even a 6" x 10 won't fit too well under those arch extensions. The question is, if narrower arch extensions are fitted, such as  a Group 2 narrow, would they be OK with the cut-back front arches? I've never tried it myself and the only time I have taken Sportpack arches off and the wings were cut back, I welded original wings back on to establish the right arch flange position (they were rusty wings as well). I can't see why a Group 2 narrow wouldn't go on though. New mounting holes would be necessary, but the old ones could be plugged and rust-proofed. They do look good with the chrome tril carried over the arches.

[Alex_B]

As others have already said, you will struggle with wheel width if you are keeping the sportspack arches. I have seen some 10" wheels under sportspacks though and they can look really good. 

For reference, you can fit 165/70 tyres onto wheels 6.5" wide without too much of an issue, and with the right offset you can make it look decent. You can run into scrub issues depending on the wheel offset, I am running 10x6.5" banded steels on my van and as much as I like the wheels, they do suffer from an excessive scrub radius and it does impact the driving dynamics & feel. I don't personally have an issue with it, I ran them on my old saloon for a few years, but for a performance oriented build they wouldn't be my first choice, its just something to keep in mind. 

 

Here is my setup, 10x3.5" steel wheels which have been banded to 6.5" wide, on 165/70 R10 Yokohama A008 tyres. The arches are group 2 wide arches which are a similar width to sportspack I would say (although I haven't measured them to compare) 

[Cooperman]

As said, 10" wheels with such a large offset and 'stretched' 165/70 tyres really does screw up the steering geometry.
It needs to be remembered that the design geometry is for 3.5" X 10" wheels running 145/80 X 10 tyres.
But then, if perceived appearance is more important, then best handling is probably not considered.
The reason for fitted 10" wheels is normally to obtain best road-holding plus optimum handling.
In the end it's personal choice.

Edited by Cooperman, 01 March 2023 - 11:09 AM.