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Triumph TR3 - Tire Pressures

Hi out there:
I Fitted Cooper 165R15 Euro radial tires to my TR3 however I did not have a spec for pressure other than the max of 44lbs indicated on the tire,I therefore took a guess at 30lbs but to me it was still too much.I therefore got hold of Cooper and they said that 23lbs front and 26lbs rear is the correct pressure for a TR3.
Hopefully this info might be of help to someone.
Chuck

Similar question on tires. On the front I have Michelin XZX, with 30% tread left(which you can't buy now), and on the back I have new Kelly tires. All are 165RS15 - any suggestions on tire pressures
Dennis Nelson

When I completed my body-off resoration 12 years ago, I put on 165RS15 Michelins ($95.00 CDN each in 1990). I always used 28 psi front - 30 rear. In 2001, with still about 30% tread left, they started to separate (formed big bubbles on the tread and side-walls) on the way to VTR in Colorado with 56,000 miles driven.

The Michelins are still available but from Coker in USA. I have heard horror stories. The rumour is that they are no longer made in France. Michelin make them in their So. Amer. plant (Venezuela I believe) and the quality is suspect. In Canada they can be available for about $200.00 CDN each plus shipping, tax, duty and then you have to pay for balancing and mounting.

So in Cedar Falls, Iowa, I needed new tires in a hurry. I put on Kelly/Springfield Centreds. They are 165S15. ( Note they are not "SR" ). I paid $38.00 each US including tax , balancing and installation (under $60.00 CDN each)

I still use 28/30 psi and have done 11,000 miles on them since last August with no problem.

And I have never put my car up on blocks for the winter when I store my TR3A - maybe that's why I got ply separation after 57,000 miles.

Dennis - I've heard that you should not mix brands of tires. Get a couple of new Kelly tires (or 3) and sell the Michelins (on E-Bay ?) to someone who really wants them, who is a concours nut, who only trailers his TR3A to events and who wants it to be "correct". But I've never been docked points at VTR for not having "Authentic" tires. I got 371.5 points out of 400 at VTR in Colorado last summer and 383 in Minnesota this year with my concours/rumnner. I have driven "TRusty" 67,000 miles in 12 summers.

Don Elliott, Original Owner, 1958 TR3A
Comm. No. 8TS-27489 LO

PS - Does your TR3A have a digit in front of the TS number ? Do you know why ? Cars imported into Canada were stamped as the cars were brought in or registered to indicate the year. Some unscrupulous people had been selling, say a 1953 Volks as a 1957 in say 1958 and no-one could tell because they all looked the same. If yours has say a "0" in front of the TS No. - it means it is a 1960. If it doesn't, it might be have been imported into the USA or some previous owner might have put on a new Comm. No. plate on the firewall.
Don
Don Elliott

This thread was discussed between 15/07/2002 and 03/08/2002

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