Tyred of Bristols

[dkleeman]

Do Michelin X tyres fit in the spare wheel bay of a Bristol 401/403? They seem to be a bit wider than the original cross plys.

(Specifically 550HR16 Michelin X)

Thanks for all views

Daniel

My 403 has a Michelin X taxi tyre size 5.75 x 16 as a spare. This fits the
spare wheel tray with no problems. The tyres on the car are 185X16. These do
not fit in the tray.

Regards,

Mike.

[dave dale]

This is my ha'porth for what it's worth. For my 403 I recently replaced my old crossply 600 -16 Avons. The crossply tyres had fitted the wheel arches and the spare tyre tray perfectly. I changed to radials and ordered
600-16's. When they arrived they were miles too big for the wheel arches and the tray. The seller took them back and we positioned the crossply spare and the new radial next to each other without air in either ( the spare crossply was unused, therefore had the same tread depth as the new radial ). The radial was much bigger in diameter than the crossply. The seller wasn't surprised, he said the tyre size markings are often different - even on the same make of tyre from different batches. Showed me two new Michelin tyres of same model but different batches and one was bigger than the other.
We offered up a 550-16 radial to the crossply 600-16 spare and it was exactly the same size. I now have 550-16 radials on the 403 and the speedometer reading tallies exactly with the satnav speed reading so I am happy.
Dave Dale.

Originally Posted by ynysd

My 403 has a Michelin X taxi tyre size 5.75 x 16 as a spare. This fits the
spare wheel tray with no problems. The tyres on the car are 185X16. These do
not fit in the tray.

Regards,

Mike.

[Rubbond]

Try this website for an explanation of tyre sizes.
(Wish I had kept my '65 Wildcat now....)
http://www.buicks.net/shop/reference/tires.html
PS There is no way you could get a batch-to-batch variation in tyre size -
not from the same mould at least.