Jag e type Tire and Auto Transmission Questions

I have recently purchased a 1967 jag e type 4.2 2+2 with an automatic transmission . Two questions…the car currently has 285-15 tires on it and seem pretty small. Has anyone utilizing the stock hubs and rims used a larger tire ?
Second question is I know my transmission is a Borg Warner. Were the same Borg Warner transmissions used on all e types even through the early 70’s including V12 ??
thanks
Dan

Dan;
To answer your questions: 1. I am told larger tires often rub. I use the original size.

  1. The BW transmission in the 6 cylinder cars is a BW 8, I am told the BW in the V12 is a BW 12.

My suggestion is if you plan on keeping the car get the repair manual, Bentley or some such and start reading. These are wonderful cars.
Welcome to the group.

Regards, Joel.

I have run 205/15 on my 68 OTS and my 69 2+2 with no issues. I like having wider tires.
Len Wheeler
Tucson

Dan,

The first thing you need to do is determine the width of the rims that are fitted to your car. The originals would be 5" rims. Many people have substituted them with 6" wide rims, which fill out the wheel wells more than the 5". The width of tyres you can use will depend on the rims you have. Before trying to fit wider tyres to an existing rim I suggest that you go to a web site such as tirerack.com, and see what rim width is OK for the particular tyre you are considering. The original tyres on 5" rims would have been 185R15s (with an aspect ratio of around 82%. If you have 6" wide rims, a common size fitted is 205/70R15. Some go for even wider tyres on these rims, such as 215/65R15. The 3 sizes quoted above have a similar outside diameter, so the speedometer calibration is pretty accurate. The wider the tyres you fit, the more you may run into issues with rubbing. On the rear tyres, you may find you need to remove or cut back the rubber bump stops to prevent rubbing. You will also find it more difficult to fit and remove the tyre to/from the splined hub as the bodywork will interfere. On the front tyres, rubbing may become an issue on full steering lock. Because there is some variation between individual cars it’s difficult to say at what size you will run into problems. That said, many of us are running 205/70R15s on 6" rims without problems.

-David

Tire manufacturers list somewhere in their tire specifications the recommended minimum and maximum rim widths for the tires they make. There are a few 205-70-15 that are designed to fit on 5" wide wheels. These Dunlops for example.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=Signature+II+(T-Speed+Rated)&partnum=07TR5SIG2&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

The majority are designed for wider wheels.