I would like to get a set of 12" snow (mountain snowflake or M+S) tires for my 1998 S110P but can't find any in Canada. From what I can gather, Customs allows either "NSM", "DOT (US)" or "JIS" marked tires to be imported from the US (or Japan) for personal use, however, I can't seem to find any info on snow tires like the Yokohama Super Diggers or others as to whether they have these markings, or whether they have the mountain snowflake mark or M+S on them to make them legal on our roads in B.C. The "All Season" offerings I can get here marked M+S just don't cut it in anything but a skiff of snow where I live... Has anyone in Canada have any suggestions on this? Thanks, Roadster
You will be able to find Dunlop Grandtrek SJ6 in Japan in an LT 145R12, they will be marked with the snowflake... If a snow tire lacks the snowflake, then it's not actually a snow tire. Your best bet may be a set of 14" rims and Nokian Nordman 7 in a 155/65R14 which is identical in diamater and will ride much nicer too
Thanks, Matt167! I've been looking at 14" rims and although so far there are some ATV wheels with 110mm spacing, I can't find any that have a 66.1 hub or larger. Car wheels don't seem available in 4 x 110mm and hubcentric... I have an extra set of stock 12" rims, so that would be an easier option...I'll check out those Dunlops and see if I can order a set of those or similar. But you are right - the 14" option would be great for tire availability and ride if I could get wheels...
Being 4x110, your bolt on option is basically early 80's Mazda 626 or RX7 and have the hubs machined... The better option is 4x110- 4x100 wheel adapters. They are about 1" thick and will make a FWD wheel fit the mini truck better anyway. 4x100 is most of the 4 lug stuff out there so rim options both used and new are endless. 14" Honda Civic rims would bolt right up
There are custom wheel shops, which can make up a set of steel wheels to petty much any diameter, width, and center you want. Kind of spendy though. Did you check Amazon? The US site has all seasons which would fit.
Thank you for your insight on this, guys. I don't want to go the "custom" route; I can get all season Chinese tires in B.C. (but the tire shops don't indicate if they have the M+S on them). however, Matt167, the 1" spacer sounds good to change the bolt pattern and using a FWD wheel to presumably give me a usable offset with the spacer. Regarding the centrebore, does the 1" spacer negate the need for a wheel to accommodate the larger than usual 66.1 hub on the car, and the wheels become stud centric, or do the wheels typically need to be machined out?
I've ended up with a set of 13" x 5" Japanese aluminium wheels with +40 offset and 66.1 centrebore. (see avatar) I mounted a set of 175/70R13 Rovelo snow tires. The other dimension I'm not sure if it is that important is the rim shape... The stock wheels and these aluminium ones have a "B" profile, as do these tires (actually marked "B"). Most NA wheels have a "J" or "JJ" rim profile. (The latter seems to be specific to SUV's and light trucks and are listed as such on their respective manufacturer's websites) . From what I can gather, the "J" profile tires fit OK on "B" wheels, however if the truck is to be drifted a lot or used roughly off-road, the "J" pr0file has a higher contact area than "B", and "J" profile tires could slip off "B" profile wheels if the tire pressure is lowered? My truck is really only used on the road and maybe the odd well maintained forest service road, so the rim profile is probably not a worry for me, but it is interesting to note in any case... At least now I am legal from Oct 1 to Apr 1 with the snowflake... There are no clearance issues on my stock height 1998 HiJet with this set-up. The speedo reads 50 kph at 52 kph actual (GPS), so not bad. There are not a huge selection of 13" tires available (Canada), however at least there are some compared to 12". I would have preferred 14" but these wheels fit perfectly without mods or spacers. I have a good set of near new 12" tires on my stock wheels I may use for summer, however, at 1500lbs. I could probably use the snow tires all year round and not worry about a bit extra wear... Roadster
