austin loadstar, update and wheels search

Six months to find wheels? It took me 35 YEARS to collect a set of ten 23 inch disc wheels for the 1927 Tandem Drive Morris!

I have a 1960 model Morris 3 tonner, which is identical to the Austin, apart from the name badges, but I thin k they have five stud. 20 inch wheels. I will check when I can get to the storage shed in the next week. These wheels on Austins, Morris Commercials and BMC's are very plentiful, although you might have to buy a whole truck to get them.

Here's hoping for your sake!

ConnorM wrote: i can only guess that white truck is an austin? the area around the grill looks more fordlike to me though.

Eddy wrote: Go to google maps, 233 devlins pound road .. street view :whistle:

purty sure she's a Austin
He only stopped using it fairly recently so tyres may still be usable. If interested I can ask'im ?

I know the 6 stud 20" wheels are very rare,because some 30 years ago I searched for a set to replace the 16 s on a Leyland Terrier............the idea being to gear it up for a mobile camper unit........the 2 ton Austin had a very poor diff,very prone to breakage of the carrier bearings,as they were ball races ,not taper rollers........The Terrier with 16 wheels had the same diff,but with a set of very skinny taper rollers......and still prone to breaking...................the last truck with the wheels was the 2ton "Aquarium cab" BMC truck.......the great majority of light 20" wheels had small 8 stud fixing................most Austin trucks you see had the 5 ton diff with 8 stud........a very good diff ,and some even had the two speed centre that fits the housing..........Maudslay ,I believe.

john, would it be worth looking into a rear end out of maybe an isuzu or something modern? for longevity and a bit more speed on the road?

Older Jap stuff seems to be hard to find.........I assume you have the iron piston motor,so you wont have enough power for more than 85kph on the flat............anyway,have a look at an IH AB/C 130 diff.......common ratios are 4.89 and a later centre that fits is the 4.3.......and they are easy to find......Jap stuff has narrow track and narrower chassis rails that std.............EDIT.......your current ratio is most likely 5.86

Dodge/Fargo/DeSoto trucks in the 3 ton range from around 1953 to approx. 1961 all used 6 Stud Wheels which were interchangeable with the Austin Loadstar. Also, used on the Leyland 338N (Austin in disguise).

I checked my 1960 Morris 3 tonner on the way home from Yarra glen and it definately has SIX stud 20 inch wheels with 7.00x 20's. There are plenty of Austin, Morris, BMC and Leylands (all the same thing, although a few models appeared here in only one brand) in the 1950's and sixties about. Not many on the road, though! Virtually all of them from 2 tonners up to 7 tonners had six stud wheels. The CFA in Victoria had hundreds of them and I believe the Country Fire Brigades in NSW had them as well. 700x 20's may be hard to get but 7.50's should fit OK.

Try the wreckers in country towns for wheels.

Morris.

Connor, Have sent you a PM, Not sure if it will work for you as they are in Brisbane.