Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

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edhhjr
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Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

Post by edhhjr »

Need to buy some new tires for the 62 coupe. Will 225/70 fits with skirts or frontend issues? Currently have 215/70/14, which look way small to me. Or be safe and just run 215/75/14?

And has anyone tried the Hankook Optimo H724 whitewalls (cheap)? Or the Hankook Mileage Plus II, which suppose to have 1-1/4" whitewalls, but can not find any pics of them.

What brand/size whitewalls are you all running? I'm just looking for something that looks good (close to stock) and can go flying down the freeway with. The average speed on the freeway in phoenix is 80mph, just trying to keep up. Tried searching the board, not much luck. Thanks for any input, Ed
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Ozzy351
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Post by Ozzy351 »

Hi Ed,

I'm running 215/75 American Classic 1" WW's on my '61. They look good, don't look too small and the car drives and handles great. :cool:

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Ozzy :smile:
"The sour memory of a dud purchase is remembered long after the sweet taste of a cheap deal has disappeared"
1961 T-bird H/T Silver-Gray Metallic/Raven Black roof.
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edpol
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Post by edpol »

I bought 215/75 tires for my '63, simply because according to cross reference charts, they are very close in diameter to the original tires. Mounting them will be the last part of my restoration. They're Cooper tires with a 1" whitewall.
edhhjr
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Post by edhhjr »

Tried to order some 215/75 hankooks for $270 shipped to my door, but they are out of stock for 6 to 8 weeks.

Was looking at the cooper trendsetters, think that's the only ones in the correct size with whitewalls.

Also looking at the hercules mrx plus iv. Might have to go to some local tire shops see what they have. Worse case off to wallyworld for the hankooks. Thanks guys
Bill in Al
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Post by Bill in Al »

I've put a few thousand miles on a set of 215 75 14 Cooper tires and they ride and drive good.I don't throw the car around turns so don't know how they would do under stress.They are very comfortable at highway speeds of 70-80 and they seem to be holding up just fine.I don't remember the price because I throw all car receipts into a drawer and never open it other than to put another in! It would scare me to know how much I spend on these old cars.
First car?;1947 Crosley 2door
novanutcase
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Post by novanutcase »

Had a set of Hankooks on my track 'stang and it had pretty good lateral grip for a cheap tire.

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Alan H. Tast
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Re: Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

Post by Alan H. Tast »

edhhjr wrote:Need to buy some new tires for the 62 coupe. Will 225/70 fits with skirts or have front end issues? Currently have 215/70/14, which look way small to me. Or be safe and just run 215/75/14?
A 70-series profile, especially 215/70-14, will look small because the profile is shorter and therefore fills less of the wheelhouse. Moving up to a 225/70-14 will help fill the wheelwell, but it also means the tire will be a little fatter than the OEM 800x14 and the more-modern (but getting harder to find) 215/75-14.

Compare sizes between the original 800x14, 215-75/14, 215-70/14 and 225-70/14: numbers shown are the cross-section width and the overall diameter in inches. You will need to check the manufacturer's specifications for the measurements of the tires you want to get, but these should give you an idea of what to expect.

800x14 - 8.10-8.29 27.58-28.67 (note range of sizes due to different manufacturers)
215-75/14 - 8.50 26.69 (almost 1/4 to 1/2-inch wider and nearly 1- to 2-inches shorter than original)
215-70/14 - 8.80 25.90 (almost 1/2 to 3/4-inches wider and almost 1-1/2 to 2-3/4-inches shorter than original)
225-70/14 - 8.86 26.402 (almost 5/8 to 3/4-inch wider and over 1-1/4 to 2 1/4-inches shorter than original)

Of the two 70-series tires, the 225s will still be shorter and the car will lose an inch of road clearance over original. The 235-75 (if you could find a set) will run the risk of rubbing against the suspension arm moreso than hitting the fender edges, but until I have a set of measurements to check against, I can't say for sure if either of the 70-series tires will rub (That's something we're working on for a future article in the Club's Thunderbird Scoop magazine).

And, for comparison's sake, the next step up - a 235-series tire:
235-75/14 - 9.25 27.878 (over an inch wider overall and a hair taller to about 3/4-inch shorter than original)
235-70/14 - 9.25 26.953 (over an inch wider overall and about 9/16- to 1-3/4-inches shorter than original)

Because I'm more of an original car fan, I'd go with a set of 225-75/14s if I could find them and if I was comfortable that they wouldn't hit the suspension:
225-75/14 - 8.86 27.287 (almost 5/8 to 3/4-inch wider than original and over 1/2- to 1-5/8-inch shorter than original)

But, lacking that, the 215-75/14s are probably the closest size you'll find and are typically cross-referenced with the 800x14/G78-14 tire sizes.
Alan H. Tast, AIA
Technical Director/Past President,
Vintage Thunderbird Club Int'l.
Author, "Thunderbird 1955-1966" & "Thunderbird 50 Years"
1963 Hardtop & 1963 Sports Roadster
edhhjr
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Post by edhhjr »

I noticed there can be a size difference between different brands within the same size. With cheaper brands running a little smaller. I would love to see a T in 225/75's. I would think the 235's would be to wide. Right now with 215/70's I have now, it's pretty close to the outer tierod.

After searching for a week, I just ordered some Hankook 215/75's from discounttire. Everyone else either didn't sell them or were out of stock. Still going to take 4 to 5 days to get, coming directly from a Hankook warehouse in texas. Finding a larger/taller whitewall tire would be real fun.

If time or money wasn't a concern, I'd go with the 1" whitewalls from Diamondbacks. Or look into shaved tires, make your own whitewalls. Reading a lot online, seems some people are not happy with Coker's, at least their radial tires.

Next time, I'm ordering tires earlier in the resto, not near the end. Especially for 14" wheels. Ed
arizman2
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Re: Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

Post by arizman2 »

edhhjr wrote:Need to buy some new tires for the 62 coupe. Will 225/70 fits with skirts or frontend issues? Currently have 215/70/14, which look way small to me. Or be safe and just run 215/75/14?
I run 225x70 14 on my '63's with no rubbing and the fender skirts clear just fine.
63flip
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Re: Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

Post by 63flip »

I have Hankook H724's on my '63 now. Short of dropping some serious money on Coker's they're the only tire I could find with the correct width white wall. I had them on on another '63 I owned also. Several other members in my local club are also running them on their birds. To my knowledge we've all been happy with the tires. I also purchased mine from Discount Tire. It's pretty hard to beat a price of less than $400 for 5 tires mounted and balanced out the door.
GeoffInCarlsbad
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Re: Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

Post by GeoffInCarlsbad »

I run American Classic 215/75R15's. They are true, handle very well. Gave the T-Bird a very distinct look. I choose not to use the rear fender skirts.

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~g
Geoff in Carlsbad CA
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Karl
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Re: Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

Post by Karl »

G'day,
I run 215 x 75x 15" tyres on my 63 hardtop. The only reason I have 15" on my car is that I couldn't find 5, 14'' rims that weren't bent.
These tyres are close to the original diameter so the speedo works as accurate as any old car with the correct driven gear. They seem to fill the wheel well good and look good. The only downside is that it doesn't fit into the spare wheel well. It takes some pushing and shoving to get the spare in and out.

The other downside is that I had to make up spacers to go between the hub and the rim. This is so the wheel is centered by the hole in the middle, not the lug nuts
Karl.
1963 Thunderbird Hardtop
GeoffInCarlsbad
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Re: Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

Post by GeoffInCarlsbad »

yes, I too opted for 15" wheels as well. Because my front drums were weighted, I also had to put spacers on the front. I had enough lug to be secure, but for safety's sake, I check the nuts to make sure they are firm, but not over-tightened. My speedo is about 3 mph off...close enough for the kind of local driving we do.
Geoff in Carlsbad CA
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MN63Tbird
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Re: Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

Post by MN63Tbird »

I just went through a lot of searching for tires to move from my wide white walls closer to the 1" that was period correct for 63. As Alan mentioned the current cross reference for the 800x14/G78-14 tire sizes is 215-75/14s if you check a number of tire manufactures web sites. As also mentioned these are difficult to find unless you want to spend close to $200 per tire. The 215-70/14 is much easier to find.

The diameter difference between the 215-75 and 215-70 is a half to three quarters inch depending on manufacture. I challenge anyone to tell that difference from 5 ft or more away from the car. What is more telling and makes the tire look smaller is the width of the whitewall. The tires with a 2.25" whitewall will look much larger than the tire with a 3/4 or 1" whitewall when mounted on the car. With the larger black tire surface on the 1" white wall this blends into the background black inner fender. The smaller diameter white wall then makes the tire looks like a smaller . You can see the difference in the photos above. I just switched to the narrower white wall and thought the tires were smaller though both were 215-70s.

In any event moving from bias to either of the radials gives much better traction and softer ride probably also due to the wider tread width.

As for speedometer difference between the 800X14 and the 215-75 its 2 MPH from 50 to 65 MPH for the 215-70 its 3MPH for the same range (your speedometer reads higher than you are actually going). Going to the radials will cause the speedometer to be off but it may help reduce any speeding tickets if you are going by your speedometer reading. Downside is to run at and actual 55 MPH with the smaller tire will result in having the engine do about 100 more rpm since the tire size is smaller. You may loose a little gas mileage.

MN63
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60fore
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Re: Tires 225/70 Fit & Whitewalls

Post by 60fore »

MN63Tbird wrote: Mon May 29, 2017 11:47 pm I just went through a lot of searching for tires to move from my wide white walls closer to the 1" that was period correct for 63. As Alan mentioned the current cross reference for the 800x14/G78-14 tire sizes is 215-75/14s if you check a number of tire manufactures web sites. As also mentioned these are difficult to find unless you want to spend close to $200 per tire. The 215-70/14 is much easier to find.

The diameter difference between the 215-75 and 215-70 is a half to three quarters inch depending on manufacture. I challenge anyone to tell that difference from 5 ft or more away from the car. What is more telling and makes the tire look smaller is the width of the whitewall. The tires with a 2.25" whitewall will look much larger than the tire with a 3/4 or 1" whitewall when mounted on the car. With the larger black tire surface on the 1" white wall this blends into the background black inner fender. The smaller diameter white wall then makes the tire looks like a smaller . You can see the difference in the photos above. I just switched to the narrower white wall and thought the tires were smaller though both were 215-70s.

In any event moving from bias to either of the radials gives much better traction and softer ride probably also due to the wider tread width.

As for speedometer difference between the 800X14 and the 215-75 its 2 MPH from 50 to 65 MPH for the 215-70 its 3MPH for the same range (your speedometer reads higher than you are actually going). Going to the radials will cause the speedometer to be off but it may help reduce any speeding tickets if you are going by your speedometer reading. Downside is to run at and actual 55 MPH with the smaller tire will result in having the engine do about 100 more rpm since the tire size is smaller. You may loose a little gas mileage.

MN63

American Classic radials 215/75 X 14 w/ 1" whitewall for $158 apiece at Coker Tire:

https://www.cokertire.com/tires/america ... ewall.html
Currently Birdless....we'll see how long that lasts!

Past Birds: 1962 Hardtop Corinthian White "The Survivor"
1964 Hardtop Gunmetal Gray "60Fore"
1986 Turbo Coupe Regatta Blue
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