66 Air Coupe

Ken,
What are you using for a spare tire? Will the 205's fit in the spare tire well?

big block ken

My spare tire is a 7.75x15 B.F. Goodrich Silvertown bias ply white wall. I haven't tried to fit a 205 in there, but I can see how tight it is already.

By the way, I ordered them through Walmart on line, since the local stores didn't carry them. They were shipped direct to the local store I chose a few days later. I had them mounted on the original steel wheels elsewhere though, using correct repro valve stems that I ordered from Corvette America. These tires really ride like a dream, and my suspension is totally original.

alexandervdr

a friend (here on the forum too) has WW from Maxxis on his 63, they look great and reviews seem to be positive too. reasonably priced here in europe

66 Air Coupe

I found some 205/75R/15 Uniroyal Tiger paws with the 11/16" whitewall at a local tire dealer. I went down and looked at them and they look pretty good. The whitewall looks really close and the Uniroyal lettering isn't to bad. Much better that the lettering on the Hankook Optima. I think I am going to give them a try.

donbayers

Correct on the Uniroyal's at 11/16". that is exactly what my friends measured.

I don't care for the Hancook lettering as well. Was just trying to explore all our limited options for 205/75/15 WW tires.

Glad to know Uniroyal come in that size

Wish I could hurry up and sell my car so I could purchase the 66 I'm looking at. I want an excuse to get some tires!

66 Air Coupe

My second choice would have been the Cooper Trendsetter's, but they would have to have been ordered and I would have been obligated to take them. So, Uniroyals it is.

Ron Miller

The Hankooks are great tires, IMO, although I too would like the look better if the block letters on the sidewalls were not so prominent. Regardless, I've run a couple of sets on my '65 and '66, and currently have a set of Hankook Ventus V12's on my 2004 LeMans Commerative Edition. Love them!

donbayers

Cool, put one on the board for the Hankook!

So, thin WW options so far are

Hankook Optimo H724 (5/8")

Uniroyal's (approx 11/16')

Cooper Treadsetter SE (approx 11/16" but might be 3/4" )

Here is a pic of the Cooper. Letters on sidewall don't look as bad as I thought and I like the cleaner sidewall

donbayers

Hey all;

Another option.

While getting the tires rotated on the truck this AM I saw another option on the wall.

This is a Firestone Affinity 215/70/15 and the WW measures exactly 3/4" (I had them check if it came in a 205, it did not)

In a 205/75 I'm leaning toward the Cooper and in 215 these Firestone's look really good.

donbayers

update;

I had my tire shop send in one of the Uniroyal 205/75 to compare with look with the Cooper.

I liked the more traditional tread of the Cooper especially on the edge. also the Cooper has a cleaner side wall. The WW is within 1/16" of each other.

I went with the Cooper and will post some pics of them on the KO's. Hope this helps

JLSmith

Will the tire shop be mounting them on the KOs for you? And installing on the car? Are the wheels direct bolt-ons or true knock offs? I had a shop tell me they wouldn't touch my spinner KOs.

donbayers

My wheels are true knock offs.

You are correct. I had to take them just the rims. A local, very experienced, friend showed me the ropes on that process as I've never done that before.

The shop then balanced the wheels and put weights on the back side as well as a single thickness sticky weight inside.

I must admit pretty cool how you can beat on that spinner with a lead hammer and not hurt it.

donbayers

Here are the pics of the Cooper Trendsetter SE 205/75 tires. I am extremely pleased with how the look of these tires compliment the car and era. they have a prett clean side wall and you don't see any aggressive tread pattern.

tbarb

Don, That is a beautiful car..

RK-TECT

... and a good choice on the Cooper tires!

rayvaflav

I was wondering why you would be concerned about the w/w width on a '66 ...

Ray

donbayers

First thing to do on a new to you car that has old tires

After38Years

If you are after the original look, the 5/8 is correct. As I recall, the whitewall was also spaced a little farther from the rim than on modern 3/4 inch radial ww's.

JLSmith

Don,
After about a month of driving with your new Trendsetters, do you still like them and recommend them? I'm in the market. Also, any reason you went with 205/75 rather than 215/70?
- Jeff

avideo

mounted on my 1966 bolt on knock offs without any issues.