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I am taking a fresh look at tire sizes for my 69, which has a stock body.
The reason I am doing this a year later is checking on tire availability.
I did a project on a different type of car a few years back and I designed it to have a certain size 15 inch tire. A couple of years later no one was making that size anymore. So I want to take a look at tire availability at this point a year into my build of a 69
It was my understanding that the original 15 inch tires were approximately 27 inch in diameter
I also remember if I moved to seventeen inch wheels, 255/50 - 17 would be the maximum size to be able to fit under the wheel wells, with possibly having to move down to 245. I also see other ones in the 45 aspect ratio as well
With the limited number of performance tires being made in this size
What about 18 inch sizes?
What size 18 inch that would fit the 69 without rubbing
Thanks
Glenn in San Diego
Last edited by gleninsandiego; 05-14-2018 at 05:42 AM.
I am taking a fresh look at tire sizes for my 69, which has a stock body.
The reason I am doing this a year later is checking on tire availability.
I did a project on a different type of car a few years back and I designed it to have a certain size 15 inch tire. A couple of years later no one was making that size anymore. So I want to take a look at tire availability at this point a year into my build of a 69
It was my understanding that the original 15 inch tires were approximately 27 inch in diameter
I also remember if I moved to seventeen inch wheels, 255/50 - 15 would be the maximum size to be able to fit under the wheel wells, with possibly having to move down to 245. I also see other ones in the 45 aspect ratio as well
With the limited number of performance tires being made in this size
What about 18 inch sizes?
What size 18 inch that would fit the 69 without rubbing
Thanks
Glenn in San Diego
Hi Glenn
I would go to 18”s as there is more available choice and you still have a reasonable size sidewall.
I run 245/45/18 front and 255/45/18 rear
So the fronts are just under And rears just over the size of the original 215/70/15’s
You will then need to adjust ride height as it becomes more visible when you change the wheels and gaps look worse.
I would consider 235 on the front only for the reason it gets less tramline effect (another byproduct of lowering and larger width tyres.)
Have never had them scrape or hit bodywork, even when low. But mine is a 71 with slightly different wheel arches.
I stuck with 4” backspace on 8” rims to ensure they were offset correctly in the guards.
I think that you will find the answer is subjective however Craig makes some very fine points above.
I went with 17" on mine for two reasons: I got an incredible deal on the wheels and I wanted to have as much sidewall showing without hugely impacting the handling.
I will say that if I did not score the deal on these wheels I would likely buy 18's for all of the reasons mentioned above but primarily for future availability for quality rubber.
I think that you will find the answer is subjective however Craig makes some very fine points above.
I went with 17" on mine for two reasons: I got an incredible deal on the wheels and I wanted to have as much sidewall showing without hugely impacting the handling.
I will say that if I did not score the deal on these wheels I would likely buy 18's for all of the reasons mentioned above but primarily for future availability for quality rubber.
Good luck in your search!
Yep, I definitely like the look of the 17's over the 18's and thus my agony LOL
How wide a wheel do you want? That also dictates tire size that will fit. My rears are 18x9-1/2", 5-1/4" BS with a 275/40-18 tire. It fits flush with the fender lip. It may or not have interfered with the parking brake bracket on the trailing arm but I relocated it to the top of the trailing arm just to be sure.
Tires are NOT cosmetic!!!
For what USAGE are you looking for tires: track, show, street, looks only?
The car will be used mostly on the street in good weather.
The application is canyon carving on the back roads here in the Southern California mountains and desert
I am looking for a performance tire that is high speed rated
NOT looking for an all season tire
That is why I didn't want to stick with 15's and not seeing a great selection at 17 inch
How wide a wheel do you want? That also dictates tire size that will fit. My rears are 18x9-1/2", 5-1/4" BS with a 275/40-18 tire. It fits flush with the fender lip. It may or not have interfered with the parking brake bracket on the trailing arm but I relocated it to the top of the trailing arm just to be sure.
Because it is a 69 it doesn't have as much room under the fender wells
I was thinking 8 inch all around but possibly a wee bit larger in the back
I have run 8.5" 245/45/18 front and 9" 255/45/18 rear on my 70 model
I now have 9.5" 275/40/19 front and 10" 285/40/19 rear only when up to 19 to clear brakes.
Bfit
17" has the more classic look as you mention, but there is more tyres available in 18", it's a toss up... I now run 17" on the street because I prefer the look (I run 17x9.5, currently using a 285/40R17 Continental ExtremeContact Sport tyre, but previously ran 255/50R17 Nitto Invos) and 18" on the track for cheap (relatively speaking!) wide semislick tyres (18x10, currently with 295/30R18 Nankang AR1 semislicks).
For your use, personally I would run 17" wheels, even with a slightly shorter sidewall they look more "right" to me, though I have to admit the look of the 18" track wheels on my car is growing on me.
255/40zr18, 0 rubbing. T
Rears are 18x10-5.0 BS with offset TA, but did install the fronts [18x9] on the rear of a original suspension 68 coupe with no trouble.
Last edited by terrys6t8roadster; 05-15-2018 at 03:06 PM.
05-14-2018, 03:37 AM
Best tire size for a 69, 17 or 18 inch?
