Tire Size on Stock Rally Wheel

[money pit]

Does anyone know if I can mount a 60 series tire on a stock 14 inch rally wheel? I currently have 225-70-14 tires. I would like to get a wider tire without replacing the wheels if possible. Or do I need to get a 15 inch wheel that is wider, like a 7 or 8 inch wheel? I want wider tires without any interference/rubbing problems. Thanks

 

[moparleo]

Assuming you have 5.5" wheels since you didn't say.
Here is a chart for proper fitment.
Tyre Size for Rim Size/Width Calculator - What's the best tyre size for my rim?

 

[NoCar340]

A 225/60 would fit, since the section width is the first number: 225mm. That being said, a friend had 235/60R14s on his Charger using its OE 14" road ("Magnum") wheels. They looked pretty small on that car. The "70" or "60" is the expression of sidewall height as a percentage of the section width. P225/70R-14 literally means: 225mm wide, the sidewall is 70% of that width, R = radial, 14 = rim diameter in inches.

225/25.4 = 8.86" wide (at the sidewall, not the tread).
225x70% = 157.5mm sidewall height. 157.5/25.4 = 6.2" sidewall height.
14" + 6.2" + 6.2" = 26.4", the overall diameter of your current tires.

Doing the same math shows a tire OD of 24.6" for a P225/60R-14, and 25.1" for a P235/60R14. So, for no gain in width by simply switching to a 225/60, you'll lose nearly 2" of tire height. For the approximate half-inch of overall width (but only about 0.3" of tread) you'd gain by going to a 235/60, you lose 1.3" of height. Height is important--you don't want to have a bunch of unfilled wheelwell. It makes the tires look too small on the car. E-bodies have pretty large wheel openings.

These are P235/60R-14s (25.1" overall height), F/R on my '69 Valiant, with much smaller wheel openings than an E-body:

For comparison, here's a P255/50R-17 (27.0" overall height) on my '74 Challenger project:

The fender was just hung there temporarily, not aligned, so the wheel's not centered. Regardless, I think losing 2" of overall wheel/tire height would really detract from the look.

The Tire Rack has a really good feature where you can pick a tire, then click on the "Specs" tab, then choose "See specs for all sizes" and it will show you width, overall diameter, acceptable wheel widths, and what size wheel they used to take the measurements (a wider wheel will shorten the height some and a narrower one will make it a tad taller). Click here to see the specs for all the BFG Radial T/As they carry. Those sizes will be very close to competitor's offerings, such as Cooper, Mastercraft, Kelly, etc.

Another thing to consider when buying tires: How much longer will your chosen size be available? I had the 17" wheels made for my Challenger because, simply put, there are no good 15" performance tires available in musclecar sizes. 14s and 15s are going away, slowly but surely. I love the look of Radial T/As--I have a set of 255/60R-15s on steelies/dog dishes for the Challenger--but they're not really comparable to modern performance tires. They're hard, they're slippery... but on the bright side, they last an eternity.

 

[money pit]

Assuming you have 5.5" wheels since you didn't say.
Here is a chart for proper fitment.
Tyre Size for Rim Size/Width Calculator - What's the best tyre size for my rim?

Thanks for the info. Is this information from England or Australia? I noticed they spell tire, tyre.

 

[money pit]

A 225/60 would fit, since the section width is the first number: 225mm. That being said, a friend had 235/60R14s on his Charger using its OE 14" road ("Magnum") wheels. They looked pretty small on that car. The "70" or "60" is the expression of sidewall height as a percentage of the section width. P225/70R-14 literally means: 225mm wide, the sidewall is 70% of that width, R = radial, 14 = rim diameter in inches.

225/25.4 = 8.86" wide (at the sidewall, not the tread).
225x70% = 157.5mm sidewall height. 157.5/25.4 = 6.2" sidewall height.
14" + 6.2" + 6.2" = 26.4", the overall diameter of your current tires.

Doing the same math shows a tire OD of 24.6" for a P225/60R-14, and 25.1" for a P235/60R14. So, for no gain in width by simply switching to a 225/60, you'll lose nearly 2" of tire height. For the approximate half-inch of overall width (but only about 0.3" of tread) you'd gain by going to a 235/60, you lose 1.3" of height. Height is important--you don't want to have a bunch of unfilled wheelwell. It makes the tires look too small on the car. E-bodies have pretty large wheel openings.

These are P235/60R-14s (25.1" overall height), F/R on my '69 Valiant, with much smaller wheel openings than an E-body:

View attachment 78416


For comparison, here's a P255/50R-17 (27.0" overall height) on my '74 Challenger project:

View attachment 78417


The fender was just hung there temporarily, not aligned, so the wheel's not centered. Regardless, I think losing 2" of overall wheel/tire height would really detract from the look.

The Tire Rack has a really good feature where you can pick a tire, then click on the "Specs" tab, then choose "See specs for all sizes" and it will show you width, overall diameter, acceptable wheel widths, and what size wheel they used to take the measurements (a wider wheel will shorten the height some and a narrower one will make it a tad taller). Click here to see the specs for all the BFG Radial T/As they carry. Those sizes will be very close to competitor's offerings, such as Cooper, Mastercraft, Kelly, etc.

Another thing to consider when buying tires: How much longer will your chosen size be available? I had the 17" wheels made for my Challenger because, simply put, there are no good 15" performance tires available in musclecar sizes. 14s and 15s are going away, slowly but surely. I love the look of Radial T/As--I have a set of 255/60R-15s on steelies/dog dishes for the Challenger--but they're not really comparable to modern performance tires. They're hard, they're slippery... but on the bright side, they last an eternity.

I didn't know picking a tire and rim size was so involved. There looks like there is a lot of math involved, which wasn't my best subject in school. I'm glad there are knowledgeable people like you and others to support the less experienced people like me. Thanks very much

 

[moparleo]

In the end you must have at least the same load capacity as the original sized tire. A tire is really just a bladder filled with air. Like a balloon. The volume of air not the shape of the balloon determines how much load it will carry. Push down on the top of a balloon and it will get shorter But it will also get wider. Same volume, different shape. So in tire sizing ( the old way before metric sizing) An "F" series tires regardless of profile indicated the load of the tire eg..That is why there are books/charts called load and inflation charts.
I will attach a dew charts and the page of oe sized tires for the E-body with various sizes for each engine size. Use the charts to find your factory recommended size. Find its olad capacity and the cross reference the other sizes that will safely work. Have fun.

 

[money pit]

In the end you must have at least the same load capacity as the original sized tire. A tire is really just a bladder filled with air. Like a balloon. The volume of air not the shape of the balloon determines how much load it will carry. Push down on the top of a balloon and it will get shorter But it will also get wider. Same volume, different shape. So in tire sizing ( the old way before metric sizing) An "F" series tires regardless of profile indicated the load of the tire eg..That is why there are books/charts called load and inflation charts.
I will attach a dew charts and the page of oe sized tires for the E-body with various sizes for each engine size. Use the charts to find your factory recommended size. Find its olad capacity and the cross reference the other sizes that will safely work. Have fun.


View attachment 78418

View attachment 78419

Thanks for the info. it is very helpful. sorry for the delayed response. I'm having major computer issues.

 

[moparleo]

Save the charts if you can. The info is never obsolete.

 

[1970GranCoupeCo]

I am looking at replacement tires (tyres) for my car.

The current tires are BF Goodrich Euro TA P245/50R15 and they fit perfectly in both width in the wheel wells and the ride heigth of the car and I am super happy with them because they look really good but sadly they are no longer available.

So at this point I do not know with 100 percent certainty the width of the rim because the tire is on it and I do not have the caliper tool that the tire shops have to measure the width.

The rims are the rallye rims that were purchased from Year One in circa 1992. The invoice (paper receipt can you believe how old school that is) states that the rims are PN FP88B and the description is "WHEEL -15 MOPAR RALLYE NEW REPRO" but does not give the width. The trim rings are on the same receipt and they are FP157C TRIM RING SET 15X7 RALLYE CHROME STYLE so the rims must be 15 X 7

Does anyone have a recommendation of make and size tire for the replacement?

THANKS!!!

 

[moparleo]

This is for the guy who jumped into this posting instead of starting his own. Unfortunately time and tire technology has moved on. The 15" size is a limited Niche tire for older "Classic Cars" so the few reproductions of those tires are very costly.
That size was a limited fitment even back then. Here is a dimension chart to help you find similar height/width but I don't know of anyone currently making that size. Time to make a change. 30 years too late for those.
Tire Height Chart