Tires for Hornet

Geoff

Okay, I know it has been talked about Umpteen times before, but I cannot find it.   I have the opportunity to get a set of 225/70R/15 white walls for a reasonable price.   Will these be okay for my Hornet?  Thanks in anticipation.

Geoff 

RL Chilton

Geoff-

If I remember right, the 225's will fit on the car and you can get the rear tires in and out of the wheel well, however, the 225's won't fit in the well of a '52 or higher.  Can't remember what year Hornet you have.  235's are too big for rear unless you drop the shock.  

ernie28

Hi Geoff - if they don't fit your car then maybe they may be OK for the Pacemaker (depending on price)??

Park_W

Geoff, the 225s will fit, but to install or remove at the rear, you have to jack under the frame so the rear axle can drop fully down.  225s are definitely the max.

Lee ODell

I have 225/75R/15 on my 52 Hornet. Tight fit on and off in the rear. The 225/70R/15 may not be as tall a tire but will be wider than 225/75R/15 which will probably be more difficulty getting on and off being a wider tire. My car had 235/75R/15 when I bought it. I had to disconnect the rear shocks and track bar and use bottle jack between frame and spring to get rear end low enough to get tires out. The reason I had to disconnect the track bar was because the rear end would go toward outer perimeter frame as the track bar angle became greater as bottle jack pressed spring down which reduced to space to get tire out between brake drum and perimeter frame on right rear. Maybe he will let you mount one tire to see it will fit right rear. Might get lucky.

Geoff

Thanks for the comments.   I am going to  change the rear end ratio, currently 4.55, to a 4.1, and figured a change to radials may be  advantageous at the same time.   So these 225/70R/15's will be slightly smaller diameter, and the taller gearing will still give me some  overall advantage.  I thought the 225 designation was the overall width?  I have never had anything to do with radials, obviously.

Geoff 

Per

Geoff,

     The 51 Pacemaker coupe which Dan McNichol and I drove across the US a couple of times a dozen or so years ago came with 225/75R/15 tires.  They were very good for the long distance driving we did, but the steering was heavy on turns in the city and when parallel parking.

     When the front tires needed replacing, (one of them made quite a loud bang!) we bought 7:10-15 tires just for the front (Firestone).  This gave much more comfortable city driving.  

     When the time came to choose tires for the 49 Commodore 4-door that we've been driving more recently, we decided to use 7:10-15 on all four wheels.  This was both for the steering, and because the 7:10-15 tires are taller than the 225/75R/15 tires, and I wanted as slow an engine speed as I could get.

               Per  

Geoff

Going on that, I would have a lot lower profile with 225/70 then.  Perhaps I will re-consider!

Geoff 

Lee ODell

Geoff Take a tap measure to verify the tire height. My 225/75R/15 tires are 28 inches tall. Just for information sake, not all radial manufactures are the same height or width measurements even though they are marked the same size. There may be as much as 1/2 inch difference in height between different tire manufacturers that are marked the same size . Radial tire series sizes - Narrow 75, 70, 65, 60, 50, 40 wider. As the series number decreases the width increases. Also, the height decreases as the width increases. Also, as the tire width increases the steering effort increases when turning at slow speed with manual steering. Lee

Lee ODell

Since majority of my driving is highway I preferred radial tires. As long as car tires are rolling I have no issure turning the steering wheel in parking lots. I believe the center point steering arm (idler arm) bearing wears out faster when turning the steering wheel when tires are not rolling. Therefore, I do not try turning steering wheel until car begins moving.

Geoff

Lee, you have me confused sorry.   You say the say as the number decreases  the "width" increases.  By width do you  mean the diameter of the tyre?       So if what you say is correct, a 225/70 tyre will be bigger than a 225/75? 

Geoff

Lee ODell

Geoff, sorry, no not the diameter. By width I mean the tire tread width is wider as the series number decreases. . Also, the tire bead becomes farther apart which will require wider rims when you get into the 65 and lower series so the center of tire will not bow out in the middle. The 225/70 tire tread will be wider than the 225/75 tread. Also, the 225/70 diameter will be a little less than the 225/75. The shorter diameter of 225/70 plus wider tread footprint will also help stability in corners because of less sidewall flexing. If you can find 5&1/2 inch wide wheels that would also help handling with those tires. Lee O'Dell

RichardD

Know this is not about Brands--but look at the weights on one of my wheels with Coker tires ('53 Hornet). And, yes, the other three tires have as many weights. So, what does this tell you ??  {just happened to notice the weights in this photo}

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/q9rTdUl983rIswYTS58vgNa1xVjDyxjjS9DWtFp7OSM?feat=directlink

Will comment on my 235x75x15 radials: They are only 5/8" wider {9.4" vs 8.78"} and 5/8" larger in diameter {28.9" vs 28.29"} than their 225x75x15 radials. I have not found them to be a problem. I use the bumper jack to raise the car to where the tire is just coming off ground, then use a scissors jack to raise the rear axle up.  BTW, the whitewall is 5/8" wider: 3-1/8" !!

edit: can also use the Air-lift shock absorbers I have to raise the body from the axle !!!!!!! NO Problem.

Per

Geoff,

     I just realized that my tires were 225/70R15, not 75.  I measured them to have 1 inch less diameter than the 7:10-15 tires I replaced them with.

             Per

Lee ODell

Richard,

Each square on those stick on weights represents 1/4 or 1/2 ounce..  I don't see the whole strip but what I see is 1 3/4 ounces, if 1/4 ounce squires, which offsets the heavier side of tire at 4 o'clock position.  If you have another weight on the outer side of wheel  in different location then either the heavy part of the tire is off enter or wheel is slightly bent or tire bead is not seated evenly around the wheel.

Lee O'Dell

RichardD

ALL IN ONE PLACE.

 

Geoff

Thanks for all the  comments.  They don't make things simple any more do they!  I'll try a couple of 700 15 WW's I have first.  Paradoxically, they are bigger diameter than the original size 700.15.   If they dont improve things I will go to radials.   Strange thing, I have a new set of 775/15 (new size equates to old 670.15) on my jet and they are great, steer well, no wandering or tramming.   

Geoff