Tire Size Recommendations

[Patrick67BJ8]

If they were born and raised in the south they'd probably still be available. Nothing "smooth & comfortable" is ever done away with down here(including bacon grease).
Patrick

 

[Ed_K]

Bacon grease rules !
/bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif

I searched for more information about Gillette tires. It is hard to find but I found a newspaper article from 2001 that said Firestone/Bridgestone was having a hard time selling tires under the Firestone name after the Ford explorer lawsuits. In order to continue to sell tires, they had to sell them under different brand names. I'll cut and paste part of the article,

"Name that tire
Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. makes tires under these names: Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton, Seiberling, Road King, Polaris, Peerless, Gillette and Triumph. "

So it would appear that Gillette tires are made by Firestone but they kind of want it kept secret and that is why it is hard to find any information on the web.

 

[John Loftus]

Kumhos are made in Korea, not China.

Kumho is a South Korean company but has some plants in China. My Kumhos say "Made in China" on them. Here's some mo' info .. note also the reference to Goodyear and Michelin.


kumho china plants

Cheers,
John

 

[AJAX50]

I don't know if they are available in the US, but 185/70x15 Avon ZZ's are an amazing tyre. They do a hard and soft compound. For normal UK use hard is fine. They look quite old fashioned, but boy do they grip, both wet and dry.
They are radial, but have very stiff side walls.

 

[Keoke]

If they were born and raised in the south they'd probably still be available. Nothing "smooth & comfortable" is ever done away with down here(including bacon grease).
Patrick

-------------------------------- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/iagree.gif----------------- Bacon Grease Rules. Cain't even fry an egg wid out it---Keoke-- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

 

[abarth69]

I put Fuzion tires made by Bridgestone / Firestone North American Tire LLC. They are H rated 185/65R15 on 72 spoke rims.They seem to work very well.

Cheers

Mark

 

[Keoke]

I put Fuzion tires made by Bridgestone / Firestone North American Tire LLC. They are H rated 185/65R15 on 72 spoke rims.They seem to work very well.

Cheers

Mark

Yes in desperation a few years ago I also installed that size tyre on my Blue Healey. However, I find I lost some ground clearance in the process and have to be very careful going over speed bumps in the road or in parking lots.Also, Speedo error is about 3% too fast--Keoke- /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/yesnod.gif

 

[GregW]

The original tire diameter was 26" if that helps at all.

Actually the original diameter of a 590-15 tire is ~ 25.5". This is the same diameter of the 185/70R15 (on the 5.5" rim) or the 165R15 on a factory rim.

I'm curious what your sources are on that Alan. Hendrix Wire Wheel, British Wire Wheel and Jim Werner (who has one of the better Healey tech sites ) all say the original tire was 26”.

 

[healeynut]

Well, I suppose we're both sort of right. There's definitely some variance on the tires and the current H rated 590x15 that Dunlop sells is 25.9" in diameter. Most 590x15s are ~25.5", and I don't know about the original 590's Dunlop used to sell. I think the current RS5 has a slightly wider tread than the original, meaning also that it could very well be taller than the original, but I could be wrong. Check all the specs out here:

https://www.longstonetires.com/search.php?searchMethod=term&searchTerm=590+X+15