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TR4/4A TR4 tires

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M

Mikestr4

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Looking for tires for my TR4. Any recommendations on what and where to buy?

These would be for normal driving on street, I have spokes.
 
I use 165x15s which are increasingly hard to find. Most would say these are 'skinny' tires (though not as skinny as the ones that would have come on the car) but give a period look and period handling.

For me much of the fun of the 4-cylinder TRs is the interesting handling that lets you drive the car near its limits w/o getting yourseld in a heap of trouble.

In the past I have had Michelins, Dunlops and Coopers but those are all NA except perhaps from Coker ($$$) so I will likely go with Kuomos this time around as there have been good experinences reported (as well as they may be about the only choice).

I too would be interested in what others have recently found in the $40 per corner price range.
 
I went with 165/15's from Kuhmo and have been very pleased. I payed $29 per tire and picked them up at their warehouse in Indiana as I went passed on a business trip.
 
Thanks

I was looking at Kuomos (not much else anyway) and glad to hear somebody had good experience with them.
 
I am very pleased with the Vredsteins from Coker. I like them much better than the Michelins they replaced; however, they are tubeless so you would probably have to use tubes in them on your wires.
 
Mike, I JUST bought Continental 185/65R15's. I have wires, plus I drive my car A LOT on the street. The profile is a bit lower, but they're a little wider than the metric sizes. ...plus they were very reasonable. Let me attach a picture of what the ride height looks like....
 

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macino62 said:
Mike, I JUST bought Continental 185/65R15's.
Click to expand...

What size (width) rims are those wire wheels. My tire guy told me he could not fit that size tire on my 60 spoke wires since they were only 4.5 inches wide. I would love to be able to go with that size tire just for ease of purchase and cost (especilay for my spare - though it is only a 4 inch 48 spoke wheel).

If you have the 4.5 inch rims, con you tell me how long you have driven with that size tire (or any one else who has fit a more easy to find tire on a 4.5 inch rim)
 
i think 1010 tires or tire rack sell the vredestein tires.if you want a good tire in an original size, that would be the best for the money IMHO. wire wheels flex quite a bit so i would stay with 165's with those. wider tires will put a higher g-load, due to grip, on the wheel. Also original wire wheels are only 4.5" wide so wider tires are definitely not recommended for the rim width.my spare will be a 165 since it will fit in the spare tire space. My road wheels will be 5.5 wide with 195/65-15". look for tires with an outside diameter the same (or as close to) the originals, i think it is 25.4".
Rob
 
I have 4.5" rims........and i've been running these 185's for about 2 months now. Prior to that, I put about 35,000 miles on my old 185's. (I replaced them due to age...even though I drive the heck out of this thing)
 
I tried Tire Rack for tires. They had Kumhos for $32 each but the local outfit they will drop-ship them to wants $28.40 per tire to mount & balance. Sort of spoils whatever savings was there.
 
Back in the day, when I upgraded from an original Mini to the sports cars I was seriously impressed with having a car that had wide wheels on it; 165's, "WOOHOO". And as for the boy-racer Escort down the street with 185's...
 
Geo Hahn said:
I tried Tire Rack for tires. They had Kumhos for $32 each but the local outfit they will drop-ship them to wants $28.40 per tire to mount & balance. Sort of spoils whatever savings was there.
Click to expand...

Buy a couple of 'tire spoons' and change them yourself...then take 'em in to be balanced.

Save $$$ and it isn't very hard. You can use an old bumper jack to break the bead...just put the jack base on the tire and position the edge near the bead... find the heaviest car in your fleet with a 'real' bumper and start jacking and the bead will break. Then manhandle the tires on and off...
 
VWs and 356 Porsches use 165 x 15s stock ,

they are everywhere, the stock VW rim is 4 inches wide , the 356 rim 4.5 wide.

part of the problem with modern tires 50-60 series stuff is that they are "square" on the edges , where old radial tires are more rounded,

The "squared" tire can scrape against your fender lip , especially if you have the trunk loaded with stuff,,,

Beaulieu
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]Buy a couple of 'tire spoons' and change them yourself...then take 'em in to be balanced. [/QUOTE]

Last week Harbor Freight had a portable tire changer on sale for $29.99. I got one - haven't tried it yet but looks fairly impressive for the money. I figure if I use it a couple of times I have paid for it. Trusting the care of my $300 chrome wire to a high school drop-out in a tire shop is just a little bit unsettling for me. Besides, most of these people have never seen an inner tube (except maybe on a lake or river)
Glenn
 
How does the HF tire changer hold on to the wheel to stop it from turning. The low cost changers around here only have a pin that goes through the stud hole. But since our wire wheels don't have those I did not want to bend a spoke on one of those. Otherwise I would have bought one a long time ago.

The other thing I have heard a lot of talk only about is a bubble ballancer. I wonder how well they work.
 
A bubble balancer was all that was available until the 1950's. They work OK. I used them in many tires shops well into the 70's. Off the car spin balancers didn't come into wide use until the 80's.
 
I haven't looked at the HF changer that closely - it may well be as you suggested - pin in a stud hole. I did notice that the bead breaker looked pretty good. It uses a press lever arrangement and it may be worth it just for that.

I also got the bubble balancer you mentioned (for $10). I'm not expecting miracles, but when I try it out, I will report back.
Glenn
 
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