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What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

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Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

I am considering buying 72-spoke Dunlop chrome wire wheels from the UK (made probably in India, I am told) which are 5.5" wide and which can take a 195 tire. I am also considering chrome 72-spoke Dayton wires from a domestic vendor. These are only 5" wide and can handle up to a 185 tire. Some have warned that the Dunlops require truing whereas the Daytons don't. Is there any truth to that? Which wheel do you think is the better wheel if all things are equal (except width)? I'd prefer the wider wheel but if there are too many minuses (trying, higher freight), maybe I can forgo that extra half-inch. Opinions?

(I am posting this here and in my original post about tire sizes on the TR3 forum, so forgive me if you read it twice. I am only trying to get the widest variety of views & opinions since some TR4 owners won't read my post in the TR3 section and vice-versa)
 
Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

61TR3A said:
...Some have warned that the Dunlops require truing whereas the Daytons don't...
Click to expand...

Most notably a vendor who sells Daytons but not Dunlops.

I got new Dunlops about 10 years ago and they were & are just fine. I did not have them trued and my crude tests (runout & spoke ring tone) suggest that they are still true.

IMO (and this is very much just my opinion) the TR3s & 4s look best with a painted wheel and 60 spokes.

SaguaroTR3A.jpg


<span style="font-style: italic">PS - Why are you considering buying the Dunlops from the UK -- you are aware they are in the Moss (US) catalog and even go on sale from time to time?

https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=70307&SortOrder=6</span>
 
Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

I do find one statement in the auction listing rather "interesting":

<span style="font-style: italic">This one of the worlds most respected tire manufacturers offering a tire designed and created as a collector car tire.</span>

I've no argument with "most respected tire manufacturers"; however, "tire designed and created as a collector car tire"? I don't think that really was the case when these first came out, replacing the ZX series that, in turn, had pretty much replaced the original "X" or "X-stop" radials that were OE on the TR3/4. I had XZX's on a '67 Volvo 144 back in the mid-1980s and liked them very much. While I treasured that car for a number of years, I never thought of it then as just a collector car, nor did my buddies and their Saab 99s or VW Beetles really think of their cars solely as collector cars. :laugh:
 
Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

According to the UK outfit offering the licensed Dunlop wires, they also make theirs nowadays using polished stainless steel spokes and nipples that don't require truing, same as Dayton claims. Since they are 5.5" wide, I am leaning more toward them than the Daytons which are only 5" wide.

I think I can rule out those Michelin XZX tires in any event because I'd go to 185 if I bought the Daytons and 195 (or 205, if possible) on the Dunlops.

If I were bold enough to do it, I'd get painted wires and have them painted red and put on wide whitewalls. With my Sebring White body and red interior it would look awesome but perhaps a little too feminine and not everyone's cup of tea. Would look awesome on an XK120, though.
 
Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

FWIW, Dayton also makes 15x6 wire wheels that should fit fine as long as you don't go too wide on the tire.
 
Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

Hmm. I looked at their site and they didn't offer that size for the TR, I don't think. Maybe I should look again. I think they offered it for one model Jag, though.
Yep, just checked and they don't list anything bigger for a TR2/3 than their 5" width wheel. I don't think I want to mess with non-conforming wheels and end up with a set that causes rubbing or doesn't fit right so 5.5" is wide enough for me. I don't want to muck the car up by being too creative.
 
Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

OK, I am buying a set of 5 Dunlop reproduction 72-spoke chrome wires form the UK together with 4 spline adapters & 4 knockoff spinners. The wheels are 5.5" wide. Does anyone know what size tires I need to order for them? I'd like to go as wide as safely possible so as to add traction, but not go to low profile so as to maintain the period look (even though there weren't 72-spoke wires back in the day, so please humor me; this is a driver, after all, not a show car). Is 195/65/15 the right size? That's what's on my Minator 5.5"-wide wheels now so I know that fits but I wonder if I cold go to 205 and if so, what the next number should be. All opinions and advice are welcome! Thanks,
Jeff
PS: Once again, my apologies for posting this question in my O.P. in the TR3 forum so as to get the widest variety of replies so sorry if you read it twice. I'm just trying to get the most advice possible and not trying to be annoying (though I'm sure I am to some!)
 
Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

At one time, I was poised to pull the trigger on a set of Michelin 165 - 15 XAS for somewhere in the well-over-$200/ea. part of the stratosphere. What dissuaded me, in the end, was that no one in the USA actually had them in stock, nor could tell me when they might restock.

I had done a good bit of research. This is the Official Michelin Classic Tires web site. Not a dealer -- this is Michelin. The problem seems to be that these are run infrequently. If Coker (or whoever else) runs out, that's it until Michelin decides to run another batch. The catalog contains X, XZX, XAS & some others.
 
Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

I spoke with Coker yesterday and they don't have any more XZXs or even X Michelins and the one model they do have which I hadn't heard of sells for some absurd money like $400 a tire!

I've therefore gone and ordered 5 of these Michelin Primacy MXV4 in 195/65/15:
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?...amp;tab=Reviews
But not from Tire Rack as my local dealer is selling them to me for $118 each plus $19.95 for install and balance. They get high marks from reviewers who have owned them so I htink they'll be decent tires to run on my car. Hope I'm right!

Once I get the wires and the tires onto the car, I'll offer my Minator Minilites for sale. They are made by the same factory in UK as the Minilites and are really nice alloy wheels. I'll throw away the Sumitomos as they are over 11 years old.
 
Re: What Size Tire is Ideal for a 15" X 5.5" Wheel?

61TR3A said:
Is 195/65/15 the right size? That's what's on my Minator 5.5"-wide wheels now so I know that fits but I wonder if I cold go to 205 and if so, what the next number should be.
Click to expand...
What I remember from playing around with The Mintylamb Tyre & Wheel Compare-o-rama is that 205-65-15 is a dead match for the original 165/80/15 diameter. Sadly, these are unavailable as "sports car" tires. They are difficult to find, at all, and the ones that there are are load range C or D and meant for Volksy Eurovans and other heavy load applications.

195/65/15 is a little smaller diameter -1.65%, pretty close, really. And I think this size is more readily available in a sporty tire. If you try 205/60/15 (-2.87% diam.) I think you find tires... On a 5.5" rim, 165 is the min. recommended width, and 205 is the max.
 
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