Wheels / Tires: Is anyone running P215/75/R15 tires on an 1963 Avanti?

[wfhenderson]

All- I am replacing my original Stude wheels with Ford Crown Vic 6"-(plus) wheels. Currently have P205/75/R15s on there, and they look a little small. This is one-size-up. I have all the measurements of the 205s vs. the 215s already, and I can see that they are 1/2 or so taller and a little wider, but I wonder--

is anyone running this combination-- and do you have any interference at any time? Parking, turning and going down the driveway ramp?

I have read the threads on here covering this topic, and looked at helpful photos members have posted, but I just wonder if anyone can give me first-hand feedback on this specific combination.

I am planning to buy a used tire to try it out, mounted on the new wheel, before I invest in 4 tires- plus shipping/mounting, etc. I will report my findings here.

Many thanks, Bill Henderson

[gs-xnr]

I have 215/70 series on mine. I chose 70 because the diameter is the same as 205/75 but better handling because of the wider tire.

[Green 53]

I run 215R/70-15's on mine as well.

Denny L

[ivorydan]

I have 215/75/R15's on my 64 GT Hawk-work great-no interference! The 225's they previously let me try did rub on the fronts. Dan

[Gunslinger]

I also have P215/70R15's on my car...looks great and fills the wheel wells nicely.

[1962larksedan]

My next project is new tires for Lark; I have it narrowed down to either P205/75R15 or P215/70R15 tires. I too have a set of Ford CV 6" rims.

[bezhawk]

Just a FYI......the original question was concerning larger tires to fill out the wheel wells a little more. All the suggestions stating 215 "70".....they are the same outside size as his current 205 75's.
As you go up in cross section, the sidewall gets shorter. If you ran a 215 "60" series, it would be the same tallness as a 195 75 series.
Yes, you can run 215 "75" 15's if your springs are in good shape.

[rockinhawk]

On my 81 Avanti I run 205/70 on the front and 215/75 on the back on Chrysler 5th Ave. wheels. Kinda puts the RAKE back into it.

[okc63avanti]

215/70/15 Firestone FireHawk Indy 500's on 6" Halibrand Engineering 5-spokes w/ 4" back spacing.

[wfhenderson]

Thank you all--

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. All of your input is interesting, but that Bezhawk and Ivorydan says are the answers I was looking for especially. The art of tire sizing surely feels like "alchemy" to me! I have purchased a used tire "for fitting" purposes just to make sure, and I will be sure to advise of my results back in this thread. My springs are in good shape, but I am aware of problems people have with cracked fender lips from being too low with big tires.

Much obliged to all.

Bill Henderson

[Dick Steinkamp]

As you go up in cross section, the sidewall gets shorter.

How so?

The first number is the cross section in millimeters.

The second is the sidewall height as a percent of the cross section.

A 215 75 15 has a taller side wall than a 205 75 15 (75% of 215 is greater than 75% of 205).

[bezhawk]

That's not what I was trying to convey, later in the paragraph, I said a 70 series tire was shorter that the 75 series. I hope I din't confuse everybody. Sometimes my fingers don't type what my brain is thinking.

[1962larksedan]

Reading between the lines here; either a 205/75R15 or a 215/70R15 are OK: any other tire size; beware. Although a 16 incher with the same overall height should also be safe i.e. a 225/65R16(?).

[wfhenderson]

Tire Size Comparison - and what will fit without interference

Since this thread has generated considerable comment, perhaps this photo will help. I cannot take credit for it, it was originally posted by member "53k" on this site back in 2007.

The original caption explains the sizes with embellishment from me.

From left to right:

1) NOS Firestone bias play 6.70x15 on a stock Avanti rim
2) P215/75/15 on a 6-inch rim (the tire I want to use because it looks closer in size to original. I call it the "Desired size" through the rest of this post.)
3) P205/75/15 tire (mounted on a stock Studebaker rim) that I have now. These tires are what I have now, as do so many other Avanti drivers. They are the tire-book-defined standard replacement for the OEM tire. They look a little too short to me, do not fill the wheel well as nicely, but are probably a "safe" replacement for a generic chart because they are slightly smaller than originals while the desired P215/75/15 is slightly wider than original. Hey- if I was the tire company I would do the same thing... better to go smaller than bigger to save the company headaches.
4) P195/75/15 on a six-inch wheel. The author writes that this tire is the one that is "highly sought after" but hard to find.

Just looking at this photo, and reviewing tire dimension charts, the desired P215/75/15 tire is 27.7 inches in diameter, compared to 27.4 for the OEM, compared to 27" for the P205/75/15. Doesn't it seem to "look closest" to the OEM tire ?

The contact patch of the desired tire, #2 above is significantly larger than the OEM - 4 1/2" tread compared to 8.4"(!!!) according the the charts I have from my reaearch. I do not have a numerical comparison of the OVERALL width of the OEM vs desired tire, but it is clearly a little wider. As we know, this can be managed with wheel offset, so I have purchased a used tire on the desired size to mount on my Ford Crown Vic wheel to see how it goes.

Hope this adds clarification.

[53k]

Since this thread has generated considerable comment, perhaps this photo will help. I cannot take credit for it, it was originally posted by member "53k" on this site back in 2007.

The original caption explains the sizes with embellishment from me.

From left to right:

1) NOS Firestone bias play 6.70x15 on a stock Avanti rim
2) P215/75/15 on a 6-inch rim (the tire I want to use because it looks closer in size to original. I call it the "Desired size" through the rest of this post.)
3) P205/75/15 tire (mounted on a stock Studebaker rim) that I have now. These tires are what I have now, as do so many other Avanti drivers. They are the tire-book-defined standard replacement for the OEM tire. They look a little too short to me, do not fill the wheel well as nicely, but are probably a "safe" replacement for a generic chart because they are slightly smaller than originals while the desired P215/75/15 is slightly wider than original. Hey- if I was the tire company I would do the same thing... better to go smaller than bigger to save the company headaches.
4) P195/75/15 on a six-inch wheel. The author writes that this tire is the one that is "highly sought after" but hard to find.

Just looking at this photo, and reviewing tire dimension charts, the desired P215/75/15 tire is 27.7 inches in diameter, compared to 27.4 for the OEM, compared to 27" for the P205/75/15. Doesn't it seem to "look closest" to the OEM tire ?

The contact patch of the desired tire, #2 above is significantly larger than the OEM - 4 1/2" tread compared to 8.4"(!!!) according the the charts I have from my reaearch. I do not have a numerical comparison of the OVERALL width of the OEM vs desired tire, but it is clearly a little wider. As we know, this can be managed with wheel offset, so I have purchased a used tire on the desired size to mount on my Ford Crown Vic wheel to see how it goes.

Hope this adds clarification.

Thanks for saving me the trouble of finding that photo.
To answer the original question- I am running 215x75x15s on both my '64 Avanti and my '64 Dautona Wagonaire and I ran 215x75x15s on the '64 Daytona convertible I sold a couple years ago. IMHO that is the only tire to use on the cars that originally used 6.70x15s. 215s keep my speedometer and odometer virtually dead on as they are virtually the same height/diameter.circumference as the 6.70s.
Below are pix of the cars with 215x75s.