Wheels / Tires: Radial tires

[plee4139]

I need one radial whitewall tire for my '56 Sky Hawk, I believe size is 175/70or75x15. Coker and Diamond Back didn't list them, onl Vredenstein whitewalls.

[Gunslinger]

Give Diamondback a call. They use current, new tires and will often buy what you need and put the whitewall you need on it.

[thunderations]

175's seem very small for this car. The usual tire used is a 205/75x15. Some go with the 70 series to get a small diam, but the tire is wider. I have seen some with 195/75x15, but never 175's.
Your car originally had 670x15 or 740x15 I think. Check with classic car tire suppliers to see which radial tire best fits the diameter and width the original tire had.

[JoeHall]

175s would look like the doughnut spare in modern cars.

[studegary]

I need one radial whitewall tire for my '56 Sky Hawk, I believe size is 175/70or75x15. Coker and Diamond Back didn't list them, onl Vredenstein whitewalls.

Unless this is for a spare, or the other tires are unused, buy at least two new ones (four is better).
You should get the radial equivalent of 6.70X15.

[raoul5788]

l'm guessing it's really a 195/75x15.

[53k]

l'm guessing it's really a 195/75x15.

In the early day of metric tires in the US, the direct equivalent of 6.70x15 was 195x15. Width numbers weren't in use then.
In 1968 I had my wife take the Wagonaire to a Michelin dealer to replace the 6.70x15 Firestone 500s. They installed 185x15 Michelins which were one size too small. I couldn't take them back (I was in Viet Nam) so we used the 185s and got something over 60,000 miles on them. Anyhow, I later used 195x15 Pirellis on my '63 Avanti and 195x15 Sears (Michelin) radials on my '64 Champ pickup and they were correct for 6.70s both.
So, since Skyhawks originally came with 7.10x15 tires, a 225x75x15 radial is the closest in diameter to the originals (though a 215x75x15 will fit better).

[studegary]

In the early day of metric tires in the US, the direct equivalent of 6.70x15 was 195x15. Width numbers weren't in use then.
In 1968 I had my wife take the Wagonaire to a Michelin dealer to replace the 6.70x15 Firestone 500s. They installed 185x15 Michelins which were one size too small. I couldn't take them back (I was in Viet Nam) so we used the 185s and got something over 60,000 miles on them. Anyhow, I later used 195x15 Pirellis on my '63 Avanti and 195x15 Sears (Michelin) radials on my '64 Champ pickup and they were correct for 6.70s both.
So, since Skyhawks originally came with 7.10x15 tires, a 225x75x15 radial is the closest in diameter to the originals (though a 215x75x15 will fit better).

Are you sure about the Sky Hawks? I do not have 1956 spec's. handy, but for 1957 all V8 Hawks came with 6.70X15 except for the Golden Hawks that came with 7.10X15. I thought that 1956 Hawks were similar.

[riversidevw]

The Vredestein Sprint Classic 185R15 is an 80-series profile, fairly close to the old 6.70-15. But it's a blackwall. 195R15 is mostly extinct, except a few trailer tires. As Gary said, I really hope this single new tire is just for use as a spare.