Wheels / Tires: '60 Lark tires?

[Skiroule69]

Hey guys, I'm shopping for tires for my '60 Lark Regal wagon. Sorry if this post appears twice...I thought I put it up a day or two ago but can't find it now. Anyway, right now the car has 600-15 polyglas tires on it that have excellent tread but are badly weather checked. I want to go with a plain blackwall radial. 15 inch radials seem to be a rare thing nowadays, so I'm having trouble crossing the size over to see what's available.

What I wanted to know is, what would be a good radial equivalent to a 600-15? Thanks, -Marc.

[62champ]

Marc - there is no direct radial replacement for those 6.00s. Back in the 1990s one could still find p195x75x15 that were a good size. Probably the closest you will find now are 205x75x15. Good luck

[Mike Van Veghten]

Brand wise, give the Hankook brand a try.
With the proper pressure for your car, they make the car feel VERY light to steer. A non-power steering car feels like it's power. This also translates to better mileage than some other brands of tire.
I used the 205 x 75 x 15" on my 59 Lark, 2dr. wagon

Mike

[PackardV8]

While I don't personally shop at Walmart, one local CASO is using Freestar FS-110 Radial Trailer Tire - ST205/75R15 load range C he bought there for only $41.60 each, free mounting.

jack vines

[Buzzard]

Jack,
Using trailer tires for automotive use is ill advised by all the tire manufacturers. Besides a 6 ply tire will erode the ride quality we are all seeking.
On my '59 Lark V8 Hardtop, I used a steel Chryco 15 x 7 ventilated cop car wheel (not easily found in junkyards any more but still available from Wheel Vintiques) and used Firestone 215/70r15 which filled the fenders up and works superbly well even without power steering. To me this is how the car should look as when I got it, it had tires 5 sizes smaller and looked ridiculous.
I guess too many years in the tire industry makes me too picky.
Bill

[Skiroule69]

Thanks guys! Yeah, as many of you have pointed out, 195s are tough to find, and on the expensive side when they are available. I wondered about 205s but looking at the car as it sits in the garage, I worried about rubbing issues. If you guys are running them, that's all the proof I need! Thanks again! -Marc.

[thunderations]

I've had 2 sets of Cooper Trendsetters on my 66 Daytona with good results. 205/75R15 is the size you want, even though I just put 215/75R15's on the Daytona and they look good. I think the 215 better matches the original tire diameter. The big plus with the Cooper tires is that they are USA made.

[Hallabutt]

I used 205/70 15's on my 1960 wagon. I had a decent set of used tires that I put on ten years ago, that I have found to be acceptable. Yes I know that they're too old for some of the safety first guys, and not going to be a perfect match to what was originally on the car, but I have a number of cars and swapping tires every time someone told me I needed to, would bankrupt me. There is no clearance issue, but there is about, a measured, 12% speedometer error. I doubt that any radial size, even 215/75 would be an exact match for the speedometer reading. I'm not changing my original wheels on this car either. If I was going to use the car for a long trip, I think that I would be temped to try the next size transmission end speedometer, gear wheel, but it's just not a priority.

[RadioRoy]

The thing to consider is original tire diameter ( for proper gearing and speedometer accuracy, which probably wasn't so accurate anyway) and tire width to prevent rubbing on various suspension parts. The Coker catalog lists many of the dimensions you need.

The original tires were approximately 83 aspect ratio. The tallest/thinnest aspect ratio available now is 75. That's why I always use 75 series rather that 70 series.

[53k]

The thing to consider is original tire diameter ( for proper gearing and speedometer accuracy, which probably wasn't so accurate anyway) and tire width to prevent rubbing on various suspension parts. The Coker catalog lists many of the dimensions you need.

The original tires were approximately 83 aspect ratio. The tallest/thinnest aspect ratio available now is 75. That's why I always use 75 series rather that 70 series.

And the 215x75x15s are virtually the exact diameter of original 6.70x15s. V-8 station wagons and Avantis came with 6.70s. My Wagonaire and Avanti both run on 215x75x15s, new Coopers on the wagon and Hankooks on the Avanti. The Avanti speedometer is virtually exactly accurate in both speed and distance. Measuring 10 miles on the Interstate I have a one percent error (reads 10.1 miles where the signs say 10 miles).

[Skiroule69]

I priced out 205/75R15s locally. 45,000 mile tire at $77 apiece installed seems like a good deal for the initial get it up and running effort.