Day 2 tires--- what are you looking for?

[whitetop]

Cragar 15 x10 on L60-15. Not the greatest match to me..the part of the tire attached to the rim is wider/sticking out further than the top of the tire. Check out the tire in the top picture were it meets the road. The tire is wider near the rim than the tread so it bulges out.

[Salvatore]

And my last sentence was "its up to the individual" I like 7's cause they don't stick out or rub. Was never really worried about the footprint. All good points fellows.

[Hemicolt]

Actually if you do it correctly, you go by section and tread width. I learned this by going to tire seminars and learning from chassis builders who knew what they are talking about. And there was plenty of info about street tires.
Here again, some peoples first priority isn't looks. They want their tires to have an even contact patch on the road. Here is a 255/70/15, which has the measurements I spoke about. Around 28"tall, 8.5" of tread and a section width of 10.25". It is mounted on a 8" rim. The tire has a nice bulge on the side wall and has dead flat wear pattern and looks right. A L60 with a 12" to 12.25" section width is 2" wider than this tire. To wide for this 8" rim. This is my priority because I put more than 8000 miles a year on my car.
Another example, a 235/60/15 mounted on a 8" rim. You can see a bulge on the side wall and flat contact patch. This tire also has a section width of 9.75" to 10", not 12". Looks good and flat tread. This is priority for Todd because he is going to put 1000's of miles a year on this car.
I really can't tell from the side view, but the top picture of the Camaro looks like the center of the tire is raised higher than the edges. I can't tell on the Mopar, but I think it looks good from the side. But I wouldn't pass any kind of judgment until I could see the contact patch.
If the Camaro in the bottom picture has a flat contact patch, the tread is 9", the rim is a 10" and the section width is 12" to 12.25", I can go with that. But that's me. I like proper function 1st and looks 2nd.
None of this really means any of us is right or wrong. To the appearence first people, they are right because they like the way it looks and that's all that matters.
To the function first people, they are right because they want proper wear pattern and that's all that matters.
To the purist people, they are right because they ran 7" rims back in the day and that's all that matters to them.
The man asked if anyone thought there was a tire size needed. I gave him my answer. Around 28" tall, 10" section, 8.5 tread and that's all that matters to me.

[whitetop]

Chandler, back in the day we did not have all the tire choices we have today. If you want a specific tire imprint on your car you might not get it with vintage bias tires and might have to use a modern radial tire.

Basically all you had back in the day if you wanted a larger size tire in terms of width was F60, G60 and L60's-there was nothing made in between those two sizes unless you went to the 50 series but then you loose height. Our tire choices back then then kinda reminds me of the old Wendy's commercial on Russian "evening wear and swim wear"..the older guys will remember that commercial.

Just as in limited tire back then, wheels were also very limited. you had two offsets back in the day, stock and deep dish(reversed) in custom wheels and this is if you were lucky. Many aluminum wheels such as slots just came in one offset. An American or Ansen 15 x 8.5 slot for instance just came in one offset back then-deep dish. That is why shackles and air shocks came about. Today you can get any offset you want from each wheel available..some wheels have 5-8 different offsets available.

Sammy is right, the 6 & 7" rims were common in the late 60's and early 70's due to the fact street tire choices in larger widths were extremely limited. Guys who wanted something wider went with mostly slicks or cheater slicks or super wide Indy car race tires. The L60 series tires were not released until 1971.

Pos-A- Traction also had some wider street tires in the late 60's in a larger width based upon the tall L70-14/15 tire core. I think the tread width was around 8"

[Hemicolt]

Thanks for the info. That was part of my original comment / question, I wasn't sure if anything was ever offered that filled the void I was speaking of.
Pro Tracs can almost cover the look that some people are wanting, but Polyglas tires in that size would be really cool if it was possible.
And as I said above, I understand what you guys are saying about what was being offered back then and what everyone may have liked. But that was then and this is now. There is a wider offering of wheel sizes and offsets. It's kind of like camshafts. I never hear about anyone asking for a 3/4 or full race cam. They are taking advantage of a better suited variety, just like some using a different wheel size today.
If I ever went to bias ply tires on the Chevelle and wanted a 28" tall tire, I would install a L60 on a little wider rim and mini tub the car. The tire I have on there now is the widest I can go without anything rubbing. It wouldn't have anything to do with being 100% period correct, it has to do with me having my car look and sit the way that I want it to.
My Vega may or may not have some little things here and there that may make someone say, "that part doesn't have the look of a real Day 2 car". That label or name doesn't matter to me. Me being happy with my car is what matters. I use the term on here because everyone knows what I am referring to when I say it.
And even though I ask questions about the history or request the valuable opinion from someone, the final choice is my own.
It's like my Model A I'm building. The street rod, gasser and beater crowd all argue with me about what I am building. Some say it is more of a street rod while others argue that it's not. I don't care about being placed in one of their cubby holes, I just care about building what I like. Which is what hot rodding is supposed to be. Expressing your own taste.

Now,shouldn't we get off this side road we went down and get back to the original question? Someone else needs to suggest if any tires should be covered..lol

[whitetop]

This tire thread is like pornography. We can't define the look that all can agree on but know it when we see it. LOL. [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

[Hemicolt]

LOL!
I don't know. There seems to be one view that all men can agree on when it comes to that subject.

[njsteve]

Here's the original owner's set of 1970 15x7 Cragars with the 1971 Parnelli Jones L60x15s in the rear and the 15x4 with F78x15 in the front. They are both 27&quot; tall.

Great thing about those B-Body Mopars is that there is still 1-1/2&quot; of clearance to the wheel well trim.