Another tire question

[Joe L.]

Re: Another tire question

The BFG tech guy is reading right from their Radial T/A spec chart, which is on their website; it shows 7.5" as max rim width for the 225/70-15, and 7" as max rim width for the 215/70-15. They aren't going to tell you anything different.

John-----


BFG must have "non-standard" or "overly conservative" specs for their tires. Most manufacturer's specs for the 225-70-15 size allow for up to an 8" wheel width. Plus, as I mentioned, later C3's used the 225-70-15 tire size as standard with the 8" wheels. Of course, none of these originally used BFG tires.

However, I've never seen any manufacturer specs that approved the use of anything wider than a 7.5" wheel for the 215-70-15 size.

[Kenneth H.]

Re: Another tire question

I had nothing better to do for the last half hour so I went to some of the tire manufacturers' websites to check rim width specifications for the two tire sizes in question (215/70R15 and 225/70R15). While I didn't look at every tire from every manufacturer, I looked at a few from each manufacturer. As it turns out none of them except Michelin recommend a rim with greater than 7.5" for either tire size. The manufacturers that I checked were Michelin, Goodyear, B.F. Goodrich, Firestone, Bridgestone, Dunlop, Continental, Hankook and Yokohama. I'm sure that there are others, but I couldn't think of any at the time.

Thanks.

[Steven B.]

Re: Another tire question

I had nothing better to do for the last half hour so I went to some of the tire manufacturers' websites to check rim width specifications for the two tire sizes in question (215/70R15 and 225/70R15). While I didn't look at every tire from every manufacturer, I looked at a few from each manufacturer. As it turns out none of them except Michelin recommend a rim with greater than 7.5" for either tire size. The manufacturers that I checked were Michelin, Goodyear, B.F. Goodrich, Firestone, Bridgestone, Dunlop, Continental, Hankook and Yokohama. I'm sure that there are others, but I couldn't think of any at the time.

Thanks.

The Tire Rack has some knowledgeable people.

[Joe L.]

Re: Another tire question

I had nothing better to do for the last half hour so I went to some of the tire manufacturers' websites to check rim width specifications for the two tire sizes in question (215/70R15 and 225/70R15). While I didn't look at every tire from every manufacturer, I looked at a few from each manufacturer. As it turns out none of them except Michelin recommend a rim with greater than 7.5" for either tire size. The manufacturers that I checked were Michelin, Goodyear, B.F. Goodrich, Firestone, Bridgestone, Dunlop, Continental, Hankook and Yokohama. I'm sure that there are others, but I couldn't think of any at the time.

Thanks.

Ken-----

Goodyear currently has only 3 tire models available in size 225-70-15---the Integrity, Eagle GT II, and Eagle RS-A. Both the Integrity and the Eagle RS-A specify a wheel width of 6.0" to 8.0". The GT II specifies a wheel width of 6.0" to 7.5".

Also, find below some information for older Goodyear tire models:

[Paul C.]

Re: Another tire question

As I stated before my 71 has BF Goodrich T/A Radial P225/70R15 and have had no problems. They work on 71 rims.

I plan (unless someone gives me a reason not to) purchase the Goodyear GT II P225/70R15 RWL since Gregory said he lost only 14/30 points at $93/each versus buying Firestone from Coker Firestone P215/70R15 at $193/each.

Paul

[Peter G.]

Re: Another tire question

Paul..

If you go with the Goodyear Eagle GTII RWL in the size P225/70x15. Shop around as I believe I have recently seen these tires sell for upper $70s each.

Maybe Tire Rack, Discount Tire or Discount Tire Direct? For your best prices.

[Kenneth H.]

Re: Another tire question

Joe, that's funny. On the Goodyear site the only tire that I checked was the Eagle GTII because it had been mentioned most in this thread. Sorry about that.

Thanks.

[Paul C.]

Re: Another tire question

Has anyone bought these tires recently and checked prices? Where did you find the best price? Goodyear Eagle GT II RWL 225/70R15

[Paul C.]

Re: Another tire question

I know everyone is probably sick of this question but there seems to be some confusion on tires when it comes to judging and point deductions. I can't afford to buy a set of tires and then find out I misunderstood the rules.
This is from the 1953-1993 Corvette Judging Reference Manual.

Deduct 60%: Current day OEM brand, service replacement size, bias or radial ply tires or current equivalent sizing designation and correct whitewall width.

Is this where the Eagle GT II RWL P225/F70x15 goodyear tires fit? OR would there be a larger deduction because they are not P215 which were the original size?

Pete stated he only lost 14/30 points at a meet. I am not doubting Pete just want to make sure another judge doesn't see it differently.

Thanks for indulging me on this point. I really appreciate your patience.

Paul

[Joe L.]

Re: Another tire question

I know everyone is probably sick of this question but there seems to be some confusion on tires when it comes to judging and point deductions. I can't afford to buy a set of tires and then find out I misunderstood the rules.
This is from the 1953-1993 Corvette Judging Reference Manual.

Deduct 60%: Current day OEM brand, service replacement size, bias or radial ply tires or current equivalent sizing designation and correct whitewall width.

Is this where the Eagle GT II RWL P225/F70x15 goodyear tires fit? OR would there be a larger deduction because they are not P215 which were the original size?

Pete stated he only lost 14/30 points at a meet. I am not doubting Pete just want to make sure another judge doesn't see it differently.

Thanks for indulging me on this point. I really appreciate your patience.

Paul

Paul------


From a judging perspective, I can't answer your question. However, I can tell you this:

First of all, 215-70-15 was NOT the original tire size for any 68-72 Corvette or, for that matter, any other year Corvette. 1968-72 used F-70-15 tire size. The current 215-70-15 tire size is closer in SOME DIMENSIONS to the F-70-15 than the 225-70-15 tire size. However, most of the major tire companies consider the 225-70-15 tire size to be the F-70-15-equivalent size. Personally, I think that OVERALL, the 215-70-15 is probably closer to the original size.

Here's a BIG practical problem, though: you will have a VERY hard time finding an acceptable 215-70-15 tire, especially from any of the 3 original tire manufacturers.

[Paul C.]

Re: Another tire question

I misread my1970-72 Technical NCRS manual. It says the P215/70R15 is the current say service replacement for the F70x15 original tires. I agree they are closer to the originals than the P225/70R15 and I agree I would NOT buy or put todays P215 Goodyear tires on my corvette.

So I am back to the original question--need some judges to weight in on the point deduction for P225/70R15 Goodyears Eagle GT RWL on a 1971 when it is judged. If I can't get anyone to answer this I'm not going to buy different tires and take a 100% deduction--I'll leave my BF Goodrich P225 on.

Thanks Again.

Paul

[Joe L.]

Re: Another tire question

I misread my1970-72 Technical NCRS manual. It says the P215/70R15 is the current say service replacement for the F70x15 original tires. I agree they are closer to the originals than the P225/70R15 and I agree I would NOT buy or put todays P215 Goodyear tires on my corvette.

So I am back to the original question--need some judges to weight in on the point deduction for P225/70R15 Goodyears Eagle GT RWL on a 1971 when it is judged. If I can't get anyone to answer this I'm not going to buy different tires and take a 100% deduction--I'll leave my BF Goodrich P225 on.

Thanks Again.

Paul

Paul-----


Another "problem" I forgot to mention, although I think it was discussed previously in this or another similar thread is that no manufacturer I know of approves the use of any of their 215-70-15 tire models on a rim as wide as 8". Usually, 7" is the maximum approved width. Some installers might not even install such a tire on 8" rims for liability reasons. As a practical matter, I've never heard of any problems with tires for folks that have used the 215-70-15 tire size on 8" wheels. Nevertheless, since this is a safety-related issue, it does bear consideration. Personally, it would give me great pause.

[Terry M.]

Re: Another tire question

I misread my1970-72 Technical NCRS manual. It says the P215/70R15 is the current say service replacement for the F70x15 original tires.
Paul

Paul,
That was "current day" when that paragraph was first written. That was 1992 or 1993. From this perspective, some 17 years later, it was a poor choice of words. On the other hand I doubt any of us thought it would remain unchanged for so long.

[Peter G.]

Re: Another tire question

Paul...

I will try to further help and clarify my situation. I am not very good with mathematics so I can not give you the formula the judges used, but maybe their thought process on MY tires.

The tires judged on my car were Goodyear Eagle GTII P225/70-15 RWL.

My car is a '73 which came with RADIAL GR70-15 tires. The closest size replacement is P225/70-15.

Remember the 60% Standard deduction is for FOUR tires only that are on the ground. My spare is the original tire!

Only FOUR tires and 30 points in the originally column that includes five tires. So really we are working with 24 points for these FOUR tires.

At 60%. 14 POINTS deduct.

The four tires on the car are correct in Brand, Size, tire construction and appearance in RWL. That is why there was no other deduction other than the Current-day OEM.

I judge these cars too and I would have come to the same point deduction as my judges did. One I believe was a "Red Hat" and the other a "Black Hat" or close to it.

I know this is confusing, as it gets me all the time.

I couldn't live with the 14 point deduct so I located a excellent set of the original tires.

I cannot tell you what tire to buy, but only give you the results of my judging experience with the tires I used. For my application (1973) I felt this was the best tire for present day driving and NCRS judging.

Good luck. I hope I was not too overpowering on this, but had to break it down step by step so I could follow it too.

[Paul C.]

Re: Another tire question

Patrick your explaination was great and makes perfect sense to me. The question is since yours was a 1973 that came with radials would that apply to 1971 that came with bias-ply nylon cord tires? Thanks for the best explaination so far regarding judging these tires. I don't like the 14 point loss but my pocketbook does.

Paul