[kingbuzzo]

What is the largest tire I could run on a 74 TA with honeys?

I used to have 15x8 and 15x10s on my old rally IIs but looking for options (and availability) advice.

Currently researching these from my other wheel thread:

As for tire selection, 15" are limited compared to modern 17-18" tires but there are still many available RWL options besides the 3 listed above, 245 & 255/60 are popular 60 series but the factory size for later 2nd gens that look good are 225/70/15. 235/245/255/275 60 still have other options, Firestone Indy 500s are being made again that are a better tire than BFG for less $, same for the Mickey Thompson radial S/T, also many lesser known name brands like Mastercraft Avenger, Herculese H/P 4000, Galaxy radial G/t, & a few others. Also some black wall options & even a very high speed rated brand I cant recall right now that another member posted on a recent 15" tire thread

thanks 78w72

[SD455DJ]

I ran 255/60R-15's without issue on my '71 Formula.

Dennis

[67Lemons]

I can’t find the Firestone Indy 500’s in 15” with RWL, there are some web listing calling them first generation but none available. Kelsey & Coker Tire list a lot of the old favorites but at $350-$650 per they are a little too rich for my blood. The lesser known brands listed above like Mastercraft & Hercules are private label tires usually made by Cooper, not a bad tire for what you’re looking for but not exactly high end, again as I mentioned in my comment on your other thread there aren’t many choices for 15’s in todays market. I’m probably going with a set of Cobra’s or MT Sportsman’s for my 15” honeycombs on my GTO but eventually will upgrade to 17” Honeycombs so I can get into a better tire.

[78w72]

Looks like the Indy 500's I was seeing new are no longer listed, they were on ebay just last year by multiple sellers with 225/70 & 275/60 as well as some other sizes and prices were a little less than BFGs at summit. Darn nice tire, I have a set of 255/60s on my 72 firebird with rally 2 7" wheels, they fit & ride excellent.

So looks like the indy 500's are off that list, your choices are classic BFG that have mostly fixed the brown letter problems they had for the last 7-8 years, on my 4th set they replaced the letters are finally white like they should be. Coopers are decent for the price but the Mickey Thompson are probably the best value/performance available in a 15" RWL tire these day, they have a higher speed rating than BFG and look similar with the solid white letters.

For size, 255/60 is the closest to the 225/70 at about 27.4" tall but a little wider, will fit & look good on a earlier 70-74 TA with 7" wheels... some have even used 275/60 on the rear for a raked look, they will fit on factory backspaced wheels, they will have more of a bulged sidewall on 7" but dont look too bad IMO.

[67Lemons]

The MT’s currently have a mail in rebate online if that helps

[burd]

Your tire shop will mount up diff size tires for you, that’s what I did. Put a tire on your car to see, Best way to go.

[Big Bear]

Just recieved 255/60-15 BFGs for the 80 TA from PMC Tire in Quebec. They ship for free if a set of 4 is bought. 10% off till April 2. Third set of tires from them. Good to deal with. 17 " American mags and Nitto tires on the 76 came from them

[Formulabruce]

FYI. Honeys are NOT well balanced when new ( rubber over steel).
They REQUIRE " LUG Centric" balancing as there is ZERO metal in the middle of the wheel for the typical "cone" used to mount on balancer.
Cone will ruin the wheel and not balance it well.

[kingbuzzo]

Ok so 255/60 fronts and 275/60 rears? I think I would like that...

For size, 255/60 is the closest to the 225/70 at about 27.4" tall but a little wider, will fit & look good on a earlier 70-74 TA with 7" wheels... some have even used 275/60 on the rear for a raked look, they will fit on factory backspaced wheels, they will have more of a bulged sidewall on 7" but dont look too bad IMO.[/QUOTE]

[kingbuzzo]

Originally Posted by Big Bear

Just recieved 255/60-15 BFGs for the 80 TA from PMC Tire in Quebec. They ship for free if a set of 4 is bought. 10% off till April 2. Third set of tires from them. Good to deal with. 17 " American mags and Nitto tires on the 76 came from them

Looks like KalTire has a four fer tree sale rn...thanks!

[kingbuzzo]

Originally Posted by burd

Your tire shop will mount up diff size tires for you, that’s what I did. Put a tire on your car to see, Best way to go.

I would be surprised if they did that...or anyting above and beyond

I'm hoping to find a shop that can balance the dang things and then buy tires from them even if it is retail...just for the troubles

[67Lemons]

FWIW after doing some online reading the MT Sportsman ST’s are made by Cooper so probably the same tire as the Cobra’s. They do look slightly different in the tread design & have different siping but have the same UTQG wear of 440, they probably use a different mold with the same rubber compound but that’s just a guess in my part.

[kingbuzzo]

Just looking around here and only BFGs seem to be available.

Why so much hate for them on PY? Was it just the white letter scandal or something else? Price maybe?

[78w72]

Originally Posted by kingbuzzo

Ok so 255/60 fronts and 275/60 rears? I think I would like that...

For size, 255/60 is the closest to the 225/70 at about 27.4" tall but a little wider, will fit & look good on a earlier 70-74 TA with 7" wheels... some have even used 275/60 on the rear for a raked look, they will fit on factory backspaced wheels, they will have more of a bulged sidewall on 7" but dont look too bad IMO.

[/QUOTE]

I have 275/60 on the rear & 255/60 on front of a 78 T/A, has a good stance and looks great IMO, but the rears are 15x8 snowflakes, theres lots of pics on here or the interwebs to show what the combo looks like or I can send a pic. I have 255/60 all the way around on a 81 TA that also looks good.

Originally Posted by kingbuzzo

Just looking around here and only BFGs seem to be available.

Why so much hate for them on PY? Was it just the white letter scandal or something else? Price maybe?

Summit & most other places have the M/T Sportsman ST as well as cooper & some others that will ship to most places.

The hate for BFG is 2 fold, one is the brown letter issue that was very common but some on here got lucky and didnt have the problem, but a quick google search turns up all kinds of complaints for it for many years... took them 4 times & 8 years replacing my tires to finally get white letters in 2023.
The other thing is they are a very outdated tread design with lower speed ratings than others like cooper or M/T, they look good but are overpriced for their performance IMO.

And unless you know someone that works at or owns a shop, you will pay to have them mount & balance a tire to see if you like it on your car... & then its been mounted so most places wont return it, thats not really an option. Look at pics of other cars & decide what you want for your.

[mgarblik]

Just a reminder, when your shopping for the less popular tires, don't forget the DOT build date codes. Bought some trailer tires not too long ago that were 8 years old according to the DOT codes. Must have been in a warehouse hidden away for 8 years. Tires are like buying milk. You really don't want to buy ones that have 75% of their expected life gone when they get to your door. Collector car tires are the worst. I won't accept any collector car tires over 2 years old when they reach me. Regular passenger car tires, 1 year.

[67Lemons]

I don’t know if there’s any hate towards the BFG’s but for me I don’t see the value in what they’re asking for them, I’d prefer the Coopers for the money personally.

[kingbuzzo]

These are great tips.

Can I see a shot of your staggered tires?

If it fits on a 8" would they also fit a 7" or just depends?

Thanks again.

[67Lemons]

Originally Posted by kingbuzzo

These are great tips.

Can I see a shot of your staggered tires?

If it fits on a 8" would they also fit a 7" or just depends?

Thanks again.

Plenty of folks running 275/60’s on a 7” rim, I used to run them on my Buick rally wheels & considering doing the same thing on my honeycombs

[78w72]

275/60 will fit on 7" wheels, the manufacturer recommended wheel size is 8" but countless people have ran them that way for decades, they will have a little more sidewall bulge or roundness but will be fine for any normal street use.

Heres a couple pics of my 78, 275/60 rear 255/60 front, the rear is a little lower now, this was with new OEM replacement springs and almost empty gas tank, but still looks very close. My 72 firebird has PTFB lowered rear leafs that look and handle much better but it has 255/60s now, I plan to change rears to 275/60 for the street set up on rally2's.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by 78w72

And unless you know someone that works at or owns a shop, you will pay to have them mount & balance a tire to see if you like it on your car... & then its been mounted so most places wont return it, thats not really an option. Look at pics of other cars & decide what you want for your.

My experience conflicts with thoughts.

20 years ago, I talked to a private shop that handled the tires I wanted and let them know I wanted to try 255/60/15's on my GTO (had the 1" wider rear on the car) to see if they fit and have 245/60's available if they didn't.

They gladly agreed to this.

For my wife's Camaro, just this week, I stopped by my local Discount Tire and asked if they would mount one size larger front tires to make sure they would fit and have a smaller size available if they don't.

Once again, they gladly agreed.

If you don't ask, you'll never know.

In the first case, that private shop got the sale.

This is my year (I won't run tires longer than 7 years) to replace both the GTO and the Camaro tires so who ever gets my tire business will sell 8 tires.

FWIW - 20 years ago, they didn't balance the tires until AFTER we knew they fit. Discount Tire plans to do it the same way.