What's a reasonable tire size for a 1965 Special wagon on 15"x7" wheels?

[elagache]

Dear Steve and mid-60s Buick longroof fans,

I run 215/70/15 on 15x7 Buick Ralleys on my '65 Sportwagon; you can see pics in "Other Buicks".  They work very well; just a little rubbing in tight parking lot turns.

Thanks! That's good to know!  I've got fuel injection issues to straighten out first, but eventually my trusty wagon will need "new shoes!"

Cheers, Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick tire experts,

I'm reawakening this thread because I really should order these tires one of these days and I'm wondering if I could go with fatter tires for the rear wheels.  I've got a problem in that the spare tire well in a 1965 wagon is very narrow, so I'll need a unique tire that will fit in there.  Also since I'm still dreaming of road trips, I need to have a spare that can be used on any corner of the car.

We last left this thread wtih an agreement that 215/65-R15 looked like a reasonable option for the front and potentially the rear.  Walt pointed out one combo with reasonably close final tire diameter:

215/65 front and 235/60 rear are 26.0" and 26.1" tall.

The 235/60-R15 isn't a huge change but that puts almost an additional inch of width on the road.  What do you'all think?  Would this be a worthwhile tweak?

Thanks in advance for your expertise!

Cheers, Edouard 

[dsags]

Like Walt's choice in the tire sizes. The spare doesn't need to be the same width as the rear just the same diameter so the 215 would make a good spare. Make sure the 215/65-15 fits in the spare tire well.

[WkillGS]

215/65 front and 235/60 rear are 26.0" and 26.1" tall.

If you want a taller/wider tire:
215/70 front and 255/60 rear are 26.9" and 26.8"


Steve has 215/70-15 on his wagon. Pics here:
http://65gs.com/board/index.php?topic=2712.0

I'd suggest doing a test fit to see what works or looks best!

[elagache]

Dear Dan, Walt, and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

Thanks for the thoughts.  At the moment I would prefer not to take any risk of rubbing.  The car is handling very well with the small tires she has now.  I don't think I'll ever drive the car aggressively enough to need extreme rubber.  So I would prefer something that is conservative.

Steve has 215/70-15 on his wagon. Pics here:
http://65gs.com/board/index.php?topic=2712.0

I just left a post on that thread to see if Steve would chime in on the question of whether or not he has any rubbing problems on the front.  Even so Ken pointed out in an earlier post that 70s weren't as good a choice anyway:

The 70 series tire has more sidewall flex for a poorer handling car

So, maybe the 215/65-R15s are good enough for the front.

Thanks again guys!

Cheers, Edouard

[SBRMD]

Hey Guys,

I only get rubbing on extreme, hard over, parking-lot type situations at slow speed, never during regular driving.  And, since my front springs are original and probably a little saggy, maybe new spring would erase even that.

Best regards,
Steve.

[elagache]

Dear Steve and mid-60s Buick fans of "rubber meeting da' road!"

I only get rubbing on extreme, hard over, parking-lot type situations at slow speed, never during regular driving.  And, since my front springs are original and probably a little saggy, maybe new spring would erase even that.

. . . . Awe shucks!  Just when I thought I could make up my mind! . . . . .

What sort of a spare tire would work with 215/70-15 and/or 255/60 and still would fit in the spare tire well of a 1965 Buick wagon?

Yes I know I should open up the spare tire well and just measure it, but the closest I got to getting any work done on my wagon was run another cold start test with the fuel injection system.  I logged all sort of interesting data - that I still haven't any time to look at!

"Such are the conditions that prevail" . . . . . Edouard

[SBRMD]

As has been previously observed, the only real important dimension of the spare is the outside diameter.  Hence, the spare in my Sportwagon  does not match the tire on the car except outside diameter.  I haven't even been in the spare well for a long time, gotta look at it.  I'm sure up to a 225 would fit width-wise.  Guessing that a 255 is too wide.

[elagache]

Dear Steve and mid-60s Buick longroof tire experts,

I haven't even been in the spare well for a long time, gotta look at it.  I'm sure up to a 225 would fit width-wise.  Guessing that a 255 is too wide.

The time has come for me to pry free some time and open up the spare tire well and take some dimensions.

As has been previously observed, the only real important dimension of the spare is the outside diameter.  Hence, the spare in my Sportwagon  does not match the tire on the car except outside diameter. 

Yes indeed you are 100% correct.  The only other potential fly in the ointment is how tall a tire will fit into the spare tire well.  As I recall, the existing spare comes very close to the top of the cover.  So I'm not sure you can fit a tire that is almost 27" in diameter.  However, there is only one way to find out! 

I'll try to find the time today and get those dimensions.

Cheers, Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick longroof "archaeologists" . . . . .

I made a "terrible" mistake this afternoon . . . . I removed the cover of my trusty wagon's spare tire well.  You see, that's where my Dad stored all the spare parts he - might - need.  I did the best I could, but there was no way I could get a measuring tape to the bottom to see how big a tire might fit.  I did take a picture though:



If you look carefully, the back wall of the well is starting to slope toward the existing tire.  Clearly you are not going to get a tire with a much larger diameter into that well.  I just double-checked, the factory tires were 25.9".  So I should be okay with the tire combo that tops out around 26".  Going with any bigger tires means I wouldn't have a spare.  That just doesn't feel prudent since I hope to go on some long road-trips.  I'm not sure I want all the junk that is currently in the spare tire well, but I think I really should have a working spare!

Oh well, . . . Edouard

P.S.  Yes I know, I'll have to find the time to actually clean the well!

[WkillGS]

What size is your present spare?

The Sportwagon used a 775-14, which was about 27" tall. I'm sure your Special has the same size tire well.
Why not just visit a local service center, tire dealer, or friend and test fit a tire into the spare tire well?

[elagache]

Dear Walt and mid-60s Buick tire experts,

What size is your present spare?

Unfortunately I couldn't see.

The Sportwagon used a 775-14, which was about 27" tall. I'm sure your Special has the same size tire well.
Why not just visit a local service center, tire dealer, or friend and test fit a tire into the spare tire well?

Well, that's a good idea . . . . if the spare tire well was empty!

I need to take the time to completely empty it and find out what sort of stuff has been stashed away in there.  The original jack was lost when the car was stolen and I don't know if the replacement jack really works well on a Buick or not.  So there are a few things to be addressed with respect to the spare tire well.  It doesn't look like I can take this on until the weekend at the earliest and even then time is looking plenty tight.

We'll see!  . .  Edouard

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s longroof tire experts,

Since searching the web is much easier than cleaning a spare tire well,  I quickly looked up the specs on the Automotive-Catalog website:

http://www.automobile-catalog.com/tire/1965/300620/buick_skyroof_custom_sportwagon_300-4_v-8_super_turbine.html

According to that, the stock tire size for a 1965 Sportwagon is 26.4" which I'm sure would fit into my wagon's tire well.  So are the factory tires on the Sportwagon actually taller than 26.4"?

Curious wagon owners want to know!

Cheers, Edoaurd 

[wildcat65]

I have an empty 65 Special wheel well and a few tires here.  let me see what I can do.
I've got 15 x 6 (?) torque thrust wheels and have had rubbing problems on the front...
the GS has nice broken in springs and they would not even turn in the wheel well.

[elagache]

Dear Ted and mid-60s Buick part hoarders . . . .

I have an empty 65 Special wheel well and a few tires here.  let me see what I can do.

. . . You mean you had a spot where you could have stashed some spare parts and you didn't you it?  Ted you must be slippin'!! . . . .

Seriously don't put any effort in it unless you happen to be doing something around that well anyway and you get those dimensions in under a minute.  I have to clean up that well and I don't need to order those tires before I do so this is something I can solve for myself.

My question is as much about whether or not we can trust the numbers in the automotive-catalog.com website.  For example, it claims that 1965 Buick Special wagon has a estimated drag coefficient: 0.6.  Exactly how did they come up with this estimate? .  A lot of the other numbers look okay to me, but this is a huge database so I really don't know how trustworthy it is. Of course you can't beat a website like this for convenience, but as IT saying goes: "garbage in garbage out."

Stay tuned . . . . sooner or later I've got to find some time to empty out that spare tire well.  I'm kind of looking forward to it.  I'm wondering what sort of treasures from the past I'll find!

Cheers, Edouard