tire size issues

[Nutz]

Arne,

I recently purchased some 14x5.5 Libres. I would like to put 60 series tire on them. How big a tire can i fit on them whithout having clearance problems on my 72z?

[Arne]

Arne,

I recently purchased some 14x5.5 Libres. I would like to put 60 series tire on them. How big a tire can i fit on them whithout having clearance problems on my 72z?

The good news is that Libres fit these cars well, and clearance problems with them are rare. The bad news is that Libres are narrow, and not well suited for wide tires. The tire makers specs state that you can (officially) go as wide as a 215/60-14 on a 5.5" wide wheel. So (officially) either a 205/60 or 215/60 should fit.

BUT... a previous owner put 205/60-14 on my car's 5.5" wheels, and although I'm not driving my car much right now (awaiting a engine swap) I can tell you that just from looking at them they are too wide for the wheels. The sidewalls are pinched in at the rims, which leads to poor tire wear, and sloppy handling. A 215/60 would be worse.

I would normally recommend staying with a 195 or smaller width tire on 5.5" wheels, myself. But I also feel that 195/60-14 are much too small for a Z. (Others may disagree, but they are MUCH shorter than stock.) If I had a set of Libres myself (I wish!), I'd probably run 195/70-14 on them.

[Blue Meanie]

Answered my question Arne. I'm sporting the 14x7 aluminium slots and was going back and forth on sizes. Suspension is stock (right now) and I want a good performing tire that gives a decent ride as well. I keep going back to the 195 70 R14s and your rec' just confirmed that.

Thanks-E

[Arne]

On a 7" wide wheel (assuming they are a true 7" from bead to bead, not outside lip to lip), you have a lot more options. My favorite size for a 7" would be 225/60-14. But again, the selection of tires in that size is limited.

[Nutz]

Arne,

Thanks for the info. If I would have tried to get that info on my own it would probably have taken a month and I would have ended up with the wrong size tires. You da man....

matt

[Arne]

No problem. But do remember that they need to be a true 7" wide. If you measure from outside lip to outside lip (no tire mounted) you need to subtract 1" from the result to get the true rim width. In other words, if lip to lip measures 7" the wheel is really a 6" wide wheel. A 7" wheel will measure approximately 8" lip to lip.