Tire width?

RocketMonkey101

RocketMonkey101

Daily Driver
Hi Guys, I need some input on the subject of tires on the 850. When I got my 850 it came with aftermarket wheels and wider than stock tires. A couple of weeks ago I took it to my local car show and I had an old timer come up to me and tell me that the 850s have weak wheel bearings and running the wide tires would cause them to wear out faster. I'm curious if any of you have heard of this? What width are the tires you are running on your 850?
Thanks for any input.
 
RocketMonkey101 said:
A couple of weeks ago I took it to my local car show and I had an old timer come up to me and tell me that the 850s have weak wheel bearings and running the wide tires would cause them to wear out faster. I'm curious if any of you have heard of this?
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Nope, it's not the 850's that are prone to wheel bearing wear issues, it's the 128's (& X1/9 1300). Running wide wheels/tires with an extreme outward "deep" offset WILL wear out bearings faster, but that's generally true on most cars, not specifically the 850.


RocketMonkey101 said:
What width are the tires you are running on your 850?
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For the stock steel wheels, usually anywhere from 145-165 width on the 4.5" version (1966-69), & 175-185 on the 5" version (1970-on). On the 5"-5.5"-6" alloys, I usually run 175 or 185 depending on the car & desired look/feel. No matter how "badass" the owner might think it looks, anything wider is really just wasted momentum & agility on an 850. ;)
 
Best would be 165/70 on the 5" wheels, 175/65 would also work well. To go to 185's I would lean towards the 5.5 or 6" wide wheels. I would find alternate wheels rather than run the 4.5" wheels. I discarded my 4.5" wheels that came stock and put "wide" Spider wheels on at 5" :) My next set of wheels will likely be a bit wider at 5.5"

A 175/65 13 wheel is just about perfect on the front and a 195/60 would be ideal in back, for me.
 
Old timer? You mean like a 50 year old guy?? :)
If the 850 has the same wheel well basics as the X would the wider 70 series clear? Old timer was probably right about the wider wheels and bearing problem... But a 175 on a 4.5 might look a bit puffy no?
The 175s on a 5.5 looks just right to me but 1" less width might not look fit.
I second Karl's recommendation for 165s. That was the stock tire on 80X 165/70. If was a good fit and you probably could work that with the 4.5" wheel.
Regards
 
Jeff Stich said:
NO matter how "badass" the owner might think it looks, anything wider is really just wasted momentum & agility on an 850. ;)
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This is very true given the light weight of the cars, the modest horsepower even in a hot one and the reality that the suspension is more than a little compromised in certain respects.

Too much tire and wheel has a negative effect on a light car due to unsprung weight
 
kmead said:
I discarded my 4.5" wheels that came stock and put "wide" Spider wheels on at 5" :) My next set of wheels will likely be a bit wider at 5.5". A 175/65 13 wheel is just about perfect on the front and a 195/60 would be ideal in back, for me.
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I did the same on my old '70 Sedan back in the early '90's, swapping the 4.5x13 steelies for the 5x13 "Sport" version. Lowered slightly & with 175/70R13 Yokohama A008's on it, it was a great combo! Then I swapped to CD-4's with the same tires...WoW! Damn I miss those A008's... :(

I've been running 175/70/13's on my 128 Wagon for years now, been quite pleased. :) I'll likely run this same tire size on my 850 Sport Coupe once it's up & running (rebuild in progress), on either 5x13 Cromodora CD-4's (from the old 850 Sedan) or perhaps 6x13 StilAuto Pentastars (from my old 850 Spider).
 
RocketMonkey101 said:
When I got my 850 it came with aftermarket wheels and wider than stock tires.
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Just out of curiosity, what wheel/tire sizes do you have on your '72 Spider? Are those Compomotive wheels? (hard to see in your avatar) Any non-stock wheel spacers used, as well?
 
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rocco -Old Timer like probably early 70's maybe late 60's. :) - The tires I have now were slapped on by the mechanic I bought the car from and so were the rims. I asked him to look for some after market rims when we were brining the car back from hibernation and whats' on the car is what he found me. I still have the stock rims Which I suppose are 5" (?), they're from '72. Currently the tires are over sized judging by everything I'm reading. The fronts are 195/60 and the rears are 205/60. The rears rub when I hit larger bumps in the road and the front steering feels heavy. The rims say A/W on them but I'm not familiar with that brand. I'm not 100% sure I'm reading the rims right but it looks like it says they are 8.5 in the rear and 6 up front? That seems outlandishly wide to me. But if that's the case maybe 195/60 in the rear (185 if they fit) and probably 185 (175 if they fit) seems better in the front. Sounds like after looking t my rims I'm leaning towards Kmead's suggestion and may have the wheels to run it. Any more input on this guys? Think it's ok running these rims or should I consider going back to stock?
 
RocketMonkey101 said:
I still have the stock rims Which I suppose are 5" (?), they're from '72.
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Yes, original '72 850 steel wheels should be 5x13.

RocketMonkey101 said:
Currently the tires are over sized judging by everything I'm reading. The fronts are 195/60 and the rears are 205/60. The rears rub when I hit larger bumps in the road and the front steering feels heavy. The rims say A/W on them but I'm not familiar with that brand. I'm not 100% sure I'm reading the rims right but it looks like it says they are 8.5 in the rear and 6 up front? That seems outlandishly wide to me. But if that's the case maybe 195/60 in the rear (185 if they fit) and probably 185 (175 if they fit) seems better in the front. Sounds like after looking t my rims I'm leaning towards Kmead's suggestion and may have the wheels to run it. Any more input on this guys? Think it's ok running these rims or should I consider going back to stock?
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Yes, those are way too big for a stock/street 850 Spider. I could see the 6" wheels with a 175-185 tire, but 8.5"??? I'd definitely agree with that "Old Timer" on that one. ;)

I think you'd be a lot happier with the look & feel of your 5" wheels with 175/70 (or 175/65?) tires. 185 will fit, but depending on the profile height, you might have the front tire rubbing the bottom/rear corner of the inner wheelwell at full steering lock (with or without bumps, depends on how low your car is). No problem on the rear.

Steering effort & overall agility/nimbleness ("tossability"?) of the car with be noticeably improved with the 5" wheels & either of these tire widths. Your current wheel/tire setup must weigh a ton!
 
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Just got back from the local tire shop. Guy there says 175/70 upfront will fit my current wheels a-ok. He wanted throw the same in the rear but with the wheel being so much wider I figured 185/70 might be better. The car is not lowered at all. Fingers crossed it all works out. I guess I'll do a tire review once I get them mounted next week.
 
RocketMonkey101 said:
I'm leaning towards 175/70 on the 13s. That seem like a good size on all 4 corners?
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RocketMonkey101 said:
Any more input on this guys? Think it's ok running these rims or should I consider going back to stock?
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Looks like you've decided. I'd run stock width or Cromodorras or other period correct wheels up to 6 inches . Anything else is overkill unless you have major horsepower upgrades.
On my 68 I run 155s and I love the light steering feel. One forgets how nice a balanced non assisted steering can feel. On more completion oriented cars I've run 175s.
 
RocketMonkey101 said:
Just got back from the local tire shop. Guy there says 175/70 upfront will fit my current wheels a-ok. He wanted throw the same in the rear but with the wheel being so much wider I figured 185/70 might be better. The car is not lowered at all.
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By "current wheels", do you mean the 6x13 front & 8.5x13 rear alloy wheels? 8.5" is way too wide of a wheel for a 175 or 185 tire; the standard rule of thumb says that 8.5" wheel should have a 225 (minimum), 235-245 (nominal) or 255 (maximum). That 205 you have on there now is probably a bit pinched, & like the wheel itself, these tires are far too wide for an 850.

BTW, are you sure those rear wheels aren't 6.5" instead of 8.5"? (I have a feeling they're 6.5", on which a 205 tire would be an ideal fit, but not on an 850). If they are 6.5", then a 185 would be the minimum you'd want to go (so no 175's on the rear).
 
Jeff, you know they might be 6.5 instead of 8.5, the stamp on the rim is hard to read correctly. The guy at the tire shop says the 185s will fit so maybe I was reading them wrong earlier.
 
I think I have some Appliance 6.5 baskets on a car at my dad's. 6.5 is a wider look and without added flares an 8.5 would look way out there IMO. I do not remember exactly how the 6.5" wheels felt driving but that car did seem less nimble in the steering department.
Regards
 
Since you asked what we're running: 175/70-13s on the original steel wheels. Sometimes with 1/4"-thick spacers on the front to increase the front track a bit (it just looks a bit narrow otherwise). No wheel bearing problems ever.
 
Today I am running steel Spider 5J x 13 rims with 155/80. 13 tires. I hope to change to a typical X alloy wheel also at 5J 13 and run either 165/70 13 or 175/65 13 tires

Karl
 

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So rather than make a new thread about my tires I thought I'd just continue this one. I got my new tires! 175/70 up front and 185/70 in back. They are a huge improvement over the way too wide tires I had before. Steering is nicer and since they are a little taller they suck up road bumps a bit better as well. After driving with them I'm curious what it would have been like to go even smaller but I will have to wait until next time to learn. The tires I settled on were the Kumho Solus tires, I had them on another car sometime back and I was really surprised at how well they stuck to the ground. Thankfully they are just as good as I remember them. I'm still new to the car but man I love driving it. It begs you to rev the bejesus out of it. Probably the most of amount of fun you can have while driving the speed limit.
 
It is always more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow.

Glad you ended up with a selection that is very much to your liking. Keep the feedback coming.
 
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