I am cleaning up my 67 Series 1 Roadster after surviving Hemmings Great Race last year from St Augustine, FL to Pikes Peak, Colorado. Currently have original wheels. Notice one of the 5 wheels has some spokes that are loose and having trouble finding someplace in SE Florida to do the repair so considering new Dayton wheels.
Looking for comments about 5 inch vs 6 inch wheels. Currently running fairly new 185R1591H Radial tires, but love the look of wider tires in the future if no issue.
Six inches seems to be the maximum width suggested by Tire Rack fior 185 - 15" tires so you should be ok moving your tires over to 6" wheels. You may have to remove the bump stop rubber to avoid scuffing at droop but everybody does.
Hendrix Wirewheels in Greensboro, NC can work on your existing wheel. If you just need one tuned up, I suspect it might be cost effective to ship to them.
If we are talking about JCNA Concours, my reading of the JCNA Rules Book is that since 6" wide rims were not offered for S1 or S2 cars, they would be judged as non-authentic in Champion Division, but an exception is permitted in Driven Division provided the hub style, spoke count, and diameter are as original. However, unlike Harvey, I am not a judge, so take that into consideration…
Mine are 6" and I love the look and firm footing, but, it comes at a definite price. Those skinny original tires on 5" wheels may look spindly and dated but it yields a nimble ride and easy turning at parking lot speeds. It requires far more strength to turn on 6s.
Thanks for the memory. My goal was to finish, and we did! Came home with a list of 43 things to fix on the car but it was worth every moment.
My son wanted to get an ACE on one of the legs and we came within 1 second of getting one, but when we didn’t win that leg, it took some of the wind out of the sail and we had fun doing the ride the last few days without worrying about the timing.
Harvey
I talked with Hendrix last week and loved the conversation etc. Was hoping to find someone closer to SE Florida, but not having much luck. My broken spokes are on the spare so at this moment of my search I am leaning toward sending them the one wheel to repair and keep the others on the car with my fingers crossed.
Really appreciate the advice as it matches my instincts after talking with Hendrix.
THANK YOU
This is a 205/70 tire on a Dayton six-inch rim. I had to shave about 1/4" off the inner edge of the fender lip (at about the 10-11 o’clock position) to get safe clearance for the sidewall. 205/70 seems to be the “fat” tire of choice…
Putting a couple of the posts together raises a question in my mind, that @JimmyHoney might need to consider:
Will a 6" wheel and tire spare combination fit in the factory boot location? If so, is there a maximum recommended 6’ wheel tire size that is the limit?
The wheel size has NO effect on steering effort. Wider tires will increase steering effort, regardless of wheel size. The stock tires fit just fine on 6" wheels, and 99% of people will never see the difference. But the wider wheels DO give you more tire options, without violating the tire manufacturers minimum wheel width spec.
