I need new tires for my recently acquired 1969 roadster. It has original wire wheels, so tires and tubes are necessary. What’s the most common current replacement size? Next concern, of course, is finding a tire shop capable of mounting and balancing wire wheels with splined centers. Thank you for your recommendations and advice.
I use 185HR15 which I think is as original. They are like a beautiful supermodel… tall & skinny:
Those are Vredesteins. Some prefer wider tires &/or a lower profile.
I finally went to mounting & balancing my own as finding a shop was just getting to be too much of a bother.
Ditto, welcome to the ‘club’.
Cheers,
LLynn
Twiggy tires?..
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Suggest you read this tech article about balancing center lock wire wheels: Balancing Wire Wheels and Other Center Lock Wheels – Moss Motoring
It provides great info about problems with balancing wire wheels showing the most common mistake when using contemporary wheel balancers - and the need to have the proper cone for the machine. I went through this a couple of years ago and after reading the above article I phoned several local tire shops to simply be told _“we don’t do wire wheels!” No surprise because most tire shops don’t have the proper gear or knowledgeable techs for these old school, vintage wheels. I finally located a shop that had a tech who claimed he was familiar with balancing wire wheels. So, I decided to go have a chat with him - I even took a couple of my of wire wheels/tires along for the ride. I quickly learned that he definitely knew his stuff as he showed me how to properly mount the wheel with a tapered cone on the balancing machine. After checking my original Dunlop wheels for truing he guaranteed me that new tires and old wheels would be perfectly balanced. They got my business and the job was done right = happy customer! My point is to educate yourself by reading that tech article so you’ll know when somebody is “blowing smoke”! 
As mentioned in the article it’s a good idea to ask the local British car club/clubs for recommendations too
Good luck.
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you may want to check the spokes for tightness and make sure they are not broken,
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Indeed: the ‘tink-tink-THUNK’ test was a regular maintenance point.
A screwdriver, dragged across the spokes: loose/ broken will go THUNK.
Thank you for the replies. I will start calling and visiting shops in the next few days as well as contacting the local British car clubs. If worse comes to worse I assume that I can get the tires mounted and then search for a bubble balancer though I hope it doesn’t come to that. I see them advertised for sale on Craigslist from time to time and know that old time racers used them at the track.
My question remains, what size? What is the equivalent modern size of 185/15? Is there not an aspect ratio or series, like 60, 65, 70, 75, 80 and so on?
I believe the closest in size in a tire with an aspect ratio indicated would be 185/80 15.
But ‘metric’ tires (no aspect ration indicated) are readily available including the 185 15 Vredesteins favored by many on the Forum.
Summit or Jegs seem to usually have the best price.
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I did a lot of thinking on tires. I went with the Vred 185/70/15 instead of the 185/15 and I am sort of sorry I did… they are great tires and the car rides really nice, handles much better than the old tires I had.
BUT… I agree with Geo, I think the taller tire looks “right” on these cars. just my opinion, but if I were to buy new tires tomorrow they would be the original profile. I dont think the 185/70 fills the wheel wells correctly. Some people go with 205/70-15 but that may cause other problems. you can search and read a lot about tires on here.
here is a picture of the Vred 185/70-15’s on original rims. ( 5" wide)
Bob F
Ricardito, here’s how I see it. Your car has a 3.54 rear axle ratio. Going with modern tires in a 60/65/70 series profile you are reducing the circumference of the tire compared to OEM. The last thing your Jag needs is shorter gearing (unless your racing). You also have narrow OEM rims, so you can’t go wider than 205. All this shakes out to buying the Vred’s until you go with wider rims. Unless you’re drag racing GTO’s stoplight to stoplight which is what the 3.54 was all about. But even with wider rims you still have to watch circumference.
215x65x15’s will rub fender wells, some cars and tires more than others and you need 6" rims.
205x65’s are about as wide as you can go with OEM rims. But as I said, too many revs per mile IMHO.
So Vred’s until you re-rim & re-gear.
Like David says…if you have the original 5" wide rims (measure between the inside edges of the rim), you have very little choice in tyres if you want to have the correct diameter. The 185R15’s have the “standard” profile (which is very rare in modern tyres) of 82%. That is one reason why many E-Types now have 6" wide rims, which gives the option of 205/70R15s with a much wider choice of tyres.
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David, I looked up 205/70 15 on tire rack, the spec section for several tires, including Michelin and Pirelli, and they indicate this size does fit on 5 inch rims. Is there another issue I am not aware of?
Tom
A tire comparison may help you visualize and quantify. This one lets you enter the aspect ratio (rather than offering a menu) so you can use 85% for the stock tire:
https://tiresize.com/comparison/
If you go wider, in addition to being sure it does not rub on the body you will also probably want a standard rim & tire for the spare so it will still fit in the spare well.
You may find different views on that, e.g. I Googled for a chart and this was the first hit:
Clearances to sheet metal would not be an issue with 205/70’s on either 5 or 6" standard bead/rim laced wheels. I currently have 205/70’s on Dayton 6" hub/center laced wheels at the rear. These wheels have a significant positive offset over the standard wheel. I had to shave about 1/4" off the wheel arches at the 10 o’clock position for clearance at extreme suspension deflection. Had the wheels been normal rim/bead laced configuration and 6" wide I could have fit up to 215/65’s with bump stops removed (plenty of clearance at the fender lip). Of course, I would not put 215/65s on a 5" rim. I’m not a fan of either the trolley car look or the steam roller look.
The first photo below depicts a 215/65 on 6" hub laced wheel (it fits at standard ride height but rubs on the inner fender upon compression of the suspension). The second photo is with 205/70s on 6" hub laced wheel. If it works with this wheel, it definitely works for a standard wheel.
It’s going to depend on the tire. The Dunlops I’m running are 205/70s and Dunlop says they will fit on a 5" rim.
Tom,
I’m aware that some manufacturers say that their 205/70s can be used on a 5" rim. However, many more say they can’t. This is because the tyre will flex laterally during cornering which will do nothing for the handling. Maybe you’d be safe driving a minivan on these tires with a 5" rim, but I try to drive my E-Type in the manner it was designed for. I wouldn’t be comfortable operating outside the limits of the table Geo posted above. YMMV
I tried 205/70s on 5" rims and the handling was awful. Went back to 185/15s and the car was transformed.