Forgive me if this has been asked I’m new to the site and figuring it out. Recently purchased a 1939 Ford 2dr sedan. The tires are cracked and need replacing. The fronts are Michelin xzx 165sr15 and the rears are Gillette bear p235/75r15 m/s. I can find replacements for the front but not the rears. Any suggestions?? Also what psi should they be at? Thanks in advance.
Nice car Elwood. Where are you from? I googled the tire size and came up with a dozen tires. We share the same birthday, St. Patricks day. Good luck. Pat
No not the name but the size, I didn't realize you were looking for a particular name. Sorry for the confusion. Pat
Elwool39, According to an internet search, Gillette tire brand was owned by Bridgestone America, and the Gillette Tire brand was discontinued in 2009. Looks like you will need to choose a different brand. Also, "the m & s" designates the rear tires are mud and snow tires. Most mud and snow tires have been replaced with "all season" tires. Most of the remaining M & S tires have a very aggressive tread pattern and are a soft rubber compound that won't hold up to warm temperatures very well. The 235 /75 R15 tires are a popular light truck tire size and an aggressive tread pattern can be had with the "all season" version, and would probably serve you better then the designated "mud and snow" version.
What @gene-koning said. It's going to be tough to get a consensus on tires, because different cars have an affinity to different tires, the big 'n little sizes are not commonly used on most cars, different conditions depending on locale and driver usage. I'd suggest going with a known name brand, with good warranty coverage for your expected drive radius, having the wear rating that works with expected use (not a high rating if it's occasional and will time out before wearing out, not a low rating if you daily drive and chew through quickly). Expect the biggest retailers to be put off with the big 'n little sizes. They will want all 4 to be the same for rotation and load rating. Costco and walmart a**** others have been reported to have policies against mixing sizes.
Thank you. Do you have a recommendation on a replacement for it? I got the car from South Carolina and live in California so an all season would definitely be a better tire for my use.
Tires are a can of worms, everyone likes them differently. If a generic cruising tire without a special tire brand is what you are looking for, I have a set of Hankook tires on my 48 Plymouth coupe that have served me well. They are black wall radial tires (all 4 are 225/75 R 15 but the front 2 are on narrower wheels). There is a design pattern on the sidewall around the name, which some probably wouldn't like. You can't see that pattern from 5' away, but you can se it if you walk around the car and are looking at the tires for the pattern. Those tires are have an aggressive tread pattern (matches the old dirt track race car appearance of the car), and work well through 8 months of the year I drive the car. My 49 Dodge pickup has 235/75 R 15 Good Year tires all the way around on it. I might suggest that unless the need the big and little tire rake the small front and large rear tires provides, you may be better off getting tires closer to (or) the same size on the front and the rear. With modern tire sizing, the 1st number (235 on your rear tires) is the tread width in millimeters (and includes a higher weight limit as the number gets bigger or less weight as the number gets smaller). The second number (/75) is the sidewall height compared to the tread width and is a sidewall height as a percentage of the tread width (a 75 has the sidewall 75% as high as the tread width, a 60 would be 60% sidewall height compared to the tread width) The "R" means the tire is a radial ply tire. a "B" (or nothing) would mean it is a bias ply tire. The last number "15" is the wheel height the tire mounts to, that number could be 13, 14, 15, 16 and up (many modern wheels are in the 18" height range). Anything higher the 15" is pretty much not acceptable around here. I'm posting a picture of my coupe, my truck, and me just for your reference .
Tire Rack lists hundreds of your rears… you just paint the narrow whites black and put them inside on “P’s” and run them normal on “LT’s”
Hello, You did not state where in California you live. But, almost every city has a good tire store. Look up the names of those nearest to you and look at the reviews. America's Tire has outlets in a lot of cities all over. But, that is a brand name. In every city, there are smaller shops that do wonderful businesses for the old hot rod folks. The support is usually good due to compe***ion with Walmart and other big box stores servicing cars and tires. Some cities will have a small shop that has been around for many years and can get the right tire for your old Ford. for example, in Long Beach, CA. The Nate Jones Tire shop has been around since the 60s and has quite the reputation for all things tires/alignment/shaving/balancing. They have competed with other big box stores and still have a better rep for all things tire. It is a small shop on a hard to find corner lot, but the service/knowledge is wonderful. If you stick with the same brand tire for all 4 corners, you can't go wrong if set up correctly. I know it is a "thing" to have "bigs and littles." But for ease of road trips/tire changing if necessary, all the same tires makes it simple to put on your spare at any corner of your sedan. Jnaki Michelins are pretty good and 4 new same size tires will do wonders, if everything else is in line. Balancing, alignment and truing are done, but sometimes no truing is necessary. Some tires are not perfectly round and truing makes them so. In our 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, it was a nightmare of front suspension problems, when we first got the project. Bad tires, worn parts and a complete repair/replacement of almost everything was necessary to make it handle and stop correctly. New tires were essential. If your location city is named, perhaps other HAMB folks can tell you about the stores in the particular city. YRMV
I put a set of ****er WWW’s on my 40 I think the size in a radial comes out to a 215-65-15 and rides perfect . anyways my thoughts on tires are stick with a known name brand Michelin , Toyo , Firestone etc . the Chinese tires , while price is good don’t seem to handle and grip the road well and generally don’t last long at all before they get noisy or belts shift and they start pulling or bad vibrations etc . from personal experience I have never had good luck with Goodyears , seem to feather and get noisy in short order .
Since you don't state where in California you are, I will make the ***umtion that there probably is a Les Schwab store in your vicinity. That is a good place to start, and you can do your preliminary search online. Thare are several other regional tire stores that you could look into. I suggest going this route as these stores tend to carry more 'affordable' tires and offer great after-purchase support. Tires are one thing I won't buy online and have shipped to me or a tire mounting location.... too much screwing around and BS to deal with and if you have an after-sale issue, you're in for more BS. COSTCO has decent pricing, as I'm sure Sam's Club does.
You might check Walmart for these https://www.walmart.com/ip/Vercelli-Cl***ic-787-All-Season-P235-75R15-105S-P***enger-Tire/716663160?athcpid=716663160&athpgid=AthenaItempage&athcgid=null&athznid=si&athieid=v0_eeMTYuMjUsNzAyLjE0LDAuMDE0NjA2OTM0NzQ1MDQ1MDcsMC41Xw&athstid=CS055~CS098&athguid=X7Ip4aZ-Mg-BDo0z8m0j37ptlFK4mRIiTKSY&athancid=397469331&athposb=8&athena=true&adsRedirect=true Or if you have a Les Schwab close tell them you want that size but a p***enger car tire with a clean looking sidewall without a lot of clutter. Those light truck mud grips must have been some rough riding ******s compared to a p***enger car tire.
One thing not mentioned is the size variation between tire models and/or manufacturers in a given size. Generally not an issue if that's an OEM size, if you're dealing with tight clearances because of an oversize that can occasionally be the difference between rubbing/s****ing and not. Even within a single size/model there can be slight differences which is why the NASCAR boys size their tires for 'stagger' on the oval tracks.
I was talking to a couple of guys at a Walmart service center recently. They were telling me Walmart has gotten stupid on their rules, they won’t mount anything but the original size tire on a vehicle…original size not what it drives in there with. They were a couple of young guys with lifted 4x4 trucks, said they couldn’t even fix a flat on a non original sized tire. Another thing, each wheel had to have all its lug studs, and the nuts have to match. They were telling me about one customer who came in for four tires, they put three on but their manager wouldn’t let them mount the fourth because it had a broken stud. Pissed the customer off, he made them take the three off they had done mounted and put his old tires back on. Since the tires had been mounted, they couldn’t sell them as new anymore, so they had to sell them as used, losing money. I could have bought them for half price! I didn’t need them, so I didn’t.
yuppers no matter what the wheel diameter or the tire height ratio a 235 tire is going to be 9.3 inches wide at the widest part of the sidewall on the correct width rim. This lets you compare tire sizes https://tiresize.com/comparison/ For grins I compared a 235-75-15 against a 235-60-15. The 235- 75 is 2.8 inches taller than the 235=60. I didn't know that about Wally world but Les Schwab doesn't have issues with it from my experience.
https://customerservice.costco.com/app/answers/answer_view/a_id/9231 Will the Costco Tire Center install any size tire? Costco only installs authorized tire fitments, for safety reasons. This is why we advise that, before purchasing, our customers make sure the tire(s) they select meet the following vehicle manufacturers’ Original Equipment (OE) specifications. It must be a size authorized by the vehicle manufacturers. It has an equal or greater OE Speed Rating. Not all tires have a speed rating requirement. An equal or greater OE Load Index. If you are unsure of your vehicle’s fitment requirements, please contact a local Costco Tire Center sales ***ociate. Didn't find a walmart page on this, but I mentioned it earlier. Many of the big chains have been stung by lawsuits and have tightened up on 'non-standard' fitments ranging from small, skinny lowrider and stance cars to huge oversize tires on donks and 4X4s. They see big and little as just another out of spec fit.
That still won't give the whole story. Change the rim width, the section width will change. And this won't give you the actual tread width. That can vary considerably between like-size tires by model and/or manufacturer. Add in the 'manufacturing tolerance' of anywhere from 2 to 5% +/- and if you have a different 'stack' you may find your new tire rubs. I've been burned on this a couple of times. In my experience, the cheaper tire lines will usually run 'small', as you move up in quality they can run 'large'. Again, in an OEM application it shouldn't matter but if you're cutting it close clearance-wise, this can be the difference between rubbing and not...
A few questions, you like the radial look?, do you want to keep the same size tires? and how much to you intend to drive it. Reason I ask that is because tires and stance are such a personal thing. Some want Bias ply for a true old hot rod look, but they don't wear and ride as good as radials, some want the best of both worlds and buy radials that look like Bias ply, but they're pricey and some just want tires that fit and look ok, but they look like new tires. If you're going for new tires, then the front tires are going to be an issue as you'll need to get those from someplace like Coker tire (they repo that size) OR you'll need to go to a 215/65r15 (.2" shorter and 2" wider) to open up to different brands. The rear is a standard size. Look up diamondback tires. https://dbtires.com/
Haven’t read every post, but something I think is important is the load rating. For the rear of a relatively light car, I personally wouldn’t go any higher that a 105/106 load rating, with preferably less than 100, with a road type tread, not an all terrain type tread. I have found that the cheaper tyres, tend to be softer riding and wear quicker, but others may have different experiences. .
When looking for tires for my ot pickup, I found that two different sizes can be almost exactly the same size. Pickup came with 265/65, according to specs from the tire maker I was looking at, their 265/60 was within .25 in height but was .50 wider tread. What really opened my eyes though was the popular 265/65 was $20 higher than the 265/60! I would have thought it would be the other way around, the less popular more money. That $80 paid for my mounting.
More rubber involved, due to slightly higher profile. It will also give less revolutions per mile. You would probably get your $20 back in fuel savings over the life of the tyre…….
I have read all the posts. One thing I haven't seen but am compeled to mention, is the code R on the back tires. I hate ( really ) being the poster child for this issue, Buut I am what I am. Covered this before but, for those that have seen it I'll give the WHOLE story today. In '69, age 21, ( when I would Look behind the gas station for cast-offs that were salvagable ) reading an industry publication about (new to US market, Radial and Bias tires.) The warning was that mixing the two only worked if Bias was up front and Radial on rear. To go with R up front and B out back meant that at times, on a curve the radials could run a path that the bias are unable to follow. ( remember Europeans had them for years, at that time. ) ( and and Remember This the tire that skids, braking or turning, wants to lead the rest ) Good to know, bu-ut in '93 Age 45 working a same-day package delivery gig. I returned to the out back pile and scrimped up some tires that had nice tread and appeared to be radial. I failed to check for the R designation. To shorten this a bit. Rainy afternoon I-95 North crossing an overp***, with a bend and metal expansion strips, I'm suddenly facing East and the guardrail. The drop off was 30 feet, one good solid tumble. Punched a hole in my back, ( it talks to me each day ) Was a financial loss ( more than $6 large ) unable to recoup. If you go radial, the better choice, be sure to go all the way. All Best, Be Safe
Hello, Tire Rack (nice ads in all of the magazines, etc...)used to be the "go to" online tire replacement and order window. They could get any tire and have any size for less. They will tell you if and when they cannot get your specific size. So, over the years of buying online and sending the tires to the local So Cal tire shop for installation for our family of cars, we changed our outlook. The local shops were willing to get the mail order delivered and called me to set up the mounting/balancing/alignment. Then all was good and well. No fuss, no bother. The cost was a lot less than if I went to a local big name tire company stores, Goodyear, Firestone, Bridgestone, Michelin, etc. But, as we got more tires, our now new friend at the local tire store suggested that we cut out the Online/ Phone long distance tire company. Why? Because they could offer the same cost and get the tires from the same local warehouse or jobber site. So, as true to their suggestions were, we got the next two sets for our daily drivers and they were installed. What does that do for online orders? Why wait for shipping when the local smaller tire dealer shops can compete with them at the same prices if not compe***ive prices? For those in the Big OC, Tucker Tire is/was a great tire dealer. But they got shoved aside due to property management selling the land. So, now a huge office building is in place. They just moved several miles away near the old Hilborn Injection building. Jnaki If and when we are going to spend money for a tire or a full 4 tire set, it is much more convenient to stay locally and get it done with a minimal of fuss and bother. The old time shops (Tucker Tire) has trained and sent their knowledgeable tire folks off to create their own businesses over the years. We still go to the same guys from 20 years ago, but now in their own shop business building. Same type of tire business, better customer service and fast, efficient installation and finished product. Also, we keep the local small businesses busy and healthy... YRMV Note: For those that are not too picky about tires, and think the big names, Costco, Walmart, Pep Boys, etc. are good, just keep going, as they serve a clientele that still buys tires. But, for specialty tires and also brand names for the size and fit for any car, individual customer service and the local small business is the place we support. IOHO
I forgot to add: Installed height was the same as the Goodyear it replaced. Runout was the same. Absolutely no difference in size. Different manufacturers, yes, different specs on paper, yes.
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