Technical 15” tire prices wtf ?!?

Hey guys been gathering parts all winter for my 56 Chevy .

I have stalled on wheels .

been looking at 15” torque thrusts ( vintage straight spokes , not the new style bent bananas )

American racing daisy wheels or coke bottles

cragars , cause why not Cragars on a tri five !

tru-spike wires

anyways , prices on 15” wheels have gone up e up new and used . But 15” tire prices are freaking nuts !!!!!!

I can buy 17” wheels and tires for pretty much the same price as a good name brand set of 15” tires .

16” wheels are pretty much non existent . 17” are boarder line on a tri five as you still end up with a decent-ish side wall , but definitely changes to look of the car to something more modern .
Anything bigger starts looking silly with rubber band tires .


Anyways , what are you guys running for 15” tires as prices up here for BFG , Goodyear , Michelin, Toyo , etc are just silly .

yes I can buy Wanli’s , Saluns , Saverios etc off brand Chinese stuff but I have never had luck with cheap tires , usually fade , wear , feather , pull or get noisy in short order .




Pics for clicks , at a bit of a loss here as to what to do , keeping the stock wheels is not really an option as I’m doing drop spindles and disc brakes up front .


Also somewhat partial to a set of Chevy ralley wheels , but that a very 90’s look if you ask me .

 

I have an O/T Corvette (a '67 coupe) that uses 15" tires and drive it a couple of thousand miles a years. The tires "age out" before the even start to show wear. Thus, I buy the cheapest set of white stripe tires I can find (blackwalls are even cheaper). If they're not correct, they're not correct even if they cost a lot. This way, you can replace your tires more often without breaking the bank. Right now, I'm looking at a set of 4 (205/75R15) for under $300 (with free shipping) on the auction site. I have never had a problem with any of them. The way these cars are used these days, expensive tires are real waste of money. I learned this the hard way when I had to swap out a set of perfect top of the line tires because they were over 10 years old.

 

I like Cooper tires...

 

our local tire store sells decent 15" tires, they're not name brand, but not the cheapest chinese ones either. I never have any trouble with them.

But living in Canada, I guess things are different. I'm no help, sorry.

 

I've had very good luck with Toyo tires. Check them out.

 

Coopers out back and Nexens up front. In ONLY 15’s. I don’t care for larger wheels on 50’s 60’s or even 70’s cars.

 

Bought this set of BFG's at this mail order place a couple of months ago. 225/60R15 about $200 each. Seems about right.
https://www.performanceplustire.com/Tires/BFGoodrich_Radial_T-A_P225-60R15_SL_95S_10971B

 

I went with Torq Thrust TTO, old style with as cast centers on my car about 4 years ago. Back then I got them shipped to me for $520 for two 15x8 and two 15x5.5 with free lugnuts also. I see sellers on Ebay now charge around $162-$170 for the same these days. Mine came from Gary's Custom Wheels on Ebay back then and he was great to deal with. He didn't have the exact sizes listed, so told me he'd make up an Ebay posting just for me and send me the item number to do the purchase. Don't even see him listed these days?
My tires are Towel City pie crust slicks rear, and Kumho front 40,000 mile tires.

 

Summit sells 15" TA's but it will set you back a grand for 4 of them. I got two new tires for the rear of the Olds last year and they seem to have cured their brown issues.

 

Indonesia

$95.

Compositing a 15 to a 17 in price seems odd.

15s look better on old rides so shouldn’t they cost more? Probably more material in the higher profile 15s.


offshore tires are built to DOT specs. My Mexican Goodyears are doing great.

 

I have Hankook tires on my 53. Look good, ride well.

 

Hooptie/ Donk rims and tires are the new fad just ask chipfoose

YUK !

 

Lack of choices on 15's is more of a problem for me. My old Dakota daily had 15's. I had some trouble finding tires back in December. They were higher priced than before but not any worse in comparison than any of the others I regularly purchase.

 

14's are even worse.

 

I bought some good used 15" tires at the junkyard. You could also look for a set of wheels and tires for sale that someone bought for their undriveable project.

 

Walmarts has a bunch
https://www.walmart.com/browse/auto-tires/15-tires/91083_1077064_5011792_5368057

 

Walmart on line will drop them on your driveway

 

Comparably, the price of 15" tires for my old stuff is nowhere near the price of the 20's for my daily pickup. It's all relative.

I've been purchasing my tires here. https://tirewarehouse.ca/

They have BFG Radial T/A but they have cheaper offshore stuff too. They're Canadian, and they ship fast and cheap ($5/tire for me).

Of course I have access to a tire machine so it's a good option for me. I believe they'll ship to your local tire shop too.

 

What brand, please?

Ben

 

I paid 56.00 Bucks for a set of windshield wipers.
That was the first time I gave my old man speech.
I told the kid at the register......
"Back in my day I could get a set of wipers for 5 dollars, and it has not been that long ago."

 

Yep. I bought 15” slot mags and tyres for less than a set of 14” tyres would’ve cost.

 

I don’t think it has to do with how much material is be used to make a tire, I think it’s supply and demand.
Tire makers send bulk shipments of modern tires used, 15’s are not a hot item.

 

These Milestar Touring are a budget tire and I'm sure they are made overseas. But I've had good luck with them and they don't look too modern

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076QK7G4Q?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_9&th=1

 

I've been running Hankook 15's for about 20 years now. Bought a new set last year to make sure I had fresh tires for an event, just bought one more for a spare. It was just over $100 to my door.

Devin

 

I guess it depends on what you consider silly. Didn't take me long to find quite a few 15" tire options under $150 a piece. I am surprised they are that cheap. I would consider that mid to low end price up here for any tire.

I would expect new wheels like Supremes to be in the $500 a piece range up here. They have been over $400 for years and the dollar has gotten worse.

I bought a used set of spoke wheels for my car last summer and they were $1000 and that was cheap compared to most that were for sale and a steal compared to new.

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Tire-Gri...T-205-70R15-96H-AS-A-S-All-Season/15418723028

 

Yup. This right here. 14 & 15 inch market is small now. And the size selection is equally smaller. You can't find good name brand 225/60R15's anymore. 15" tires are becoming a specialty tire if it isn't from something that uses a common size.

 

The lowrider sizes are EZ to find

 

This thread got me thinking and I found this great conversion charts https://tiresize.com/calculator/
https://tiresize.com/chart/ Great tools