size is everything

[broglie]

Hi
Anybody out there knows a good tire to use in a 1961 Impala 4dr, and most importantly, what size. thank you.:cheers

[broglie]

Hi
Anybody out there knows a good tire to use in a 1961 Impala 4dr, and most importantly, what size. thank you.:cheers the expert is the one who knows where to find the answers.

[rstreet]

I guess it really depends on what you are going to do with the car. I am using bias ply (period correct). They are the BF Goodrich and I think 800X14. Since the car is an essentially stock 61 348 Convertible(except the 2 X 4's) I want the look correct. But.....Those things don't hook up worth a damn and corner worse with the correct stock wheels. I also have balancing issues mainly because I am a balancing freak about tires. However if you want a good driver tire and don't care about correct sizes and types I would use a 15 inch wheel with 60 series performance tires such as the Goodyear Eagle ResponsEdge which is asymmetric treaded with Kevlar and a stiffer sidewall for better cut in. There are dozens of decent performance tires out there but I think Goodyear is on to something with this new Eagle ResonsEdge. Don't use the stock wheel but something with less unsprung weight and more width.

[w ogden]

[. I also have balancing issues mainly because I am a balancing freak about tires. .[/QUOTE]


FYI, if you are having issues with balancing and tire matching find a shop that uses the new Hunter GSP7600 balancer. It is a road force variance machine that can put 1400 lbs of road pressure on the tire when it is spinning and performs matching diagnostics. We have one now at our store and it is the only way to go today with all the wheel combinations and new tire sizes we have to deal with. It will provide you with a print out and graphics to show you the variance of your tires. If you find a shop have them give you a demo. It is pretty impressive. Or you can check out their site at Hunter. BTW, Champion Tire in NC uses 8 of these to turn out over 100,000 tires and wheels for the Nascar garages each year. These machines are not cheap, run about 14k depending where you buy them, but they are worth the money when trying to solve driver complaints.
Thanks for listening. Walt in Vt

[rstreet]

w ogden
Thanks a bunch for that tip. I didn't know about that machine but it sounds like what I want....Now to talk some of the dealers around here into buying one and promoting it's use. I hate to have to be continually balancing tires...shops around here are probably tired of seeing me BUT I can't tolerate a 60-65mph(or so) little vibration. I remember living in N.C. in the 60's and they had tire equipment and procedures that no one had up here and that was frustrating

[dq409]

Walt, Do you find that different makes of tires are truer then others?
On my GMC motor home because of the weight, they recommend that you have your tires trued by having them mounted and scrubing them true round.
I found that the BFG`s didn`t need this and run smooth and true.,,dq

[MRHP]

The higher end tires seem to have less run-out than cheap tires. They also take less weight per tire. Quality control on cheap tires is less than perfect. Spend more money=get a better tire. Wheels are another story. Make sure your wheels also run true or you are stacking your run-out tolerance. I have even matched tire and wheel clocking to get the best total run-out. Takes some time but is worth it in the end.

[w ogden]

Walt, Do you find that different makes of tires are truer then others?
On my GMC motor home because of the weight, they recommend that you have your tires trued by having them mounted and scrubing them true round.
I found that the BFG`s didn`t need this and run smooth and true.,,dq

Dq I remember in Fla. in the 80's I had to have my street rod tires shaved to get all the shake out of the bridgestone tires I was using at the time. Ran it up to Atlanta to a car show and it was smooth as glass. It works but it costs you a lot of mileage from the tires. Awful pile of rubber on the floor as I remember. And yes to answer your question all tires can show run out and hop. It gets worse if mounted on the rim in the wrong spot. We used to do a lot of manual indexing which takes a lot of time and effort to move the tire to a differnet spot on the rim to help eliminate the need for a lot of weight. Michelin makes the rib tire for motor coaches which I have found to be pretty dam good but expensive. Usually the cheaper the tire the better chance for run out. Our new Hunter takes the guess work out of the indexing issue and matches the tire for you. The next time you spin it it will provide you with a variance factor. Anything over 25 lbs of force is usually not going to make it on the road. We would reject it before we sent it out and change the tire to get it down. BFG and Uniroyal are part of the Michelin family if you did not know so they would not be bad. Yokahama would be good also. Walt

[425/409ER]

Hi
Anybody out there knows a good tire to use in a 1961 Impala 4dr, and most importantly, what size. thank you.:cheers

Depends on if you are going for the resto look or aftermarket I just put some
235 60r 16's goodyears with 16x7 chrome rallys on my 63 and it rides and looks good.