Tire Recommendation for ROH 7x16 wheels

[racertimc]

Hi, I just bough this 70 914. It has ROH wheels with 215/55/16's on the rear. They rub, anyone have aize recommendation and brand. Fronts are 205/50/16, no problemo.

The tires are Nexen and Contis, so I want a matched set.

Cheers

Tim in Capitola, CA

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

With a stock early car (stock fenders) we will often see problems fitting anything wider than 195 width. Flattening the lip on the inside of the fender can allow some wider, and pulling the top of the fender out can allow some more space. Of course, this all varies from car to car, due to their partly hand-built nature, so some cars can fit 205s easily and some even 215s, but those seem to be a real rarity.

If the 215s rub, I would suggest trying 205s. Can you swap the front and rear wheels to see if the 205s rub or not? Going down to 195s on 7s will not make your tire busters happy, but it might wind up being the easiest choice.

Compare the specified section width (not the 215 number, the actual measurement from the tire manufacturer), if you can get them, with published specs for several tires in 205 and 215 sizes that would fit your wheels.

The backspacing of the wheel also has a fair amount to do with how wide a tire you can fit. I don't know what the backspacing is on those ROH wheels, though.

--DD

[racertimc]

Yes, it dawned on me about an hour ago to test mount the fronts on the rear, as I was hiding out from our first really rain in four years. I'll give that I try. Trying to get all the tire specs, tire rack is pretty helpful.

I'm thing Toyo Proxes R1R, since this is a sunshine only car, no heater or defroster but we do live on the coast.

Cheers
Tim

[racertimc]

Yes, nice to have four the same.