Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

I'm about to pull the trigger on my tires and I'm thinking of going with 215/75/15's this time but this site calculator here tells me that I'll lose over a half inch in overall height.

Will it look stupid having a 27.7 inch tire vs 28.29 inches? I really like that they're almost a full inch thinner at the road contact point but I don't want them looking like I'm driving around on tiny sawblades either. :headscratch:

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

"Fetch,"

I was going to go with LT215 x 75 x 15's as well but I found them too short. The 215 is mounted on the stock white rim in three photos.

I had 235 x 70 x 16's, but decided to get away from wheel spacers I used for the late model rims.

I went back to the steel 15 x 5" rims and these Yokohama tires from Summit.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/yok-21501

They are pricey but had the look I wanted; tall and skinny.

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

a few more shots of how they fill the wheel well area from the side.

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

I would run a LT 235-75-15.

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

The tires I have on there now are 235/75/15's and I can barely turn in a parking lot as it is. I have to get something skinnier than 235s. Yours do look nice though Foley! I wish I had power steering :poopsign:

I wish I could get some with 5-7 inch tread and about 30 inches in diameter. That would fill out the wheel well and also give me the option to turn around without having to do a 65 point turnaround :lolsmack2:

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

Hi Fetch, I think you would like the 235'-75's better also. EDIT!!!OPPS I JUST SAW YOUR ISSUE WITH 235's Sorry!! I did buy the 215-75's for my '55 GMC as they were the same diameter as the tire and wheels I was replacing and I knew the speedometer was accurate. I wanted to get rid of the 8" wide wheels though as I had to spacer the front wheels out. They look right at home on my truck with 1970 6" wheels. BUT your truck is physically larger looking than the previous generation and of course you have a 4x4. In the price searching I have done it seems there is a pretty good price jump between the two sizes.

DAC

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

One more thought Fetch, last month I helped my son buy tires for his '83 C10. He had 235's and we went to 225's as they were about 20 bucks cheaper per tire. Don't know if that size difference is enough to solve your problem though.

DAC

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

Yeah the 235/75/15's I have right now look like this and really don't fill up the well much. Do you guys think it would be weird to ask a tire store if I can see a few things mounted on the truck? The only way I've bought tires before is saying, "What do you have that fits? Ok, how cheap are they? Great! Gimme those".

Try it before you buy it probably isn't normal.

http://windypix.com/?di=J23L.jpg

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

Time for power steering. Simple pimple. Easy peasy. Then some 31-1050 tires

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

Ha ha! You just want me to do a full writeup on power steering conversions. :D

I will probably do that in the future and I hope you'll be here helping me along the way. I have the pulleys, pump, and bracket already thanks to my spare 305E. The rest is mystical magic to me right now.

I'm going to bug a tire place about the tire issue this week sometime and see what I can come up with. I might have to just pop on some junky get-me-by tire there for now I guess since there's no sense in spending alot of dough on small tires that I'll replace eventually anyway. :(

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

Fetch: My tires don't rub anything when I turn. And they are skinny enough to leave a smaller footprint so it helps with the steering - especially at a standstill. Not radials however. Goodyear Traction Hi-Milers.

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

Here is a better shot

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

225/75/16 Work perfect on my 66 1/2 ton. Speedometer is dead on and NO issues. If yours came with 15s I would think 225s would work well with the skinny original rims. My 2 cents worth. Dave

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

As long as others are posting their 2 cents worth, I thought I'd post mine too. Fetch, I think you're trying to stay with your original 15" wheels. If you could upgrade to 16" wheels you could fit much taller tires, like my favorite size for our trucks -- 235/85-16. They're almost 32" tall and help fill out the wheel well opening. The '66 in the photo below has that size on it.

At the risk of going off-topic, I'd like to comment on the styling of a lot of the new pickups. The manufacturers seem to be trying to out-do each other, making each new generation of truck more massive-looking with huge chrome (plastic) grilles. Part of that effort to attract buyers who want to project a more macho image seems to be designing in a big gap between the tops of the tires and the lower edges of the fender lips above them. I think that's a move in the wrong direction. Most of the newer car designers are getting it right -- small gaps, not big gaps.

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

Here's one more photo, just to show how well a 33" tall tire fills out the wheel well opening. Anything much taller than that would probably rub somewhere.

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

Ed, that look is almost exactly what I'd like to end up with. A tad skinnier maybe, but the outside looks perfect. :thumbsup:

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

Another size you might consider, Fetch, if you can find some 16" wheels is the old 7.50 x 16. They're about 31" tall and 7-1/2" wide. I had them on the 1965 GMC half ton 4x4 pickup I owned about 10 years ago. They are getting harder to find now though. But you can find them if you do enough Googling. There's some on eBay right now:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-TIRES-7-...p2054897.l4275

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

235-85-16 cooper discover is my favorite tire. Its really a replacement for 750-16. Tall skinny and tough. Barry

Re: Tall skinny pizzacutter tire options
 

The 235/85-16 is my favorite size too, Barry, but although it's about the same diameter as the 7.50x16, it's almost 2 inches wider. Fetch said he's looking for a "skinny" tire.