I need some front tires for my Falcon. I have new 15" x 4 1/2" Cragar S/S wheels and want some skinnys for them. I see the Pro Trac 600 x 15 but they are not radials. My rear tires are Hurst Cheater Slicks based on a radial core. Do I need a radial on the front? What radial looks good? (older looking) I see the MT Sportsman but a little to costly. I want about 4" tread and no more than 6" section width and around 25" tall. All for a good price. What do you have and where did you get them? I want to buy ASAP. THANKS
Everyone is going to advise you to not run bias plys on the front and radials on the rear. I've never had a problem running them that way but everyone is going to tell you that you can't. Contact diamondback they will have the tire you are looking for. Here is the url: http://www.dbtires.com/ There should be a number there. At least one of the fellas is here on the HAMB but I don't remember his name. Of course you will have to resign yourself to running a new tire as opposed to running a recap.
165R 15 25" Tall Volkswagon tire. Some brands have an older looking tread pattern. Not too expensive - approx $45 each. Worked for me. Good luck. Gary
The Vw tires are getting harder and harder to find. I think a lot of the mfg are shelving the molds for 15's.
If you don't have any luck locally, buy a Volkswagon magizine and mail order them. Still not too expensive. I have seen them for sale in many of the adds. The 165r 15's are cheap. Start getting shorter like 145r 15 and the prices go up. Gary
NANKANG, I have used these for several years now, very cool looking tread, and they hold up well to agressive use even with the wieght of a old Hemi on top of em. I have used them on the front of a very sharp wheel standing Pro-Street Mustang also. 165/80R-15. You should be very happy with price and performance. There not Michelin but not priced like one either, and the tread of the Nankang looks a thousand times better and more "traditional" than the Michelin IMHO. Good Luck.
I ordered these online for $36 each, under $100 including shipping. I looked at Diamondback's site and they cost quite a bit more than my current budget allows.
i used tires from gearworksmfg and they worked perfectly on my model A truck and model A coupe - heavy blown chev and heavy 392 hemi - super tires, relatively inexpensive - fit the 4-4 1/2 inch wheel perfectly!..check out the pics...jb
Glad that worked out for you, cool tread design too right? 4 grooves go AROUND the tire, instead of across it. I think the worst "skinnies" I ever ran were Cooper. Very scary tire.
Thanks for the plug! There used to be an older Nankang style tire that had the vintage look to it. They stopped production back in 2004 I believe. Now all that's out there are a newer modern tread pattern. I've had a customer get it up to 132mph. The only available tires I have are in either the Nankang or Nexen. $110 a pair and shipping will be around $15-25 for the pair That's the crazy thing about tires. I have the 135s and 145s and they are more expensive than the 165s. I guess it just comes down to the amount of tires to be produced and what they will fit. I set some customers up with 145s for front runners on vegas and VWs, and the 135s for the Citroen crowd and the Veedubs
Thanks guys, My rear tires are 31" tall so I wanted at least 25" tall front. I like the looks of the Nankang tread compared to most I found.
If you find the older nankangs, just make sure you check the date code on the tire. I think it went out of production in late of 2004. Even if you find a brand new one, it will still be a 5 year old tire. here's what replaced them (eventhough it says 135 the 165s are the same)
Perfect size here. 165 SR 15 VW tires. I have Michelin XZX 165 SR 15's on both my street rod and race car. Michelin no longer makes them but I think it's Coker that repops them. About $115.00 a piece last time I had to buy some about 4 years ago.
Hurst sells fronts too. They look like a bias but are radials... http://www.hurstracingtires.com/1093440.html about half way down the page, HURST "SUPER CUSHION" NEW RADIAL FRONT
Associate Brands (Kelly Springfield stepchild adopted by Goodyear) 165SR15 on the front and Hurst Cheaters on the back.Both radials. Works for me. I used spacesaver wheels for fronts for now. The Hursts are going great,the front tires are okay.
135 R 15s gear works http://www.gearworksmfg.com/ New Nanking 135R15 and 165R15 tire combo $300 plus shipping to the lower 48 states. Great for vintage air cooled VWs * please note, when purchasing these tires, just enter in quanity 1, for four tires
I emailed Hurst I think last Sunday asking about front tires. I got no reply. I even bought my Cheater Slicks from them. I bought them somewhere else now.
Whatever happened to the Kleber tires? I love the Nankang tread design, but the Klebers were even better!
Somebody needs to re-pop the Michelin XZX 165's... Coker had the last set for big money in Scottsdale last year. There is a market for a vintage Dunlop/sports car special-looking, skinny, retro tire for a 4.5" rim. I am hunting an old-looking 145 for my VW project and am not buying any Nankang crap.