215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)

[Don L.]

Re: 215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)

Ken, would you paleeeze stop posting pics of your car?

What a bee-oote! I LUV the '70 L/gray LT1 - and in a ragtop no less...

Regarding the OP, I bought a set of 60 series tires, fearing that the 70's in a wider size would be too large in dia. Too much wheel well shows.

FWIW, I plan to abandon these in the spring for a set of Michelin Symmetry white walls. Michelin offers a 3/8" white wall, very similar to my OE Wide Oval spare. At first I was against anything but a white letter (like my Speedway bias play set), but now I don't like the oversized letters on modern radials. This is why I'm gonna go to the 215/70 15R Symmetry. Should I expect a hassle when trying to get a tire shop to mount them to the 8" AZ rim?

[Gerard Q.]

Re: 215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)

215's on my 71....I think they look correct.

[Kenneth H.]

Re: 215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)

Don,

Thanks for the compliment. It's a little shinier in the pics that in real life, probably because it was a real sunny day when I took them.

As for tire shops, I had mine installed at a shop that sells many different manufacturers' tires and he had no issues installing the 215s on 8 inch wheels. I even mentioned previous discussions here about the differences in the tire sizes and also the manufacturers' recomendations and restrictions, but he was still OK with installing them.

If you look at Joe L.'s response, as well as the judging manual, the 215s appear to be the closest in size to the OE F70-15s installed in 70-71.

Thanks,

[Joe L.]

Re: 215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)

Don,

Thanks for the compliment. It's a little shinier in the pics that in real life, probably because it was a real sunny day when I took them.

As for tire shops, I had mine installed at a shop that sells many different manufacturers' tires and he had no issues installing the 215s on 8 inch wheels. I even mentioned previous discussions here about the differences in the tire sizes and also the manufacturers' recomendations and restrictions, but he was still OK with installing them.

If you look at Joe L.'s response, as well as the judging manual, the 215s appear to be the closest in size to the OE F70-15s installed in 70-71.

Thanks,

Ken------


Yes, as far as overall dimensions, the 215-70-15 is closer to the original tire size than the 225. However, one has to also consider that the original tires were bias-ply construction and the current tires are radials. That makes a difference. GM never installed a 215-70-15 tire on ANY Corvette. However, they did install 225-70-15's on many 1978-82 C3's.

[John S.]

Re: 215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)



Mine are P215-70SR-15 Coudn't resist showing off my 72 Coupe. Hope it helps
John

[Kenneth H.]

Re: 215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)

Joe,

Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure if there were other variables that needed to go into the equation (as you pointed out) and that's why I used the words "appear to be" instead of "are" in my post.

Just one question. I know that in previous posts some early '70s owners have said that the 225s sometime rub when turning the wheel hard. Was that the case with the 1978-1982 models that came with the 225s or did Chevrolet make modifications to the frame/body to correct this issue?

Thanks,

[Jack H.]

Re: 215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)

"Some have reported rubbing with the 225's."

That could be due to the 225-R70-15 being a generic category of tire vs. an absolute specification for tire geometry. I think you'll find that the EXACT geometry of a given tire in that rating category varies based on mfgr and model designation.

Bottom line, my '71 was wearing 225's when I first got it and I switched to BFG 215's after frame off. I found little difference in overall road grip and an appreciable benefit in terms of low speed rack to rack steering wheel actuation without PS option with the 215's versus the 225's.

Methinks we make too much of the attempt to maximize road surface tire cross section on these cars we primarily restore for 'weekend warrior' service...

[Joe L.]

Re: 215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)

Joe,

Thanks for clearing that up. I wasn't sure if there were other variables that needed to go into the equation (as you pointed out) and that's why I used the words "appear to be" instead of "are" in my post.

Just one question. I know that in previous posts some early '70s owners have said that the 225s sometime rub when turning the wheel hard. Was that the case with the 1978-1982 models that came with the 225s or did Chevrolet make modifications to the frame/body to correct this issue?

Thanks,

Ken-----


Some slight modifications were made to 78-82's equipped with the optional 255-60-15 tire size. This included, as I recall, a slight modification of the lower rear of the wheel well openings. However, I believe this was only done for cars equipped with the 255-60-15 tires.

One other change was made for 1978-82 which applied to all cars. This change involved a slight repositioning of the steering arm stop on the lower a-arms. While this change applied to all cars, I believe it resulted from the availability of the 255-60-15 tire size and would not otherwise have been necessary.

By the way, the 78-82 lower a-arms became SERVICE for 63-77 Corvettes.

One other thing: although the standard tire size for 1978-82 Corvettes, 225-70-15, is the same as the size sometimes used today for replacement for 1968-77 Corvettes, the similarity may only include the basic specifications of the tire (i.e. OD, section width, etc.). TREAD WIDTH is a parameter that can vary on the same basic size tire. So, it may be that some of the 225-70-15 tires being used today have a wider tread width than original 78-82 225-70-15 tires. That may be a reason that some folks using the 225-70-15 tires on 1968-77 Corvettes experience rubbing. The same thing might also occur if these tires were used on 1978-82 Corvettes that originally used this tire size.

[Jim M.]

Re: 215 70R 15 vs 225 70R 15 (photos)

I went through this same process with my 69 restoration. Early on I had decided on using a radial tire versus the bias ply from Coker. I decided on using the BF Goodrich TA just because I liked the looks of the tire and also decided on the 225 instead of the 215 for the same reason. However I quickly ran into a mounting problem. I went to Costco, where I had been buying my tires for the daily drivers and they would order and sell me the tires but would not install them since even the 225 was not recommended for an 8 inch wheel. I ran into that problem at a number of the larger tire dealers. I finally ended up getting them at a local, small tire shop, who had no problem putting them on an 8 inch wheel. The 225's work great on the car and I think have better look then the 215's.