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Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:50 am

Hello everyone. Offroading really shows your cars weakspots. Anyway, my front tires are really old and have some sidewall cracks. It wasnt really a cause for much concern, but after climbing rough terrain with them the cracks have gotten noticeably worse, so in the interest of safety, I would like to go ahead and replace them. They are currently Toyo Hyperadial 6.5 15R LT. They are about 28-19" Tall. I have 15x4" alluminum wheels. I would like to run as wide of a tire as possible with those wheels without loosing any height. And with some aggresive tread. Ideally I would like about a 29-30" tire that is as wide as possible because I have huge Mud terrains on the rear and the difference is drastic between the two. The problem I am having is decifering the sizing. I would like to get BFG MT's to match the back, but I dont know what size to get since I havent seen anything close to 6.5 15R LT. How can I tell how tall and wide tires are. I am used to 33x12.50 type measurements. What is all this 325 70 R 15 crap. Thanks.

Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:52 am

325: tire tread width in mm
70: percent of the treadwidth that is the side wall (70% of 325)
R: Radial
15: 15" wheel

Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:53 am

About my last post. I know what the numbers stand for in "325 70 R 15", but how does that convert practically into a usable number for decision making purposes to get your correct width and height.

Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:54 am

Thanks for your help Brad. How exactly do you figure tire height out from the 325 number. I used 325 70 R 15 because that is what I have on the back, obviously I will need much smaller for the front.

Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:54 am

use those numbers to figure out what size tire you want. i wouldnt go too much wider than about 7" of tread on that 4" wide wheel

Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:00 am

So is that what like a 175mm or so to be 7" Inches wide. 25mm/inch.

Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:09 am

off-road tires are weird in that tread width isnt really tread width. my 10.5" wide tires actually only have a tread width of 8.5". You might be able to get away with something in the 215 or 205 range

Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:14 am

Most manufacturers' websites will list a spec table for each tire/size, and usually list the overall diameter of the tire. Some 31s are actually closer to 30 inches overall, for example.

Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:15 am

OK. So is a 215 around 7" wide or so? What about the 70 number. Is that what I want or should I change that. 215 70 R15. What would my height be like on something like that?

Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:17 am

Thanks Bljones. I'll keep reading up, but I was having trouble computing numbers to figure out what size they really are. I'll keep hit websites and see what I can find. Hopefully someone will have the same size I am looking for so I will know for sure what to get. 30" tall 7" wide or more if safely possible and aggresive tread. Thanks.

Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:19 am

try here, and click on "sizes and specs"
http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/bfgapp/catalog/tires/mudterraintakm.jsp

Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:34 am

I actually just found that page. Here is what I discoverd. I actually have the LT325 60R15. They say 30.6" online, Mine measured like 29.25" but they are worn down quite a bit. My front tires are currently 27.5" tall. The smallest MT's BFG makes are 215 75r15 which is about 28" tall but is reccomended for a minimum wheel width of 5.5 inches so I guess that wont work out for me. I dont have to run the BFGs I just like the tread pattern and would like them to match the back. Doesnt look like it's going to happen though. Are there any other manufacturers you guys would reccomend that makes an aggresive tread offroad tire for the front that may fit my size a bit better. Someone recommended Nankang before, but I couldnt find much from them. How about something like this? No height listed though.

http://www.chirco.com/cgi-bin/chirco.storefront/42...R7&2E00X15

Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:51 am

ive seen people run the 15x7.00 wheels you can find at many VW shops on the ULTRA 3" wide wheels

Tue Mar 15, 2005 1:05 pm

Do you think I could run the 215r75 on 4" or would that really be pushing it?

Tue Mar 15, 2005 1:39 pm

HNM, I am currently running the 7.00x15 on stock wheels (4.5x15).

I used to run 30x9.50 on the stock wheels with no problems, the occaisonal rub, but nothing bad. I actually liked this size it would roll over most small holes,rocks and curbs pretty easy. Hope this helps, Later Mitch.

Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:02 am

Any other thoughts or experience on which tire I should go with? The 7x15 ones listed above look like a good bet. Anyone know how tall they are exactly? I would like a little wider if possible.

Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:38 pm

Here is my car with the 30x9.50x15 on stock wheels:

and here is my car with the 7.00x15 on the same wheels:

The 7.00x15 I believe measure to be 29in tall, I like them because they dont rub as much as the 30x9.50. Now keep in mind I am running these tires on stock vw rims. Hope this helps, Mitch.

Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:03 pm

i want to get something like the 30 x 9.5 for my car. no clearance issues. was the steering much more difficult than the 7?

Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:13 pm

hey vwclass11 - that's a pretty badass looking ride. How does your car handle with those 7.0x15s on there?

(This is in regarding the back tires, not the front, so this is sort of off topic....) but I ask because when I got my baja eons ago, it had some american rims on there with adapters. (I know, I know, adapters suck, especially for offroad cars, but these were good old solid finned cast adapaters and not those junky bent steel ones - and I still run these rims/adapters on my front tires to this day) They were 14x6 rims and I had 235/75R14s on the back. To wide but just a good height for me. They wore out and the only size I could find that would fit those rims with about the same height were 7.0x14 tractor tires, that looked a lot like yours. What I found was that I could not drive the car at all. The car is a swingaxle, and the "tuck" in the back wheels combined with that bias ply offroad tread, made the car catch every groove in the road and head off in unpredictable directions. I took the tires off immediately. Later I sold them to a neighbor who put them on the back of his Bus and they worked great for him.

andy

Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:53 pm

hanknmorgan wrote: I actually just found that page. Here is what I discoverd. I actually have the LT325 60R15. They say 30.6" online, Mine measured like 29.25" but they are worn down quite a bit. My front tires are currently 27.5" tall. The smallest MT's BFG makes are 215 75r15 which is about 28" tall but is reccomended for a minimum wheel width of 5.5 inches so I guess that wont work out for me. I dont have to run the BFGs I just like the tread pattern and would like them to match the back. Doesnt look like it's going to happen though. Are there any other manufacturers you guys would reccomend that makes an aggresive tread offroad tire for the front that may fit my size a bit better. Someone recommended Nankang before, but I couldnt find much from them. How about something like this? No height listed though.

http://www.chirco.com/cgi-bin/chirco.storefront/42...mp;2E00X15

If your 325's are wore, don't concern yourself to much with matching the tread up front, have you priced that size BFG yet? Start the 2nd mortgage on the house now before Greenspan raise the rates!

When I first got my car it had 215's squezed on 4" jackmans. They were Laredo's very similar tread pattern to the 7x15's pictured in this thread. I never drove it much with them on there as one of the tires had a bad belt in it or something and it wobbled at 45+, plus the car got dissasembled right away. I went from those to a set of 205 wranglers, the wimpiest tread pattern version, I hated them. I don't know if it was the fact that the tire is a bit bulged and ballon like on the rim or if it was just the lacking bite of the tread but it did not like to steer all that well in sand. It seemed to drive fine on the highway with them, the usual drift with the wind type thing.