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Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:37 pm

anyone running 15X12 rears? i was thinking of going really radical and wanted to see what a set would look like. i had 10s that i got rid of and now have 8s which i could pop on for utility (and inspections).and are they ok in the sand too? i figured aired down they should be just like a larger truck tire is fine. looking at A/T or M/Ts for them too- no road tires.

thinking of going with 15X5s up front.

Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:50 pm

These were on my buggy when I got it. They were 10 or 12 wide, but not tall. The only thing I found them good for was taking out the corner of my shed. :oops:

Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:50 pm

I ran a set of 12X15 wheels on the back of my Empi Imp for a while. The tires were HUGE BFG Drag Radials, over 16" wide, 30" tall. They looked comical, but did great on the beach.

Wed Feb 22, 2006 6:59 pm

UB

That's a big assed tire.

DPG

Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:06 pm

Yellermanx wrote: These were on my buggy when I got it. They were 10 or 12 wide, but not tall. The only thing I found them good for was taking out the corner of my shed. :oops:

Chuck, those look like 10" wheels, and a 295/50X15.

Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:17 pm

thats what i was going for unclebob- the cartoonish look! that does look like it would get a lot of attention!
but how common was that 'back in the day'. my buggy is pretty period other than my seats. what kinds of wheels/tires were run back in the 60s and 70s commonly?
i'm looking at the reverse rim at stockton for the standard 3.25 offset. any chance you remember what the offset was on those wheels there?

Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:20 pm

UB I think you are correct. I guess I am just too old, but I really hated the look. The taller tires I put on it really hurt the acceleration though. I think they were 25 or 26 tall and the new ones are 29.

Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:22 pm

Hey 90 back in the day around here they used big balloon airplane tires. they looked real cartoony. I like the look also.

Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:29 pm

90Volts, I don't remember the exact offset, but they were standard 12X15 wheels with minimal offset. The offset couldn't have been much more than 4", but I was running adapters. The tire was about as big as you could go, they had about 1/2" clearance from my bumper and pan corner. I can't remember the size of the wheels. 345's I believe.

I could imagine these tires looking good on another buggy, but they were just TOO MUCH for a shortened Empi Imp.

Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:36 pm

Wed Feb 22, 2006 7:56 pm

90,

Think long and hard about going too tall with the tire. My green buggy with a 31"BFG made 4 gear completely useless?

D

Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:07 am

Keep in mind your clearances as well. If you go beach running, you will want to let alot of air out of your tires. this will make them flex allowing the rubber to rub on the body in the front and the shock mount in the back unless you keep this in mind when choosing your wheel/tire combo.

Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:13 am

These are what was used back in the day. I'd like to have them just for wall hangers.

I didn't know someone made this type of tire specifically for buggy use. 'Dune-Buggy Specials' Neat.

Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:46 am

[/img]http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/thumbnails/258048.jpg[img]

I have 205/55-15 and 295/50-15s on this[/img]

Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:49 am

Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:32 am

andk, are those 10s or 12s. i like that. your dash looks sweet too. saw that in your gallery.
so what is the deal with speed and the size of tires? the taller the tire the less top speed? or how does that work? i figure that could be fixed with a gear change in the tranny though right. not that i want to do that until i needed a new one anyway though.

Thu Feb 23, 2006 10:52 am

I think Andk's rear wheels are 10's as well. However, you CAN stretch a 295/50-15 to fit on a 12" wheel. Tried that. They looked like street-racer wheels, no sidewall at all. Sidewall is good if you ever plan on going off road.

About the tire height and gearing. Yes, a taller tire drastically affects your gearing. A healthy 1600 should turn a 31" tall tire in 4th gear, but don't expect 75mph. You'd need to downshift going up any hills. No power. Also, it won't feel as 'peppy' through the gears compared to a shorter (say, 28" tall) tire. The 2180cc I had in the Imp didn't seem to mind, but I could REALLY tell the difference between those big meats and some short tires. If you're running a mild motor, stay under 30" tall if you want to use 4th gear.

Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:14 am

sorry - kept fighting with trying to post the pic - rears are 10" and I think the height comes in fairly close to a stock tire (little taller in rear). The fronts are shorter though - about 24" tall and the previous tires were about 27") I guestimate that since teh speedo is on the front, I am about 6 or 7 MPH slower than actual - in other words, at about 62 on my speedo, I am driving an actual 55.

My original front tires hit the fenders on occasion, so I wanted a little shorter tire, plus I really spent a bunch of time trying to get the right look.

Thanks for the comment on the dash - when I got the buggy, the PO had idiot lights and switches all over and the speedo didn't fit right. Was a pain in the butt to do the wood, but I was pretty happy with the result.

Thu Feb 23, 2006 11:41 am

so a bigger displacement will make up for it? i have a mild 1776.
i can hit 70-75pretty comfortably now. i don't really do highways though. with the kids if we go anywhere far we tow it.

Thu Feb 23, 2006 12:01 pm

I just remember with my old buggy with the 31"s and a fairly strong 1600.

I went from spinning 3500 rpm's in 3 to 900 in fourth.

But to Uncle Bob's point, it really only came into play for a strech of highway.