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busboyjake Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2002 Posts: 393 Location: Colorado
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:09 pm Post subject: Ghia correct tire size??!!! |
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Hello People, I just bought a 71 ghia with 34,000 original miles on it. It has been in storage for at least 10 years (probably more like 20) and has a few issues, the first of which is the tires
It has old Sears 6.00-15L tires on it - what is this? What size does this translate to, or better yet - what is the correct size for the car? (is it a 165 R15?), and can i put a taller tire for improved highway speeds?(would this be a 185 r15) and where can i find them?
next i'll bug you folks about the autostick! _________________ 1965 Pearl White Caravelle Camper
1978 Dakota Beige Westy
1969 Montana Red Westy (for sale soon) |
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iowegian Samba Curmudgeon
Joined: February 16, 2005 Posts: 9829 Location: Somewhere between Dubuque and Keokuk
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:15 pm Post subject: |
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165R-15 is a close as you will readily find. |
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busboyjake Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2002 Posts: 393 Location: Colorado
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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Anyone know the correct tire for the car - height, width, revs per mile, etc. and where to get them?
I can get 165s at just about any tire store, but is this the correct tire? _________________ 1965 Pearl White Caravelle Camper
1978 Dakota Beige Westy
1969 Montana Red Westy (for sale soon) |
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YellowSplittie Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2003 Posts: 1167
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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165R-15 is the correct size. _________________ '78 Champagne Edition II Westfalia
'65 Karmann Ghia, Arcona White
'65 Standard Bus with SO-42 installed
'64 Kombi
'62 Beetle
'61 Standard Bus, Mango |
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coad Samba Scapegoat
Joined: September 12, 2002 Posts: 7553
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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busboyjake wrote: |
Anyone know the correct tire for the car - height, width, revs per mile, etc. and where to get them?
I can get 165s at just about any tire store, but is this the correct tire? |
Yes. No. Maybe. You're talking apples and oranges since no 165 is going to be exactly the same size as the original tires.
The trouble is that most 165's are too big to fit into the spare tire opening inflated. The other problem is that different brands of 165's are going to be different sizes. It turns into a trial and error situation where you need to ask the tire stores what the spec are on the 165's they sell.
That said, I've seen old tire store cross reference books (from the 60's and 70's) that also list 155's as being correct for ghias. Back when the cars were in production some of the books showed 165's as being for beetles and 155's being for ghias-- later, as the cars got older, they just lumped both beetles and ghias together and said to use 165's on both.
155's are just small enough to fit in the tire well. I have 155's on my car and am pleased with them. Tougher than 165's to find though.
Search the forum-- there are several very long and detailed threads about tires that have good information. |
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busboyjake Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2002 Posts: 393 Location: Colorado
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:27 pm Post subject: |
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OK, now were getting somewhere, i've been reading up and it appears that this 165 is a 165/(unstated aspect ratio 82)/15, and the stock size is a 155-15 so, can i find a 185 R15 or 175 R15 and leave the spare at home and deal with the consequences? is that huge?
What is Nankang?
Is there some magical rare tire store in the sky somewhere? _________________ 1965 Pearl White Caravelle Camper
1978 Dakota Beige Westy
1969 Montana Red Westy (for sale soon) |
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Ghia Nut Samba Member
Joined: December 23, 2003 Posts: 1565 Location: B'ham Alabama
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:30 pm Post subject: |
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I swear by my bently manual, my owners manual, the bible and the current tires on my car, 155/60/R15 ARE THE CORRECT SIZE! 165 will fit but 155s are the right ones. Nankang is a tire manufacturer. I have Verderstien 155/60/R15, I will be runnin 195/50/R15 by the end of the year. Good luck. _________________ '59 typ1 rajay turbo
'72 Ghia rajay 1641 dual 36DRLAs, 1 3/8" SS merged header and fat boy
78" GL Vert with ej22t swap
This will likely change tomorrow to something else. |
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busboyjake Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2002 Posts: 393 Location: Colorado
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ripreston Samba Member
Joined: May 16, 2006 Posts: 147 Location: U.K. to L.A.
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2006 11:21 pm Post subject: |
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For what it's worth, I have 165SR15 Michelin XZX tires (re-issues from Coker Tire) at all four corners, and for the spare I have a 145R15 XZX tire. Naturally, I hope I never have to use to the spare, but as most new cars provide an undersized spare I thought why not do the same for my Ghia - and solve the wheel well fit and closing of the bonnet problem. I've always used XZX tires on all of the Ghias I've owned over the years. They look good, and they feel good - like you're glued to the road! (Good shocks and anti-sway bars also add to that sensation.) |
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Towel Rail Horizontally Opposed
Joined: April 15, 2005 Posts: 4622 Location: SE CR IA US NA PE
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Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:05 am Post subject: |
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While we're talking about Coker, they make bias-ply tires like the ones currently on your car, if that interests you at all.... _________________ 1974 Thing -- under the knife
1967 Beetle -- spring/summer/fall driver
1996 Subaru OBW (EJ22, 5-speed, AWD) -- winter car, 3-seasons "don't feel like biking today" car
049 > 070 > 053 > 009 |
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Gary Person of Interest
Joined: November 01, 2002 Posts: 17069 Location: 127.0.0.1
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Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 5:58 am Post subject: |
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Towel Rail wrote: |
While we're talking about Coker, they make bias-ply tires like the ones currently on your car, if that interests you at all.... |
IMO, the bias-ply handle better than radials on a stock Ghia. _________________ West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943) |
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coad Samba Scapegoat
Joined: September 12, 2002 Posts: 7553
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Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:17 am Post subject: |
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Ghia Nut wrote: |
I swear by my bently manual, my owners manual, the bible and the current tires on my car, 155/60/R15 ARE THE CORRECT SIZE! 165 will fit but 155s are the right ones. |
LOL, you notice how I kind implied that in my post? I ws thinking about just flat coming out and saying that, but I didn't have the balls to open that can of worms at midnight. Good for you.
I have Verderstiens on my car and just love them. |
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YellowSplittie Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2003 Posts: 1167
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Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:36 am Post subject: |
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I've been running Kumho 165R15s on my '67 for over a year and they fit and handle great.
Now that I think about it, I couldn't find any 155R15s locally and went with the 165s. I tried every tire store in this area and none could get the 155s. I believe at the time Coker had to custom-make a 155. I guess I had the 165s in my head when I posted earlier. _________________ '78 Champagne Edition II Westfalia
'65 Karmann Ghia, Arcona White
'65 Standard Bus with SO-42 installed
'64 Kombi
'62 Beetle
'61 Standard Bus, Mango |
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SkrapMetal Samba Hornblaster
Joined: January 18, 2006 Posts: 2558 Location: Dallas, TX
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Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 6:50 am Post subject: |
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A good way to prove 155's are correct....
165 will not fit in my trunk with the hood closed unless I deflate it _________________ oo9less since 2007
-72 Ghia- |
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kingkarmann Samba Member
Joined: November 05, 2003 Posts: 4111
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Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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I run the 155's on my 67. Sprint Classic radial. Fit and ride great. Plus the spare fits the well perfectly. I got mine at www.tiresunlimited.com _________________ "Depression is a malfunction of the instrument we use to determine reality.”
Mike Gerson
What is your "Bespoke Reality"? |
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Rome Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2004 Posts: 9641 Location: Pearl River, NY
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Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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I'll refer to my Bentley tonite and carefully read the tire section, then compare it with VW's own "without guesswork" tech spec's booklet. If I remember correctly, 4-bolt type 1 wheels of 4" width ('68 - '71 Beetle and ? Ghias) used the 5.60x15 bias ply tires, or 155 radials. 4 1/2" wheels (Beetle from '72 on, and IMO all 4-lug Ghias) used the 6.00x15 bias, or 165 radials.
On my Ghia with aftermarket 4 1/2" wheels I have Cooper Tire 165's which are quite wide. Spare tire is an old 155 bias. |
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jbar1 Samba Member
Joined: October 06, 2005 Posts: 86 Location: Jewett City, CT
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Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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Ghia Nut wrote: |
I swear by my bently manual, my owners manual, the bible and the current tires on my car, 155/60/R15 ARE THE CORRECT SIZE! 165 will fit but 155s are the right ones. Nankang is a tire manufacturer. I have Verderstien 155/60/R15, I will be runnin 195/50/R15 by the end of the year. Good luck. |
I think if you check your size again you will see that 155/60/R15 should be 155/80/R15 or 155/82/R15. To my knowledge "60" series (low profile) tires were developed for muscle car applications in the late '60s early '70s. _________________ John
1970 Ghia
1976 Porsche 912E |
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busboyjake Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2002 Posts: 393 Location: Colorado
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Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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I bought two generic 165 R15s today for the front and will run the 6.00 15s in the back for the time being and until the budget improves (paid $116 for the pair mounted and balanced)
also i replaced the spare which was a 5.60 15 with one of the 6.00 15 tires that were on the car, and had to grease and deflate it to make it fit, but it fit
note also that the 6.00 15s that were on the car with significant wear were a solid .5 inches taller and at least an inch narrower than the new 165 r 15s on the same wheel side by side.
next time i buy a complete set i may go with the vredesteins for the lower revs per mile screamin down the highway factor.
I dont have a bentley for the ghia/bug yet, all i have is the bus, and the vanagon ones. Maybe i'll tell santa to bring it to me along with that snap-on tool set and second story and five bay garage/shop with pool table bar-loft and keg-er-ator fridge i asked him for last year. _________________ 1965 Pearl White Caravelle Camper
1978 Dakota Beige Westy
1969 Montana Red Westy (for sale soon) |
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70 140 Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2002 Posts: 8471 Location: Ontario Canada
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Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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I have an michelin 165 15 that is worn down to the wear indicator bars. It fits in the spare tire well and the lid closes. I realize this is not a great tire, but its a spare... |
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jcreinman Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 8
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