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911pickup Samba Member

Joined: March 06, 2004 Posts: 625 Location: Near Goats on the Roof
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:58 am Post subject: Rear tire size |
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I'm in the process of looking for new tires for my buggy.
I'm pretty sure I'll buy 205/60-15 BF Goodrich Radial TAs for the front (can't find 195/60s anywhere in Canada), but I'm not sure what size tire to put on the back.
Presently, I'm leaning towards a Radial TA 235/70-15. The upside is the tire's 28" diameter will help fill the space between the tire and the rear fender, but the downside is the 28" tire combined with a stock 1600 engine may result in a really gutless buggy.
Another option is to go with a Radial TA 245/60-15, which has a 26.6" diameter. This tire won't 'fill the wheel well' like a 235/70-15 tire would, but the smaller diameter may be better suited to the stock 1600's hp output.
One thing I do want to do is run the same brand of tire front and rear.
What tire combos are you guys using on your buggies? |
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Dale M. Samba Member

Joined: April 12, 2006 Posts: 20795 Location: Just a tiny bit west of Yosemite Valley
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:23 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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I'm running P255/60R15 on rears and it fills rear wheel/fender area really well, But am pushing buggy with estimated 100/110 HP at the wheels...
Running P225/60R14 on front's... Difference in wheel size is because that is what was on buggy when I bought it and I chose to restore wheels vs, new wheels when I restored buggy...
Dale _________________ “Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns"
"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ... |
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VOLKSWAGNUT Fastest VW Belt Changer

Joined: October 14, 2007 Posts: 11149 Location: Flippin' a Belt........ .... Off-n-On ... NC USA
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 10:38 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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I use 205/60/15's front.. 275/60/15's hangin' out back.. stock single port 1600 with an IRS 4.13 R/P gear. Does run out of steam at 60.. but will go 72ish..max..
Perfect around towns and up to 55..
I wanted the look.. not the top speed... that's all I needed/wanted... for this one..
(Wanted 195's for the front.. but BFG.. stopped producing that size.. )
. _________________ aka Ken {o\!/o}
Its your vehicle- stop askin' for approval-do what YOU like for cryin' out loud
Better to roll em' how you want and wear em' out-than lettin' em' rot out
Its about the going not the showing
Rebuilt to drive not decorate
WANTED: Local Eatin' Joints, Triple D for TheSamba contributions here http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=570510
Search "VOLKSWAGNUT" on YouTube since you cant watch a "certain" BELT change video round here
Usually and often edited |
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Q-Dog Samba Member

Joined: April 05, 2010 Posts: 8837 Location: Sunset, Louisiana
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 11:03 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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Front: 205/60/15 - 6" wheel. Rear: 245/60/15 - 8.5" wheel. Stock 1600 will eventually hit 80 mph. I'm going taller on the rear when I wear these out. But I may have to build a bigger engine to push them.  _________________ Brian
'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle |
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germanx Samba Member

Joined: July 29, 2010 Posts: 327 Location: Germany
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:52 pm Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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I m runnng 255 Avons on the back. They fit nicely with the car and are a good compromise between meaty looks and low weight. I calculatd the dynamic weight benefit to a 275 size tyre and it would have the same effect than adding about 70 kg to the car. That is a lot.
_________________ '73 Beach Buggy
'66 T1 Deluxe |
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911pickup Samba Member

Joined: March 06, 2004 Posts: 625 Location: Near Goats on the Roof
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 5:30 pm Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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Great photos, guys!
255/60-15 seems to be the sweet spot.
If I can, I'd like to keep my front and rear tires under the fenders. I don't think that will be a problem in the rear, as I'm mounting the tires on a 15x7 rim, with a 40mm offset. If anything, I'll have to add a wheel spacer to clear the suspension bits.
I may end up going with something narrower in the front. Maybe a 185/55-15. That will mean mixing tire manufacturers, which is something I'm hesitant in doing. Then-again, with such a big difference in tire size between the fronts and the rears I wonder if it would matter.
So far I've found the following tires that come in a 185/55-15 size:
Kumho ESCTA PA31
Toyo PROXES T1R
Yokohama S. DRIVE |
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wythac Samba Member

Joined: August 02, 2004 Posts: 2791
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 6:41 pm Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php?search_keywords=Rear+tire+size&search_forum=38
This might help. Well traveled topic here. About as many opinions as there are threads.
I'm sure you know this, but rim size, backspace and offset have a significant influence on what fits and how it looks...poke around on some of those threads on that search, then....see what is still available....lots of these tire sizes going out of production as the vehicles they fit get scrapped. |
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911pickup Samba Member

Joined: March 06, 2004 Posts: 625 Location: Near Goats on the Roof
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 11:39 pm Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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When I ordered my disc brake kits from Cip1 I asked for blank rotors. I had the rotors drilled for a 4x100 pattern and also had the machine shop press in extra long studs, in case I need to use spacers.
With the 4x100 bolt pattern there are a ton of wheel choices in both 15" and 17" diameters. I've considered going with a 17" wheel, but I haven't come across a photo of a buggy with 17" wheels (yet), to see how they would look. |
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gtrplyr Samba Member

Joined: November 10, 2014 Posts: 101 Location: kansas
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 8:28 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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This is a photo of 17" wheels on my Lithia. |
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911pickup Samba Member

Joined: March 06, 2004 Posts: 625 Location: Near Goats on the Roof
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 10:19 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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Do you have a side shot? |
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clonebug Samba Member

Joined: January 29, 2005 Posts: 4130 Location: NW Washington
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 10:52 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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I run 275/60-15 TA's and love them on my turbo 1679cc.
They are 28 inches tall and give me what I think is the perfect gear ratio for my buggy. I like cruising at 3100 rpm at 70 mph.
I did run my Brother's worn out 295/50-15 TA's on the back when I first got the buggy running with a single port 1500 and Dual Kadrons. They are around 26 inches in diameter. It was pretty good but would run out of steam at around 80 mph. It would go faster but the time it took seemed like there wasn't enough road to get there......
I also ran the 275/60-15's on the buggy with a DP 1600 and Kadrons and it would do ok.
I just really like the gearing of the bigger tires.
With the extra power of the turbo they are perfect.
_________________
richardcraineum wrote: |
I'm so ignorant of efi I don't even know the difference between batch, sequential blah blah blah .. |
cbeck wrote: |
His user name in a previous life was dick head. |
My Megasquirt Fuel Injection Turbo Buggy Build
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http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=127936 |
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oprn Samba Member

Joined: November 13, 2016 Posts: 14685 Location: Western Canada
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 11:45 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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BF Goodrich came on this buggy.
P245/60R14 on the rear,
P195/60SR14 on the front.
The resulting gearing seems to match the 1600DP pretty well, tops out at 90mph and runs 3400rpm at 65mph.
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BIGMIKEY Samba Member

Joined: September 24, 2007 Posts: 1136 Location: North East Pennsylvania
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 5:51 pm Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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gtrplyr wrote: |
This is a photo of 17" wheels on my Lithia. |
Do you have the same size wheels and tires front and rear? What size are they?
Mike T _________________ BIGMIKEY
Deserter Series 1 project.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=787047&highlight=
1973 Beetle Driver, Marina Blue. |
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JiI Samba Member

Joined: February 18, 2006 Posts: 1856 Location: Michigan
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 6:19 pm Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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165R15 fronts and 235/60/15 rears. Probably a little small but good on the gearing. Now if I could just get a VW engine to run....
Jeff |
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gtrplyr Samba Member

Joined: November 10, 2014 Posts: 101 Location: kansas
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 8:40 pm Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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The fronts are 17x7 with 235/45/17s. The rears are 17x10 with 275/40/17s. The rears appear to be too small but that was the size on it when I purchased the buggy. |
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joescoolcustoms Samba Member

Joined: August 08, 2006 Posts: 9054 Location: West By God Virginia
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Posted: Sat Feb 25, 2017 9:33 pm Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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Some of the combinations I have run over the years.
215 75 15 front, 275 60 15 rear.
215 75 15 front, 235 75 15 rear.
195 85 15 front, 235 75 15 rear
215 75 15 front, 265 75 15 rear
165 65 15 front, 275 60 15 rear
165 80 15 front, 245 70 15 rear
205 60 15 front, 295 50 15 rear
_________________ Bad News Racing 2018 NORRA 1000 3rd in Class
Best Day Ever Racing 2022 NORRA 1000 2nd in Class and first All Female team to complete the race
Everyone is gifted. Some just do not open the package.
Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone |
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911pickup Samba Member

Joined: March 06, 2004 Posts: 625 Location: Near Goats on the Roof
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 9:50 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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gtrplyr, that rear tire definitely looks too small (diameter wise), compared to the fronts.
Joescoolcustoms, that's a great collection of different tire sizes. Thanks. |
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911pickup Samba Member

Joined: March 06, 2004 Posts: 625 Location: Near Goats on the Roof
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:37 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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Just for interests sake I plugged in some numbers into a tire size/gear calculator and came up with these cruising speeds at 3000 rpm:
R&P 3.88
RPM 3000
FINAL GEAR .89
stock 155-15 (24.8") 60.4 mph
215/65-15 (26") 63.3 mph
245/70-15 (26.6") 64.8 mph
255/60-15 (27.1") 70.1 mph
235/70-15 (28") 72.4 mph
275/60-15 (28") 72.4 mph
If you have a 4.12 R & P it lowers the cruising speed by approximately 4 mph.
Cruising at 60 mph with a 28" diameter tire the engine revs would be 2500. I wonder how that would impact the cylinder head cooling. |
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gtrplyr Samba Member

Joined: November 10, 2014 Posts: 101 Location: kansas
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 10:40 am Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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911pickup, I agree, but it came with those and I hate to go any taller on the rear. I just bought new tires and didn't want to change the height too much. My yellow buggy has 31.5s on the back and that's a lot of tire to pull with a stock motor!
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clonebug Samba Member

Joined: January 29, 2005 Posts: 4130 Location: NW Washington
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Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2017 1:34 pm Post subject: Re: Rear tire size |
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I have 4.12 gearing with the 28 inch rear tire and have never had trouble with cooling at 60 mph or any speed. Usually I can't get the engine warm enough.
I cruise 3100 rpm at 70 mph.
911pickup wrote: |
Just for interests sake I plugged in some numbers into a tire size/gear calculator and came up with these cruising speeds at 3000 rpm:
R&P 3.88
RPM 3000
FINAL GEAR .89
stock 155-15 (24.8") 60.4 mph
215/65-15 (26") 63.3 mph
245/70-15 (26.6") 64.8 mph
255/60-15 (27.1") 70.1 mph
235/70-15 (28") 72.4 mph
275/60-15 (28") 72.4 mph
If you have a 4.12 R & P it lowers the cruising speed by approximately 4 mph.
Cruising at 60 mph with a 28" diameter tire the engine revs would be 2500. I wonder how that would impact the cylinder head cooling. |
_________________
richardcraineum wrote: |
I'm so ignorant of efi I don't even know the difference between batch, sequential blah blah blah .. |
cbeck wrote: |
His user name in a previous life was dick head. |
My Megasquirt Fuel Injection Turbo Buggy Build
Water/Alcohol Injection
Audi TT intercooler
Upgraded to MS3Pro-Evo
EcuMaster PMU16
ECUMaster ADU5 Digital Dash
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=127936 |
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