Looking for a 205 70 15 tire... suggestions?

[IP359]

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[IP359]

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[IP359]

For my current project, mine are Firestone F560 in 205 70 15.
Not mounted on wheels yet

[Flow]

Lucky you ! Really nice tires but not sold any more in France... 

[2manytoys]

Wa-bout a 205-65-15 Michelin?




15x7 D spoke with short axles.

[IP359]

Lucky you ! Really nice tires but not sold any more in France... 

Thanks Flow 

[kingsburgphil]

How much are the DDS sticking out the fender?

At the risk of being labeled a heretic...I'd bet a good tin knocker could make your fenders fit over those wheels 

[Zach Gomulka]

For my current project, mine are Firestone F560 in 205 70 15.
Not mounted on wheels yet

Those are cool. The only matching 145 and 205/70 tires you can get.

[deano]

Wa-bout a 205-65-15 Michelin?




15x7 D spoke with short axles.

Love the Michelin look, but check out the offset on those Ds! No problem with 7" rims.

[.]

Perhaps some creative machine work on the brakes and axles instead of dropping the DDS rims ?

[Zach Gomulka]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1090010
Problem solved!

In all seriousness, how much are they sticking out?

[Rennsurfer]

Perhaps some creative machine work on the brakes and axles instead of dropping the DDS rims ?

Good call, Richard. There ya go, Dean. Another option, at least.

[2manytoys]

Wa-bout a 205-65-15 Michelin?




15x7 D spoke with short axles.

Love the Michelin look, but check out the offset on those Ds! No problem with 7" rims.

Got lucky with the offset, tuck nice under the fender and the straight wall design on the Michelin allows me to run the adjustable spring plate. Fronts are 5.5's wide

[deano]

Okay, gang here are the grim photos...

A. I won't widen the rear (NOS!) fenders
B. I already have short axles
C. I could change the brakes...
D. I could change the wheels...
E. I could change the tires (215 DOTs)
F. I could and may cut my wrists.

[Rennsurfer]

Dang, that sucks. I really hope that you get that sorted out... totally dig the car's color.

[70slooker]

C. use the 67 brakes (to the early guys they were high tech)   with using dds wheels i highly doubt you would subject them to the shanagins a 25yr old deano would have
D. to go for some fun times fit tires for the buggy wheels and go have fun sparing the sparce deanos, IMO i think 70s look like far to much tire in the little hole vw left us to use, im really liking the looks of the 65s but it all gets you back to how the new wheels work with it all

if all else fails, we have all thought about F. on these silly builds we sware we would never do again  

[Hotrodvw]

You must have a crazy offset wheel.  Mine are 5.5" C-Lines.  I have about the wiest combo possible with short axles, and mine are right on the edge.....but not as far out as yours.  Wheel swap would be my vote.  What are the wheels again?

[2manytoys]

Darn.... I don't think the brakes will buy you enough,...I would ditch the DOTs (sidewall is too Bubbly and not in a "happy" way) and look for new rims. I wouldn't consider having Eric Vaughn narrow them given they are quite rare. On the upside, the paint looks Fan-friggin-tastic. Sorry bout the dilema. I had to deal with the same situation on a '67 Squareback. Original Centerlines and Dunlap GT Qualifiers.........ended up putting on the short axles, and rolling the fender a wee bit.

The rims look like they are sooooooooooooooooo close to working with a differnent tire. Any chance you know someone that will lend you say a 205/65-15 Micth-e-Lynn? Maybe, that and brakes. (ok, being optimistic, but it can't hurt)

[Jon]

Lets face it, ditching DDS is not an option.
Something have to change... but not the tire, rim, fender or torsion housing.

That leaves you with narrower brakes, or custom length axles (ask Jussi on here) with sectioned end castings.
The brake backing plates could also have the center section cut out and moved 20mm out. The you could fit the type3 drum (machined) 20 mm deeper.

In the end, getting a impossible wheel to fit gives more than what can be achieved with bolt on parts. Seeing a (too) deep DDS fitting under a stock fender would talk directly to the subconscious of the onlooker.

[Taylor]

Could you turn the wheel around?  Making it a "deep" 6. Not being funny but I could on my erco's.  The valve stem would be an issue though

[qubek]

Okay, gang here are the grim photos...

A. I won't widen the rear (NOS!) fenders
B. I already have short axles
C. I could change the brakes...
D. I could change the wheels...
E. I could change the tires (215 DOTs)
F. I could and may cut my wrists.

E. Judging from the pictures, the problem is with the tires, not the rims. I'd even go as far as to say that your current tires look to big for the rim.... but most of the forum would probably disagree with me.

F. Nonsense. Why would you use such a painful, slow and inefficient method when guns are so easily available in the US?

[Jason Foster]

If it will ease the pain at all Dean, The DOT bias ply rear and radial front combo completely sucks on the street. Handling is unpredictable and car is all over the place. Ask Sarge and Tim Walton about it I'm sure they'd agree. 

[Zach Gomulka]

Lets face it, ditching DDS is not an option.
Something have to change... but not the tire, rim, fender or torsion housing.

That leaves you with narrower brakes, or custom length axles (ask Jussi on here) with sectioned end castings.
The brake backing plates could also have the center section cut out and moved 20mm out. The you could fit the type3 drum (machined) 20 mm deeper.

In the end, getting a impossible wheel to fit gives more than what can be achieved with bolt on parts. Seeing a (too) deep DDS fitting under a stock fender would talk directly to the subconscious of the onlooker.

I like this approach. Not easy, but definitely worth it.

[Black Sheep]

         I.R.S. and get the narrowing tool out  
I did , can tuck pretty much anything under there now  

[John Palmer]

We ran DDS front and Erco (CMS) rears on the 1960 for years.  They look "really close" at 100 mph, lol.  The DDS fronts had a small backspacing, putting the 145 front runner tire edge out against the edge of the fender, even with a 2" narrowed beam.  Just go with the Erco (CMS) rears, pick the inner and outer width's and back spacings that will give you the desired results and don't look back.  You have screwed around too long on that car, "it's time to drive it, we are not getting any younger"!

[John Palmer]

Could you turn the wheel around?  Making it a "deep" 6. Not being funny but I could on my erco's.  The valve stem would be an issue though

That's why we like reading Taylor's thoughts.  He's always "thinking outside the box", I like it, should not be hard to weld up the valve holes and reverse.



One other question, "How straight are your DDS wheels"?

[Fritter]

Deano, switch the tire to a 165-185 70 old school type radial tire, I bet that will get it there.  

I had M&H DOT's on my old white '65.  They were GREAT for hooking up at the drags, I dropped .4-.5 seconds off my 60 ft time just with those tires.

That being said, they SUCK on the street.  WAY squishy, as others have said here.  If you drive around curves with them on, you'll be scraping the doorhandles on the ground.  

But, they do look cool.  Looks like you'll need offset ERCO's to make it work if you keep the tires.  

Oh, the paint looks like the usual Buddy Hale perfection....my white '65 painted by Buddy was almost flawless....looked like he dipped the whole car in paint, it was so smooth.

[Rick Meredith]

Could you turn the wheel around?  Making it a "deep" 6. Not being funny but I could on my erco's.  The valve stem would be an issue though

That's why we like reading Taylor's thoughts.  He's always "thinking outside the box", I like it, should not be hard to weld up the valve holes and reverse.



One other question, "How straight are your DDS wheels"?

Why weld up the valve holes?

I say run them on the inside!

[danny gabbard]

Dean have you had the weight of the motor in the car yet? They will pull in a little, But probably not enough. Try takeing a wooden or plastic dowel and put between tire and fender edge and roll car back and forth. Each time leaning on dowel more and more. One thing to think about is sliceing fender next to apron and up to about bumper bracket grommet and then try the dowel treatment. But get the engine weight in it, Things change. Just A idea from a simple body guy ! Good look and post some picture after.

[Zach Gomulka]

I was worried the 215/65's weren't going to fit in the fenders in AssHull's car, but once the motor was in all was well. But what Dean has there is a serious problem! No amount of weight on the rear suspension or fender rolling is going to mend that. I really like the approach JHU has in mind. Cut the end casting down as far as you can and make the axles match. Then swap to narrower brakes if need be. Or doing the backing plates like JHU said. SMART! The thought of reversing the wheels is good, but aren't the DDS wheels zero offset?

I know it's been a long project, but now is not the time to rush it together. Do it once, do it right, do it the way you want it done.