Anyone run 195r14's on the factory 4.5" wide rims?

[Cardinal Grammeter]

I have 205/75R14's on the 4.5's and it's a PITA to steer BUT  I do like the taller tires in the rear for less engine revs.

 

I believe the 205's are 26.2" in diameter.

 

There is a 195r14 that is 26.1" that I'm considering.  They are pricey $90-110 a tire.

 

If I go to the 185/75r14, the steering should be easier but more engine revs.  (I have the l20B 1980 wide ratio 5-speed I will put it if I need to replace the clutch.  That would bring revs down something like 10% which isn't a lot.  So the 5-speed doesn't really solve the issue with the 185's.

 

Of course, at the rate I'm moving these days, like they joke about the Warthog:  the airspeed indicator is a calendar... so that would put me in the "geologic" or "glacial" time frame.

[datzenmike]

195/ (has to be around 80) R 14 to be near 26.1. It's actually 26.28

 

Put smaller diameter only on the fronts.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

$90-$110 each is a very inexpensive tire these days. COVID tax.

[Cardinal Grammeter]

51 minutes ago, Stoffregen Motorsports said:

$90-$110 each is a very inexpensive tire these days. COVID tax.

 

I just checked some tire prices at tires-easy.com (they seem to be liked to Walmart too) and the prices are stupid high.

 

This COVID is standing on my last nerve.  What is bad is that businesses are realized they can make money by forming cabals and price fixing.  

 

The business model will be cabals "competing" by each incrementally increasing price.

 

Once you "lean out" the mixture, you can really make some big horsepower - and so it is with pricing and selling.

 

RE:  195r14:

 

*)  All the manufacturers I found I've never heard of - usually bad sign although some of the best tires I ever bot were Sunny's - they had stiff sidewalls like high performance tires, and lasted (and were the cheapest too).  It appears their tire plant is right at one of the big ports in China (if I remember correctly) so they keep shipping costs down.

*)  The tread patter on what few I was able to find look more like tractor trailer treads which do not look like they'd be good in the snow.

*)  They may all have superior life than "conventional" sizes.

______________________________

 

EDIT:  I found 1) Name Brands, 2) All-season tread, and 3) higher life at prioritytire.com (massively greater selection than my go-to-place, tires-easy.com.  EXPENSIVE $135 but:

 

https://www.prioritytire.com/hankook-vantra-lt-185r14-102-100r-d-8-ply-as-a-s-all-season-tire/

 

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Cardinal Grammeter

[datzenmike]

Try wrecking yards. I got 4 almost new, (had the nubs on the tread still and checked the build date as 2016.... this was in 2018) for $45 each. It was like some father bought them for his little girl to go to collage with and the car was scrapped due to an accident. Four 195/60R14s. They were blemish free inside and out, the only down side was someone had used the black rubbery coating to help seal against rusty rims. Took a while to peel it all off. Mounted them myself had to pay for balancing.

[Cardinal Grammeter]

2 hours ago, datzenmike said:

Try wrecking yards. I got 4 almost new, (had the nubs on the tread still and checked the build date as 2016.... this was in 2018) for $45 each. It was like some father bought them for his little girl to go to collage with and the car was scrapped due to an accident. Four 195/60R14s. They were blemish free inside and out, the only down side was someone had used the black rubbery coating to help seal against rusty rims. Took a while to peel it all off. Mounted them myself had to pay for balancing.

 

Yep, that's what I'm going to try.  Lots of wrecking yards around me.  But some don't sell tires because of liability.