Buying new tires after 14 years

[DARTHV6]

Hello all,
A few months ago I posted in the General Section... I'm back after 14 years! I retired and had a bout with cancer, didn't know if I was going to make it, and here I am!

Anyway, I have a GN I used to race 14 years ago. (I have forgotten everything I did to the car, sadly..) but I have a Nephew coming next month who loves cars and wants to learn. I drive the car every year mostly to keep the battery charged. I also have a stock motor on a stand that we will monkey around with, but I want him to take the car down the track for fun. We have to do alot of things for sure but I need to buy new tires all the way around. I have skinnies on the front and Goodrich Radial T/A's on the rear. I would like to buy drag radials for the rear and replace the fronts with a wider size if I can, all on the existing rims. This is what I have:

REAR
Goodrich Radial T/A P275/50R15 101s M+S
Weld Racing K.C.M.O 30-99
The tire and rims are 25 inches tall and 10 inches wide

FRONT
Remington Himax ll 165R15 86S
Weld Racing K.C.M.O. 28-98
The tire and rims are about 24 inches tall and 6 inches wide

I don't know what I need to measure to order a type of drag radial for the rear and a replacement for the front. If anybody has any suggestions that would be great! These are some very old tires and I would like to start driving it more while we are trying to tune it for the track.

Thanks much!
Art

 

[Turbo6inKY]

For the rear, search for drag radials with a 275-295 width spec.

If you're digging on Tire Rack, they have all the specifications for all the tires, including recommended rim width.

I've never shopped skinnies, so I'll leave those to somebody with more experience to comment.

But if you want to swap those out for a normal wheel, an 8" wide rim fits fine up front and will handle a 245mm wide tire.

 

[DARTHV6]

For the rear, search for drag radials with a 275-295 width spec.

If you're digging on Tire Rack, they have all the specifications for all the tires, including recommended rim width.

I've never shopped skinnies, so I'll leave those to somebody with more experience to comment.

But if you want to swap those out for a normal wheel, an 8" wide rim fits fine up front and will handle a 245mm wide tire.

Thanks,
I do still have the old original heavy rims that came with the car for the front if nobody has suggestions for the skinnies. I'm guessing 275 is the width?
Thanks for the info,
Art

 

[1986 Buick GX1]

The first step would be to determine the wheel width on the front.
It looks like the fronts you have now are a 70 series.
If you only want to go a little larger, maybe a 185/70-15 (25x 7.25) and would more than likely fit on your existing wheels. In comparison, the stock tires are 215/65-15 (26x 8.5), just to give you an idea.

If you like the way the rear looks, stick with the 275/50-15 (25.8x 10.8) or like Turbo6inKy says, go to the larger size 295/50-15 (26.6x 11.6) for a little more bite.

 

[Turbo6inKY]

Thanks,
I do still have the old original heavy rims that came with the car for the front if nobody has suggestions for the skinnies. I'm guessing 275 is the width?
Thanks for the info,
Art

275 is the minimum. Tires have a rim width range that's acceptable, and a rim width that's optimal.

Optimal width for a 275 is 9.5". With a 10", optimal width is probably 285 or 295 depending on the particular tire.

Opinions vary, but I always go with the ideal rim width provided in the tire specs. That's what the manufacturer did most of their testing on, that's where it's going to behave the way the engineers intended it to behave.

 

[DARTHV6]

The first step would be to determine the wheel width on the front.
It looks like the fronts you have now are a 70 series.
If you only want to go a little larger, maybe a 185/70-15 (25x 7.25) and would more than likely fit on your existing wheels. In comparison, the stock tires are 215/65-15 (26x 8.5), just to give you an idea.

If you like the way the rear looks, stick with the 275/50-15 (25.8x 10.8) or like Turbo6inKy says, go to the larger size 295/50-15 (26.6x 11.6) for a little more bite.

I'm looking at the tire now trying to see what the 70 series on these Remingtons are. They do look like they are about 6 inches wide. 7.25 would be better since I plan on driving it when I'm not at the track. A little larger in the rear wouldn't hurt as long as they fit. <grin!>

 

[DARTHV6]

Optimal width for a 275 is 9.5". With a 10", optimal width is probably 285 or 295 depending on the particular tire.

Ok, that makes sense

 

[DARTHV6]

My M&H drag radials came today. Never raced with drag radials. Only Mickey Thompson slicks. Brief me real quick...at the track, you bypass the burnout box with drag radials right?

 

[Turbo6inKY]

My M&H drag radials came today. Never raced with drag radials. Only Mickey Thompson slicks. Brief me real quick...at the track, you bypass the burnout box with drag radials right?

Depends on who you talk to and the tire itself.

Generally, if there's any tread at all, you won't want to go through the water box. The water can collect in the tread voids, only to come out later and ruin your launch. With a treaded DOT tire, you just want to spin them on a dry surface to clean them off before staging.

BUT, most drag radials are molded at such a shallow depth and the voids are so wide they don't hold much water, and all of it gets spun out during the burnout as long as you're properly aggressive with it.

Really, just go to the track and try it both ways and see how you like it.

 

[DARTHV6]

Depends on who you talk to and the tire itself.

Generally, if there's any tread at all, you won't want to go through the water box. The water can collect in the tread voids, only to come out later and ruin your launch. With a treaded DOT tire, you just want to spin them on a dry surface to clean them off before staging.
Really, just go to the track and try it both ways and see how you like it.

Good point.
Thanks!
Art