205 tyres

[simon]

hi does anyone now if you can fit 205 x 70 x 13 tyres on ford 7j x 13 alloy wheels, i now that the 2.8i specials and pepper pots have the 205 x 60 x 13 tyres on but will these tyres fit ?

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi,
The tyres will fit on the rims, yes. However, the circumference will be greater than with 60 section tyres. This will slightly affect gearing and will alter the speedo reading.
Also, as the tyres are taller they may rub on the lip of the wheelarches on the front when turning.
I'm sure somebody on here will have attempted it and will offer their practical experience.
All the best,
Andrew.

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi again,
By my (quick) calculation 70 section tyres have 20mm greater radius over the 60 section tyres. Which to me seems quite a lot of extra tyre to fit in the space under the arches.
All the best,
Andrew.

[simon]

hi i have a 3.0 ghia with 185 x 70 x 13 tyres on mine and there on 5.5j x 13 ghia alloys and i have measured the ride height and it is 24" 1/4 inches from the floor to the lip on the arches .i think what you are saying is that if you put a 7 j alloy on, its 1 " 1/2 inches wider so the tyres might catch and skim the front struts.there might be another option and that would be wheel spacers to bring the wheels away from the struts. i have tried a set of 2.8i specials on last year with 205 x 60 tyres on and the tyres didnt rub against the struts , but the car didnt look right it was to high up from the tyres to the arch lips with a large gap . i didnt want to lower the car about 1" 1/2 inches as this is what it needed to make it look right so i sold them .with the ghia alloys on i have measured it and the tyre height from the floor is 22" inches leaving a gap from tyre to arch lip 2" 1/4 inches and it looks ok . if i where to lower it 1" 1/2 inches it leaves a gap of 3/4 of a inch which is to low for the ghia wheels to the arch lip but would have been ok with the 205 x 60s specials on . i want the best of both sets of wheels so i can swap back, but if i lowered it 1" inch the gap with the specials wheels would still not look right , but would still look fine with the ghia wheels on thats why i would want 205 x 70 x 13 tyres on the 7js but like you say they will rub the struts i think . i dont want to lower the car, and if wheel spacers did work and longer studs i wouldnt do it because i want the car to be standard without any changes , just going to leave it as it is with original wheels ,just liked the idea of a change without any modifications , i wonder if anyone else as tried to do this its got to be one set of 7js lowered to suite but if i did this it would look stupid with the ghia wheels back on thanks for the info mate .

[Andrew 2.8i]

Hi,
Sorry, I assumed you were intending to fit 205/70-13 tyres to a 2.8!
I think that a 70 section 185 width tyre is roughly the same radius as a 60 section 205 tyre, so I don't understand why the 2.8 special wheels would look too small. I'm probably overlooking something obvious here which, I'm sure, someone on here will have experience of.
Please pardon me if I patronise you, but when you changed the wheels over to the special wheels, did you allow the suspension to settle after the car had been jacked up?
All the best,
Andrew.

[simon]

hi i did let it settle, but the 2. 8 specials with 205 x 60 x 13 tyres on where about 20mm shorter in height , and thats nearly a 1" inch difference in height than my ghia alloys on with the 185 x 70 x 13 tyres on , creating nearly a 3"inch gap from the top of the tyre to the arch lip it looked really bad , as if it where on stilts . Sorry your wrong the 185 x 70s are 20mm taller in height 10mm on the bottom of tyre and 10mm on top of tyre than the 205 x 60s . The circumference is the same with the 185 x 70s on and the 205 x 70s in height only. The only difference you get is that 205s are wider as there on a 7j alloy so they would scrub the front struts with the 70s on , like you said when the question was asked if you could fit 205 x 70s on .The 60s are fine . The ghia wheels are a 5.5 j alloy and theres about a good 10 mm gap away from the tyre to the front struts by looking at it . if anyone thinks i am wrong let me now ive tried and tested this with my 3.0 ghia capri and the car is sat at standard ride height with multi leaf spings on the back . The car sits at 24 " 1/4 inches all round off floor to the arch lip thanks sid