Bias Ply tire options for 1969 Camaro
 

Hello,

I am looking to replace some tires on my 69 Camaro SS/RS with some bias ply. Right now I am running 215/65/15 in front and 255/60/16 in rear on SS wheels, 15/7 in front and 15/8 in rear. I am wanting the same size tires but in bias ply. I was looking at F60's in front and G60's in rear as a possible option. Need to be around 26" tall in front and 27" tall in rear or close to this.
Anyone running these tires sizes in bias ply on a 69 Camaro? Wondering if F60's will rub in the front? Wish Firestone would make the Wide Oval in a G60 radial. They just don't have a lot of options yet. So looking at the Goodyear's....

Thanks in advance.

The F 60s will rub the front

I have a set of 5 NOS F70-15 Firestone Wide Ovals (white letter) I think the dates are 71 or 72. PM if interested.

Thanks, but I drive this car and want new tires. Would love to hear from others that have run wider than factory bias ply tires on these cars. Something that could mimic a 215/65/15 and a 255/60/15 in a bias.

I'm running L60 Pro Tracs on the back of mine with but haven't driven it with them mounted yet. Looks like they will probably rub on corners w/o air shocks but luckily I do have a pair of those as well. I have seen one other car with L60 Goodyears and it looks really cool with the Goodyears. It is posted on TC forums (Post #702) linked here and pictured below

Don't know if Goodyear G or L 60's will rub when mounted on 8's so maybe Rusty can help you out with that. I would think G's are low enough profile so good chance those will work.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/attach...7&d=1446406048

Good looking Camaro. Love the tires/wheels. I think it could stand a bit taller tire out back...JMO!

Here's mine with the Cragar 8" rears and 4.25 backspace. I went another direction on the front with skinny's on 4" rims. (old school look) I believe the red car above has E series on the front and he removed two bolts to prevent rubbing, but his front end is also dropped 2" too.

http://image.ibb.co/hmLsg6/IMG_7872.jpg

Here are the L60 Pro Trac details and measurements. As you can see they fit well on 8" rears but are nip and tuck on the chances of rubbing or not. The Goodyear L60 is 1/2" narrower but carries good height. Again...Rusty Small is your Goodyear man on that subject and I'm sure he'll chime in here. Some different angles below which will show you how they fit the car.

Wheel Diameter: 15 in.
Tire Size: 275/60-15
Sidewall Style: Blackwall
Tire Construction: Bias-ply
Tire Diameter Range: 27-27.99 in.
Tire Diameter: 27.92 in.
Section Width: 10.50 in.
Tread Width: 9.50 in.
Minimum Recommended Wheel Width: 8.00 in.

http://image.ibb.co/gxjPuR/IMG_7510.jpg

http://image.ibb.co/nJvm8m/IMG_7513.jpg

http://image.ibb.co/dQR9Tm/IMG_7517.jpg

http://image.ibb.co/hL5sg6/IMG_7518.jpg

Love that look/stance!

I know that if you are going to use the L60-15 Polyglas, air shocks will be wanted. The 4.25" back space on an 8" rim is the best way to set the tire.

G60-15 is very close to a 255/60/15. The F60-15 is equal to a 235/60/15.

F70-15 are measuring 27.09" G60-15 are 26.8".

Eagle GT's are available in outlined raised white letters... 215/65/15 and 255/60/15.....

My cell is 816-654-3400... call if you have any questions.

RS's are a little tricky on the front. Too tall or too wide and they'll rub the plastic headlight actuator covers.

On our 69 RS Z, at stock ride heights, we run a 215/65-15 on the front (26" tall), and a 255/60-15 on the rear (27" tall).

I'm not totally happy with the front though. That tire is still an inch shorter than the rear tire. Factory was an E70-15 which is almost 27" tall. The 215/65's are pretty darn close to everything up front.

The equivalent radial size for the stock E70 is a 215/70-15. I'm either going to buy a pair of those or possibly try a 225/70-15 which is a 1/2" taller and wider.

If I were going for the bias plys, on mine the E70's are factory and they fit the front, but I tend to think I could squeeze an F70 in there....maybe.

I'm pretty certain the F60's in the front aren't going to fit, they'll rub the actuator covers.

Hopefully this will help some. I didn't explain that very well above.

E/70-15 is 8.4" section width - 26.73" dia - 6.63" tread width

F/70-15 is 8.4" section width - 27.09" dia - 6.34" tread width

F/60-15 is 9.23" section width - 26.27" dia - 8.25" tread width

Radial 215/70-15 is 8.7" section - 26.9" dia - 6.5" tread width

Radial 225/70-15 is 9" section - 27.4" dia - 6.9" tread width

Radial 215/65-15 is 8.7" section - 26" dia - 7.1" tread width

Running that 215/65-15 radial on my RS, clears the actuator cover, but it will sometimes lightly rub the very top inside of the fender when backing up and turning sharp over a bump. All those stipulations have to be met to have any rub. Otherwise works fine, it's just shorter than I want.

Given that info, on mine anyway, I could go straight to the 215/70-15 and it would work. Tread width is less so it would clear the top of the front fender, and also give me more clearance for the actuator cover, even though the tire is slightly taller, less width makes up for the room in that area.

The 215/70-15 is also the closest radial match to the factory E/70-15 Z/28 tire, and we know that fits. Going to the 225/70-15 radial may also work but it's probably pushing the limit of height and width for clearance on a stock RS Z ride height. These things sit lower than other 69's, and the RS stuff takes up room in front of the tire.

Looking at that F/60-15 bias, I'm pretty certain there is no way that would work, not without raising the front of the car with more spring...maybe. At stock height though, it's too wide for sure.

Looks like I would need to go with an E70's up front and a G60 in rear in order to come close to what I have. I really like the stance of this car and don't want to mess with that. So the L series is out because its a full inch taller than what I have. But they do look nice. Or I just go back with the awful BFG's. Wanting to pick tires before getting Torq Thrust wheels, that is really what this is all about.

Is this someone's car on the site? I have had this picture a LONG time and is the whole reason why I want Torq Thrt wheels with Bias ply's.

Yeah looks like Mike Kaisers place to me. He swaps those wheels on a lot of his cars for pics, see them at the Pavs once in a while.

I'm actually in the same boat as you. I'm going to do the same torque thrust wheel setup on our Z since it's more of a day 2 car for me anyway.

Based off the sizes I posted above, I'm torn between E's or F's on the front, worried about the actuator covers. My originals already had holes worn in them from larger tires previously. I want to avoid that happening again.

Wish the F60's wouldn't rub in front. There are some 69's on line with Torq Thrust wheels mounted to F60's in front and G60's in the rear and they look perfect IMO. But not so perfect if they rub.

Question: Will F60's rub only when backing out in certain situations or will they rub during normal every day type situations? I mean if they rub only rub once in a blue moon while turning the wheel a certain way while maybe backing out of a sloped driveway then that may not be enough to worry about. Since these are basically 235/60's these are only a fraction wider than a 225/60 which doesn't rub. My buddy has an RS with 225/60's and they have never rubbed.

Well, I'm hesitant to recommend, then not working, lol.

I know for sure on mine a 235/60-15 won't work. I'm currently running 215/65-15's and those 235's are .7 of an inch wider tread, .8 wider on section width and a tenth taller. Right now the 215's on mine as I mentioned will on occasion rub the top inside of the fender. That's all. Doesn't touch the actuator covers. I can go with a taller tire on the front, but definitely nothing wider. Matter of fact, I'd rather have something a little narrower and taller at the same time hence why I'm going with a 70 series next time around.

Where my 215/65's are rubbing currently I can deal with. It's just barely touching the top inside inner fender when I back up over a bump or weird incline, I can hear a slight tire rub at full lock. I can back off the wheel 1/4 turn and it goes away. It's nothing drastic at all and it's a rare occasion it even happens. But it would certainly be worse and more frequent if I put a wider tire up front.

Now a 225/60 would probably work on the front of mine. It's only .3 wider on section width and .4 wider on tread width than a 215/65, but where I would gain clearance with that 225/60 is the fact that it's shorter by almost a half inch. So the gain in width, but shorter tire would likely clear the top inner fender.
My issue is then the whole car sits even lower in the front, LOL. What I would like to have is more ground clearance (without changing the original springs) so I can maneuver over some of the huge speed bumps around town. Right now with 215/65's it's borderline low and I have to be careful. It sits much like your picture, probably mine is slightly lower up front. I'd like a 70 series up front to gain an inch in height, and give me another 1/2" ground clearance. Doesn't sound like much but sure helps. The factory tires on a Z are almost 27" tall anyway, so I'm wanting to stick in that range. Right now the 215/65's are barely 26".

Surprised more folks on this site have not done what we are trying to do. The easy way is to go with new BFG's like I have and be done with it.
215/65's in front and 255/60's in rear put the stance where I like per my picture. My rear must sag a little so the extra inch on the 255's makes my car about as level as one could get. I had the factory Poly style GY's on the Z I had and liked them a lot. But was wanting a little attitude with this Hugger car.

Yep, yours looks good with the 215's and 255's. That's exactly what I have at the moment. The 255's do a nice job filling up the rear wheel wells while still maintaining the near stock tire height of the original Z tires. I may go to a 215/70 on the front that is 27" tall to match the rear but I'll have to wear out the 215's first.

Wife drives it daily so I'll likely end up sticking with the BFG's for the time being, but I am switching to the Torque Thrust.

One thing we haven't talked about is back spacing. Looking at the Torque Thrusts, the original design is what I want to run in a stock 15x7 size for the Z. Back spacing has me a little concerned. They come in 3.75" back space as seen here. https://www.wheelsforless.com/VN3095761

Pretty sure my original rallys also measure 3.75" but I'll have to check again. At $100 a wheel with centers, lug nuts, and stems, it's a bargain, and looks fantastic. Has to be more than just us that have done this.

I almost went with 215/70/15's in front but stuck with the 65's. My headers never scrape and there is no rubbing so I went back with the 65's in the summer. My rears about toast.
One thing that myself and some other guys I run around with are finding out is that the newer BFG letters turn from white to brown very rapidly. My older 255's on the rear stay snow white and my fronts turn brown after 2 trips out in the car. They are very hard to clean. My buddy has some new rear BFG's and they are doing the same thing. Very strange....

I posted a message on here a while back about which Torq Thrust to buy and someone gave me a part number. Will try and dig up my old post and put it on here.

Found it https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1269975

If you find the old post that would be great. I'm still open to options at this point.

My headers have only scraped once with the 215/65's. That's because I misjudged the speed bump, rolled just a bit to fast down the other side and the suspension compressed and bumped the headers.

As long as I'm careful and ease over the speed bumps it's not a problem. But I'd like the added piece of mind with a slightly taller tire. Speed bumps around here are on steroids.

Sorry I had to step away.

I know what you mean about the yellowing. I may be lucky I haven't experienced it on our BFG's but I bought them going on 2 years ago now.

I restore a lot of baby birds and have experienced that issue with the white walls. All the complaints came from repo tires from Coker. They would just yellow up and seemed no amount of scrubbing got rid of it. I feel the rubber oils underneath were bleeding through.

Anyway, couple years ago switched to Diamondback repo tires and haven't had the issue since.

Mike Kaiser is one person who often uses staggered RWL Polyglas 15" on almost every car he buys or sells. Many of the 69's I have seen him setup for sale include torque thrust wheels with F60/15 fronts and G60/15 rears. Here's how they fit with a car that doesn't have tired springs. I have had F60's on the front of mine as well and if the suspension's fresh they shouldn't rub? I cannot say if they clear on headlight actuators for RS equipped cars?

Link for more pics of the car below including many wheel shots. http://www.use.com/JoYgh

He actually has his cars sitting up pretty high. Most likely to go along with the "day 2" them that he portrays with most of his stuff. I've looked at a few of his cars. A 69 RS Z in particular with the same wheel and tire package, but it was sitting much higher than stock ride height, so the tires work.

69 Z's from the factory sit a tad lower than any other 69 Camaro model.

With that said maybe this will help.

Stock 69 Z/28 ride height as measured per AIM with it's E70-15's at 24 psi and at curb weight.
Front 9.13"
Rear 8.75"

I measure my 69 RS Z with stock height tires in rear and 1" shorter tires up front.
Front is 8.5"
Rear is 8 5/8"

Add roughly 1/2 inch for the 1 inch shorter circumference tire up front.

That puts me at roughly 9 inches exactly up front. So it has settled only slightly from the factory AIM specifications. Maybe tenth of an inch???

On the rear it has settled about again roughly 1/8"

So my Z is setting darn near spot on what the factory intended. I can say with certain an F60 won't fit up front. Not only will it hit the upper inside fender because the car sits low, but it will certainly rub the headlight actuator covers as well.
Hope that helps explain.

Now if you have a 69 Camaro that sits higher than a stock Z/28 ride height you may very well fit those tires without issue.

I pulled the trigger late Friday on some TTO’s and took the easier route with new BFG’s 215/65 in front and 255/60 in rear. Car already has these same size tires and it sits perfect IMO and didn’t want to risk a change. Can’t wait to install, been wanting this look for a lot of years. Thanks for help everyone.

Pics when done please?

It will help me to finish convincing my wife she needs this done :grin:

You bet! Supposed to be at my door on or by the 23rd.

Where did you get them?

Jeg’s is where I ordered.
Normally Summitt gets my business but they could not find my front tire size.

I'm likely going to put this idea on hold for the time being. I just got a reply back from "Wheels-For-Less" because they don't show the correct offset with these classic TT wheels. They'll gladly move the offset, but the price goes from $96 a piece to $310 a piece. No thanks. I'd be going from $400 a set to $1250 a set just to move the offset 1/2". I don't want the look that bad, lol.

In order to make the tires fit as they should with the factory YH wheels, they need to be 4.25" back space. Standard Classic and Vintage TT's are 3.75" and that will certainly cause my tires to hit the outside fenders at all 4 corners.

Oh well. I hope you have better luck and let me know what you end up with.

I really do not think the offset is going to be a factor.

Over the weekend I received the rears and went ahead and installed. The front tires come in tomorrow.

Here is a pick with 255/60/15. They fit in the fender wells with zero issues.

Any closer pics??

That offset is going to be sketchy for me. With 255/60-15's on the back and the original YH's with 4.25" back space, I can barely even get my finger between the inside wheel lip and the sidewall of the tire on both sides of the car.
If I move the wheels out a 1/2 inch, I'm almost certain it's going to rub, especially with groceries in the trunk, or turning into any kind of odd angle driveway that tilts the rearend. It's the section width of the tire (the side wall) that is going to be an issue on mine. If I could post pictures I would.

So I'm real curious what you have for room in there..

I'm thinking to make that work on my Z, I'd have to take the 255's off and go back to a 215/70-15 tire that mimics the original E70-15 size, and get rid of some of the section width of the sidewall. I'm not opposed to doing that as I'd like to be able to rotate the tires, but I'll have to wear out these 255's first.

I also see you went with the lighter colored centers. Is that more acceptable for the day 2 stuff?

I was torn between the darker center or the lighter center. Both were the same price.

Honestly, I just think the lighter colored ones look better. Plus, I would imagine they will get darker over time. I put these on the rear and loved the look even more than I thought I would. Cant wait to get my 2 front tires. These wheels look like they should cost 3 x's more than they do, they are just that nice IMO. At a $100 a wheel they are a no brainer. I think they would also look killer on my black 70 SS Chevelle.

I agree, for the price they are killer wheels and probably why they are so popular. They would even look good on a mini van, lol. They just look good on anything. But when they jacked the price $800 to move the offset a 1/2" they were quickly moved off my to-do list LOL. But for $100 a wheel they are cheaper then some of the steel rally wheels I've seen at swap meets and look 10 times better anyway. Not to mention quite a bit lighter. Which brings up another question.....by chance did you toss them on a scale? I'd be curious where that wheel comes in at with the 255-60 tire mounted??

Just the offset is scaring me off. I know for sure I'd have definite issues on the front since my 215/65's will occasionally touch the top inside of the fenders on a turn. Moving the wheels out a 1/2 inch up there is going to make that deal worse for me. So a tire size change would be necessary for sure.....on the front anyway. On the back I'm not completely comfortable yet.

I would be open to replace the front tires however to a 215-70 or maybe a 225-70 to help with slightly more ground clearance up there so the front isn't a deal breaker for me.

I'd love to see more pics.

I did not weigh them but they were noticeable lighter than the SS wheels I took off.
They change the whole attitude of the car.

I like those a lot better than the 15" "SS" wheels on your car.

For some reason the proportions on the 15" SS wheels don't look right to me. Probably because I am so used to seeing 14" YA and AO wheels, and perceive them as "right".

They do look good. I blew the picture up. Can you get your fingers between the inner lip and the tire sidewall?

I'm starting to wonder, is American Racing measuring the back spacing differently?

I guess you could possibly measure that 2 different ways, but the method I've always been taught is from the outer most portion of the wheel lip, which is 4.25" on a 15x7 rally. However if I measure it from the bead set (which is what you use to measure rim width) I'm almost at 3.75" maybe slightly more.....but close.

Also does the inside of that wheel have a mild outer lip that I can attach aluminum style snap on wheel weights? ( I don't generally like doing stick ons)

Sorry for the questions.

Something else I was thinking. If there is a lot of meat on the rear mounting face, why can't I just chuck these up on the Bridgeport and mill maybe 1/4" off the face? Gain some of the backspacing back. I can't be the first person who thought of that...

Yes I can put my fingers between the inner lip and sidewall. Enough room for the tires to travel up and down without rubbing. These are 15x7 wheels and I took off 15X8's and its noticeably different. I do not foresee any issues with 215/65 on the front since I am running that size now. Or at least I sure hope not.

The inner lip does have a place for weights but I asked for the sticker ones.