Tire Reccomendation - '78 New Yorker 4DR

rsbolin

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First, this has been a valuable forum, and I am glad to be a member. The car will be delivered to the Carb Shop on Friday to have a new gas tank installed, carb work, plugs, wires.

My previous post dealt with shocks. This time I am seeking recommendation on the tires. The on the car look nice at a distance but they have not been driven on since December 2015 when the car was last parked in a garage. They have cracking throughout the sidewall on every tire.

What is recommended? I think a medium white side wall would look classy. Would that be out of character for this car? I do not want to go overboard, but a nice looking set of shoes would be good.

Thanks in advance for the recommendation(s).
 
Look up the Hankook Kinergy ST (aka H735) in the appropriate size. Excellent tires -- they drive well / handle just fine yet are very comfortable (noise and ride), and they don't betray you in the rain.

They come with either white or black walls, I'd go with WW as you'd suggest.
 
Tires from 2015 might be considerably older than that, so safety first says they go ! I have been driving on the Nexen Priz 235 75 R15 AH5 with the thin whitewall all year and I am really pleased with them. Great load rating for our heavy cars, subtle whitewall and not a bunch of lettering cluttering up the look. Borrowed these photos from another thread! In the Search Bar in the top right hand corner, just type in Nexen, and you will get a bunch of information. C Shaft

Nexen #2.JPEG


Nexen photo.JPEG
 
You really can't go wrong with either the Hankook or the Nexen tires as both are very good tires. Like @Camshaft above, due to the higher load rating and the better looking sidewall, I ended up preferring the Nexens. I have a set of them on my 1971 Chrysler New Yorker and couldn't be more pleased.




2021-07-05-00-01-03-2-jpg.jpg
 
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First, this has been a valuable forum, and I am glad to be a member. The car will be delivered to the Carb Shop on Friday to have a new gas tank installed, carb work, plugs, wires.

My previous post dealt with shocks. This time I am seeking recommendation on the tires. The on the car look nice at a distance but they have not been driven on since December 2015 when the car was last parked in a garage. They have cracking throughout the sidewall on every tire.

What is recommended? I think a medium white side wall would look classy. Would that be out of character for this car? I do not want to go overboard, but a nice looking set of shoes would be good.

Thanks in advance for the recommendation(s).

What is your current wheel (rim) size? And also width?

From what I've found, the '74 and '75 New Yorker came with JR-78 15. I don't know if that spec changed by '78. I believe this is a radial version of the J78-15 biased size, which would cross over to a 225/75-15 or 235/70-15. I wouldn't go with a 235/70-15 unless your rim was 7" wide. If it's 6 or 6.5" wide then the widest you want to go is a 225 tire.
 
What is your current wheel (rim) size? And also width?

From what I've found, the '74 and '75 New Yorker came with JR-78 15. I don't know if that spec changed by '78. I believe this is a radial version of the J78-15 biased size, which would cross over to a 225/75-15 or 235/70-15. I wouldn't go with a 235/70-15 unless your rim was 7" wide. If it's 6 or 6.5" wide then the widest you want to go is a 225 tire.

So what is the basis for your statement?

From the website tiresdoc.com comes the following statement:

What rims will fit 235/75R15 tires?​

For each tire size, often there are several wheel sizes. You can’t put very wide tires on narrow rims or vise versa. You need the rim size of 15″ x 6-8″ for 235/75R15 for non-truck tires.

I have been using 235-75-15 tires on all my C bodies for decades and the rims are generally 6.5" wide with no issues and the handling is both very nice and feels safe in all my driving experiences.

You are a relatively new member but on this site but it helps that when you make definitive statements, you should be sure you have the basis to back them up.
 
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in 78 the standard size NYB tire was H78 15.
you could also get a wider whitewall tire as option U84, the www was 1.6" and came standard with the Salon.

1676422493008.png


heres what the old sizing corresponds to

1676422396835.png
 
heres a pic of a Salon with the 1.6" wider whites on the Salon specific 15x7 aluminum fascia road wheels

1676423007820.png


and an NYB with wider whites on road wheels

60221812-770-0-2x-jpg.jpg
 
What is your current wheel (rim) size? And also width?

From what I've found, the '74 and '75 New Yorker came with JR-78 15. I don't know if that spec changed by '78. I believe this is a radial version of the J78-15 biased size, which would cross over to a 225/75-15 or 235/70-15. I wouldn't go with a 235/70-15 unless your rim was 7" wide. If it's 6 or 6.5" wide then the widest you want to go is a 225 tire.
The standard tire size on a 19878 was HR78-15.

These are some of the alternate tire sizes that I found on the following web site:
1978 Chrysler (USA) New Yorker Hardtop Sedan full range specs

215/R15
215/80R15 .6% difference from original
225/80R15 2.8% difference from original
225/75R15 -.4% difference from original
 
Showing how nice a tire can look on a car means nothing. We're not talking about how nice a tire looks. We're talking about what wheel width a tire was designed for.

Some charts will show that a 235/70-15 will fit on a 6" rim, which technically will be the very narrowest rim for that tire but it's not the ideal. You look at a lot of cars today, my '300m with 225/55 17 with 7" rims. 7" rims for a 225 tire. The biased tires were taller. the 78 in the J78-15 is a 78 profile, which you're not going to get in a radial. If you're not going to go with a 75 radial but instead a 70 radial, and you want the same diameter as a J78-15 then you're going to have to go with a wider tire. That's ok if your rim is not skinny.


 
The "H"78 tires replace the old 8.45x15 tires. The "J"78 tires replace the old 8.85x15 tires. The "L"78 tires replaces the old 9.15x15 size. ALL of which came with 6.0" rims, back then. AND they all had a tread width of right at 6.0" or less. The H and J tires are usually both replaced by P225/75R-15 tires, with that size being closer to "J" than "H" in sidewall width. With the "L"78 being replaced by P235/75R-15 tires, which usually came on a 6.0" rim too. Convert the old bias-ply section width by 25.4 to get the MM in the metric equivalent in section width.

I seem to recall that the '78 Newports came with HR78-15 radials on them, but the NYers came with JR78-15 radials. As NYers usually had more options and a bit more sound deadening in them, whereas the Newports were more "normal" in their option loads, by observation.

Used to be that the tread width could be 1" +/- from the rim width. I also highly suspect that FEW could tell the actual on-road difference between a 6" or 6.5" rim width (on a 78-series tire) in the way the car handles and rides. Possibly with a 7" compared to a 6", though. So, to me, that discussion about HAVING to have a wider rim can be more suspicion rather than actual fact. Of MORE importance can be tire pressures, I highly suspect, in ride/handling differences. FWIW

If there are any concerns about rim width and tire size, the various charts for each tire at www.tirerack.com will answer that very quickly. Considering how few choices we really have, no need to quibble over these things. White sidewall width is more of a personal orientation.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
Showing how nice a tire can look on a car means nothing. We're not talking about how nice a tire looks. We're talking about what wheel width a tire was designed for.

Some charts will show that a 235/70-15 will fit on a 6" rim, which technically will be the very narrowest rim for that tire but it's not the ideal. You look at a lot of cars today, my '300m with 225/55 17 with 7" rims. 7" rims for a 225 tire. The biased tires were taller. the 78 in the J78-15 is a 78 profile, which you're not going to get in a radial. If you're not going to go with a 75 radial but instead a 70 radial, and you want the same diameter as a J78-15 then you're going to have to go with a wider tire. That's ok if your rim is not skinny.


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Whose post or posts are you replying to????? This thread covers "looks", "quality of a tire" as well as "acceptable size of a rim for a given tire size" among other topics.

Each comment on this site has a "Reply" function at the lower right corner and if you want to reply to one or more comments, hit the "Reply" function for each that your are responding to and then make your reply comment(s).
 
Whose post or posts are you replying to????? This thread covers "looks", "quality of a tire" as well as "acceptable size of a rim for a given tire size" among other topics.

Each comment on this site has a "Reply" function at the lower right corner and if you want to reply to one or more comments, hit the "Reply" function for each that your are responding to and then make your reply comment(s).
I made the original post. Indeed, it was about replacement of tires for my '78 New Yorker. I follow the thread closely because I want to do the right thing for the car and to be safe. I carry precious cargo every time anyone gets in the car with me.
I also did make a response to the how nice the tires looked on the cars that had been placed into a response. There should be nothing wrong with that. It simply is a comment that I believe they make the car look nice.

The critical and essential nature of my post was to get an idea of what tires are permitted to be used on a '78 New Yorker. That really is all that matters. What size are permitted without pacing the vehicle in an unsafe condition.

I appreciate each and every response to the post. It helps me to learn. I, myself, do not know enough about the New Yorker to provide an ounce of criticism to anyone. I want just to learn and move on.
 
Thanks for the response and clarifications. The smallest recoommended size for every vehicle, since the earlier 1970s or so, is on a sticker on either the B-pillar, lh side, frt dr or on the same frt lh door itself. Minimum tire size and usually minimum inflation pressure. BUT that is for a standard equipment vehicle, not one with a lot of accessories and such, per se. That sticker is a federal-mandated safety notification.

The other thing you can look at is the sidewall on the tires on the car now. Look at the "Maximum Load @ Maximum Inflation Pressure" castings near the bead of the tire. That will indicate the rated load capacity at the recommended max imflation pressure (used to be 32psi, when the car was new, and is now 35psi for P-metric size tires . . . for "Standard Load" (4-ply rated) tires. Multiply times four and you get the total weight capacity of the tires. Then subtract about 500 lbs from that and you get the safety margin of the weight capacity (past 2 typical adult passengers and some "gear"). And, of course, the weight carrying capabilities will be a little bit less for 30psi inflation pressures than at 35psi inflation pressures.

The OTHER thing is to know what tires originally came on the car (data plate or build sheet?). Then get the closest size next to that, so the speedometer remains its factory accuracy.

Just some thoughts and observations,
CBODY67
 
@rsbolin -- @saforwardlook was not responding to you in the post you quoted, but to @MoPar~Man

Your questions are important ones, and why you have gotten helpful replies. There have been quite a few threads on the best WW tires for fuselage C-bodies but, to my knowledge, this is the first that I can remember raising a couple of issues specific to formals.
 
Thanks for the response and clarifications. The smallest recoommended size for every vehicle, since the earlier 1970s or so, is on a sticker on either the B-pillar, lh side, frt dr or on the same frt lh door itself. Minimum tire size and usually minimum inflation pressure. BUT that is for a standard equipment vehicle, not one with a lot of accessories and such, per se. That sticker is a federal-mandated safety notification.

The other thing you can look at is the sidewall on the tires on the car now. Look at the "Maximum Load @ Maximum Inflation Pressure" castings near the bead of the tire. That will indicate the rated load capacity at the recommended max imflation pressure (used to be 32psi, when the car was new, and is now 35psi for P-metric size tires . . . for "Standard Load" (4-ply rated) tires. Multiply times four and you get the total weight capacity of the tires. Then subtract about 500 lbs from that and you get the safety margin of the weight capacity (past 2 typical adult passengers and some "gear"). And, of course, the weight carrying capabilities will be a little bit less for 30psi inflation pressures than at 35psi inflation pressures.

The OTHER thing is to know what tires originally came on the car (data plate or build sheet?). Then get the closest size next to that, so the speedometer remains its factory accuracy.

Just some thoughts and observations,
CBODY67
 
@rsbolin -- @saforwardlook was not responding to you in the post you quoted, but to @MoPar~Man

Your questions are important ones, and why you have gotten helpful replies. There have been quite a few threads on the best WW tires for fuselage C-bodies but, to my knowledge, this is the first that I can remember raising a couple of issues specific to formals.
Thanks, ayilar. This is very important to me to get right. I have waited a very long time to buy a classic car and I felt this was the right one at the right time. An original '78 New Yorker with 17K miles. I am excited, but I am realistic that maintenance needs to be done, i.e. gas tank replaced, shocks replaced, car adjustment (just been rebuilt), new tires.
I know the tires need to be replaced as soon as they can be. That is why I created the post. Now that 235/75R15 are an acceptable size, I will focus on finding the best tire that I can afford that provide the best safety and ride possible for my family.
 
heres a pic of a Salon with the 1.6" wider whites on the Salon specific 15x7 aluminum fascia road wheels

View attachment 582140

and an NYB with wider whites on road wheels

View attachment 582141

I think these wide whites are a bit too "gangsta." I much prefer the narrower whites:
nexen-2-jpeg.jpg


Here are the 235 X 75 Hankooks for my '73 Newport Navajo:

Road Wheels Assembled.jpg
 
I say go for the Nexen AH5 235/75r15 WW. I am going to be picking up another set shortly for TB. Tux is already riding the NEXEN

IMG_1333.jpeg
 
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