re: white wall tires for 1983 Riviera

Hello Everyone

I have been trying to locate a set of "correct" white wall tires for my 1983 Riviera. According to my build sheet, which is poor condition, the tires which the list includes is;

Goodyear

General

Uniroyal

BF Goodrich and

Firestone

They were either 205/75R15 or 225/70R15 and had a 1.3inch white wall. I can track down locally either or sizes, however they are either Toyo or Kuhmo and come with a 3/8 inch whitewall.

Coker offer a BF Goodrich tire which is 225/70R15 and has either a 3/8 inch white wall or 1 1/2inch white wall. They also offer a Maxxis tire which has a 3/4 inch whitewall. Is this as close as I will get?

Thank you for your comments.

Regards

John

ROA#14353

BCA #46404

John,

Don't know if you have a local TownFair Tire Co, but online they list a 205/75R15 Uniroyal Tiger Paw II whitewall for $88.

Hello Dave

Thank you for the advice I will take a look.

Regards

John

Yes Dave, that is a great find! I have been looking for Uniroyal Tiger Paws for a long time!

Johnny, you are correct. The two tire sizes that were OEM were 205/75-15 which was the base tire, and 225/70-15 which was an upgrade and usually only put on S-Type, T-Type and turbo Rivieras.

I bought my Riv new and it came with Uniroyal Tiger Paw Royal Seal tires. The whitewalls were wide, I believe 1.6", and had the Royal Seal embossed in the whitewall, I always felt like these tires were too small for the car, and they would squeal like a pig when making the most modest of turns. So, I upgraded to 225/70-15 when the Uniroyal tires wore out...which was a long time because they lasted 60K miles! My gas mileage suffered when I went to the bigger tire. So, now I am considering going back to the original size.

My only reservation on the tires Dave found at Town Fair is that they do not say they are Royal Seal, so the white wall is probably not as wide as the OEM tires. I am posting a picture of my car when it had the original tires and you can see the Royal Seal embossed in the white wall...also I am about 28 years old in that picture....30 years ago. No more brown hair....

I am going to call and ask about the WW width on these tires. That is an outstanding price. I was expecting to spend $1K for new tires for my Riv, and they wouldn't have been the Tiger Paws I want...I just hope the WW is the correct width.

The whitewalls were wide, I believe 1.6", and had the Royal Seal embossed in the whitewall, .

http://www.cokertire.com/p225-75r15-american-classic-1-6-whitewall-tire.html

I sincerely doubt if you'll find the Royal Seal tire you're looking for, but here's your 1.6" white side wall. That's almost as difficult as trying to find the US Royal gold line tire with the Royal Seal in the gold wall for the two '83 XX's that I had. Chances are Slim and None, and Slim just caught the last stage out of Dodge. That leaves None.

Ed

225/75-15 is way too big. I did find those Uniroyal tires in 205/75-15 at a local Ford dealership called "Quick Lane". So, I am having them research the WW width. Still wish I could find Tiger Paws in 225/70-15.

Merrill,

The 225/75R15 is the same width as the 225/70R15 225mm (or about 8.86") The sidewall of the 75 aspect ratio tire is .4" larger than the 70 aspect ratio tire. Totally the 75 series tire is .8" larger in diameter than the 70 series; otherwise they're the same size. An extra .8" means 23 fewer revolutions per mile. When your speedometer reads 50 MPH, your actual speed would be 51.6 mph.

Hello Everyone

I contacted Town Fair Tire Company, as Dave suggested, only to be told that they do not ship tires anywhere and you have to go and collect them in person. This will probably cost me too much to do. Therefore I contacted PerformancePlus Tire Company who are in Long Beach CA and they advertise Uniroyal Tiger Paw AWP 11 which has a 3/4 inch white wall and offerd a set of 4 for $329 including shipping. This appears to be a great deal and covers the correct tire size 205/75 R15 and the Uniroyal brand which was an option when the car was manufactured and has a slightly smaller white wall than what was original. Has anyone on this site brought tires from Performance Plus and my initial contact with them and their replies to emails seem very good? Thank you Regards John

Hi Johnny, thanks for that info. I went to their website and found the Uniroyals for the price you quoted. But while I was there I also found these tires that have the wider whitewall in the same 205/75-15 size. The customer reviews confirm that the whitewalls are over an inch wide. I have never heard of this GT-Radial brand, but I am going to research it further. http://www.performanceplustire.com/products/tires/searchType/searchByVehicle/year/1983/make/BUICK/model/LE%20SABRE/applicationID/12365/tireSize/205_SLASH_75-15/productID/11732/tireDataID/24605

Hankook Optimo H724 Tire P205/75R15 comes in a white sidewall. I have no idea as to how wide the sidewall is, but I've been running Hankook tires on all my vehicles whenever I have to replace the OE tires. I always go back the the same place for mine, but Wally-world sells these for $61 each. The picture shows a black sidewall but the white sidewall is in the description.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Hankook-Optimo-H724-Tire-P205-75R15/19226827

Hello Ed

Hankook Optimo are a good tire and I think that like most Asian tires that offer white walls, they are 3/4 inch wide. I have used Hankook on my daily drivers and would use them again. The only negative would be that they are a little noisy because of the nylon content in the tire which makes them hard wearing. I hope that your '64 is coming along well. Take care John

John,

The '64 is coming along well. As of Friday, it's all steel again, not steel mixed with Ferous Oxide. I'll start doing some of the minor body work next week. Hopefully it will be in primer and ready for paint at the end of next week. BUT, while it's apart, I'm going to check out all of the systems to make sure they're a Go before reassembly. I'd hate to put newly repainted fenders back on the car only to find out the windshield washers don't work. LOL. I'm thinking of pulling the engine to paint it and the firewall/inner fenders. Has anyone had nice results doing this with the engine in the car?

I also want to do some upgraded mechanicals before re-assembly. Electronic ignition, dual reservoir master cylinder, electric fuel pump, re-seal the transmission, four new springs, and a couple of other misc. items. Share with me (anyone) your experiences of swapping out the steering box for one of Lares' quicker ratio units. Then I get to go through the CARS and Clarks catalogs and start my Christmas shopping.

I probably won't make it to Colorado with this one and that's okay. Linda is anxious to take her '93 again and I think with its fuel injection, it will perform better at some of the altitudes we want to take in before returning home.

If anyone has any other advice, please pass it along so I can act on it in a timely manner.

Ed

Sorry I got carried away answering John's question; should have sent him a PM. BACK ON TRACK

http://www.dbtires.com/2013_catalog/2013_DBTiresCatalog_Web_Hi.pdf

Diamond Back tires offers a single white stripe "in any size" they also state "if you can dream it, we can make it." Check out pages 11, and 12 on the attached link.

Okay, I have been researching new tires for my Riv, but I wasn't terribly serious because I thought my tires could make it through the summer. Today we had beautiful convertible weather and I took my Riv out for a joy ride and picked up a nail. Ruined a tire. Now tires are immediately required.

So, I had been going the rounds over ordering a GT-Radial with 1.3" WW in 205/75-15, or sticking with the wider 225/70-15 on a Gremax 5000 with a skinny whitewall. After researching them both I discovered they were both manufactured in China. I don't know if that is good or bad, but it was an unknown. So, I have gone full circle back to the Uniroyal Tiger Paw in a 205/75-15 and a 3/4" whitewall (although I read they may be manufactured in Indonesia...ah, go figure). I ordered them from Tirebuyer.com for $72 with free shipping. They are shipping them to my local Firestone dealer for installation.

So, all my noise about wanting to stay with the bigger tire and a bigger whitewall was for naught. But, I remember that the Tiger Paws I had before were an excellent tire with better gas mileage and longevity than any tires since, they just looked a little scrawny. I am told I will be the only person that will notice that, as well as he skinny whitewall. I guess I will squint when I get in my Riv from now on.

If you're going to Colorado, I'll see if the size of the white wall will be missed by my discerning eye. LOL

You did the right thing and I'm sure that no one will be the wiser - oops! except now you've told everyone.

Ed

I have 225/70 Cooper Trendsetters with a 3/4 inch whitewall on my 85. Just bought them last year and assume they are still available. I like the bigger optional size tire for better handling and its larger contact patch. Also, I feel that they proportionally fill the fender wells better.