I need to order some tires for my project. Will 205/50/15's on a 7" wide Cookiecutter rim work in the rear on a narrowbody car?
The rim alone just clears the outer fender (the inside lip has already been cut/tucked by the PO) but I'm unsure how much the tire will add.
Ideally I'd want 195/55/15 tires but the Federal RS-R's arent available in that size.

If the 205's wont fit I'll have to go for 195/50/15's instead but then the speedo will be a bit more off the scale.

I have BFG 205/60/15 on Mahle 5.5 rims and I can just fit my finger between the lip and the tire. The lip on the rear fender has not been altered.

I find that tires that are not the stock height just look odd. OK if you are after something for AX, but for street I'd go with 195/65-15 or 205/60-15.
If you want a lower profile get 16" or 17" rims.

The original 165r-15 translates to 165/83-15, the 185/80-15 was a good fit but they haven made those in ages.

7" rims on a narrow body will likely have big clearance issues.

5.5"- 6" wheels work. do you want the widest wheel that will fit and compromise on the tires or do you want a good fit, good ride and a combo that looks right.

Lots of people have made the 7s work with some pulling on the.wheel lip.

I recommend (again) that we get a wheel/tire thread going where everyone can list wheel type / size/ offset, tire size, narrow body/wide with pictures.

Important thing would be to have the information entered in the same format so that it can be searched.

Agreed. Tire size, any body modification, any rubbing, picture taken at tire height, general car profile picture. That would be great info to have.

Unfortunately the 195/65 or 205/60 tires aren't nearly as gripy as you can get in the /55 size.

Falcor75 has already painted his car so he would run the risk of damaging his paint and/or making the bodywork wavy if he was to try and modify now. It doesn't hurt to check the fit if you can easily exchange or return the tire. A 205x60x15 tire is a whole lot of grip on our cars. A low profile tire will also result in a harsher ride and unless your roads are really smooth, you might not like the results. .. But it your car to do as you please...

Don't count on it fitting, chances are pretty good that it won't. Most 914s with stock fenders cannot fit 205s on 7" wheels under one rear fender or another. A few can, but those are exceptions. Most of the time, some fender modification is required.

Heck, Rich Johnson had his trailing arms modified to move the bearings in something like 1/4" to 1/2" in order to fit 205s on 7s under his fenders.


Note that you cannot predict exactly what combinations of things will fit on a 914, because not all 914s are identical. Don't forget that there was a good bit of hand-work still done on these cars when they were built, so there are changes from chassis to chassis.

--DD

"A low profile tire will also result in a harsher ride and unless your roads are really smooth, you might not like the results."



I ran some 205/50s that were on some Fuchs I bought. I did not like the look, but I hated the ride. So harsh it jolted the engine lid open regularly.

I think guaranteed fit for that rim on a stock car is 185 tires.
On that cookie you might get 195. And a few report to get 205.
I how ever failed to get 205 on three conversions 5bolts I've had.


You can pull the fenders. It might crack the paint. Use search, "heat guns"

i recently read someone at pelican recommended 195 60 15, bigger than original 165 but well within ability of fitting wheelwell.
i am looking to get new tires soon so i would be interested in what has beeen useful for regular street driving.

The six cookie will likely fit a 205 because it has the extra inch of lip clearance

Good luck getting a 185 seated on a 7" wheel. I know someone who had 195s put on a set; his tire busters were not happy about the experience...

--DD

I agree with Dave, 205 / 50 15" on a 7" fit on one side of my car and was too damn close on the other.

I just ordered a set of 195/55-15's so hopefully they will fit.