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I bought 4 new Classic 165/80R 15 tires and have over $500.00 total trying to get them usable. Also have ended up with 10 VW rims thinking it was bad rims causing the problems. The tires are out of round and have flat spots. Pure JUNK! The place I bought them from have helped and even replaced two of them but they were junk too. I just can’t see spending another penny trying to save them.
Has anyone tried the Nankang tires available on eBay?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Nankang-CX668-Tires-165-80R15-165-80-15-1658015-80R-R15-/360554170896
Sorry I don’t know how to put a link in the text. Paul M fixed the link for you!
The Nankings are very reasonably priced and free shipping and I worry about the quality but there just aren’t many choices out there for this size tire.
Anyone know where to get good tires this size? Anyone know another size/brand that’s readily available we could use on the VW 15″ rims
I’m at my wit’s end and am tired of bouncing and shimmying down the road in my otherwise wonderful little car.
HELP!
PMOSSBERG 2013-06-25 09:17:10 I had Nankng 165/5R15 tires on 5-spoke EMPI rims on my 74 Ghia and they were very good. I hear that Coker tires are good as well. But I have never ordered tires on line so I’m no help there. I usually get them locally. newkitman2013-06-25 07:40:38
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackHave you looked at tire rack.com?
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"I got mine at tirerack.com and had no problem’s. Seems like most tire’s are manufactured in China and their quality needs vast improvement.
There is a flea market near us and a guy there who is connected to Goodyear.What he does is brings a truck load of tires all goodyear that he says are tires that they didn’t sell.and sells they very cheap.I’ve done this for years along with a lot of my friends.Hopefully he will have what I need when my LR needs tires
I ordered 185/65-15s online from Walmart for $65 each. They were delivered free to the local store in 2-3 days, where I had them mounted and balanced. They were Nexen 5000 tires, which are comparable to the Nankangs, as far as I can tell. I based my decision primarily on online reviews.
For the number of miles that I expect to drive annually, I just couldn’t rationalize the high price of Michelin, etc. These will likely dry-rot long before they ever wear out, as did the Falken radials that were on it previously…Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...Thanks for all the ideas! I found 165/80R 15’s at Walmart for $59 and free delivery to the store. I swear I checked there a week ago and none that size were available but my memory is going fast.
I’m toying with the idea of grinding these Classics. I’ve done that with one tire before but never 4. I used a 9″ disk grinder with a very coarse wheel. Had the tire and wheel on a front drum and angled the grinder so it kept the tire turning slowly. A simple fixture to hold the grinder would probably make the job easier.
I certainly have enough wheels now… maybe I’ll get the Walmart ones now and grind the Classics later.
I’ll post any success. I certainly hope no one else has this problem. Thanks again!
Grind as in “shave?” I salute the DIY notion but . .. .Very close to the red/green rethread-your-own-tires skit. No performance shops around that could shave them for you? Or is that one of those “might as well buy new for that price” deals?
I’ve never had tires “shaved” but it sure sounds expensive.
With a coarse wheel on a hand grinder it goes pretty fast. To do several I’d think a fixture would be needed. Something as simple as setting on a 1 x 6 on a plastic milk carton to rest the grinder on as you work.
I ordered 4 new 165/80R 15’s from Walmart yesterday. They should be in one day next week and I’m expecting a miraculous change in the ride of my little Roadster.
wild guess on tires> VW rims can be mounted out of round on the hub. Be Extra careful when tightening rim to hub. Could it be that simple?
I tried to buy a set of tires at WalMart today. They wouldn’t put them on my car! They can only mount O.E.M. equipment and there are no records apparently for a ’71 Beetle. Just wanted to let everyone know before ordering them online.
George I did notice once , while grasping at straws, that when I would rotate a rim one lug at a time on the hub that the tire would be more/less out of round in certain positions. This surprised me, and I decided it was because I wasn’t getting the rim exactly centered each time. After that I was more careful, and also checked to be sure the tapor fits on the rims and lugs were clean.
Twice now I have mounted an old tire and one of the new tires on a set of rims and the new tire would be out of round but the old one was not. I had them switched and the new tire would be out of round on either rim. I’m sure now the new Classic tires are faulty. Guess I’ll find out when I get the new set on.
I take the rims and tires only to the tire places to be mounted and balanced, then bring them home and put them on the car myself. Most places tighten the lugs WAY too tight to suit me. I wasn’t aware Walmart had a policy not mounting on certain rims. If that’s the case I have another place that will.
Right now I’m limping along on three of the new ones and one old one. Smooth up to 55 then a slight shaking.
I’m amazed every day at the attention this little car garners. I guess they must be pretty rare here in the Midwest.
BIGBAND39 wrote:I tried to buy a set of tires at WalMart today. They wouldn’t put them on my car! They can only mount O.E.M. equipment and there are no records apparently for a ’71 Beetle. Just wanted to let everyone know before ordering them online.I took my wheels and old tires to Walmart, and they mounted the new tires and balanced them for me… no hassles at all. I did not drive the TDr in to get them mounted.Sounds like you had a much different experience.Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...I took my tires off to paint the rims and when I called to see if Wal Mart would remount the tires and balance them, they said no as I did not buy the tires from them. I later ordered a new spare tire from Wal Mart and took the rim with me when the tire arrived at the store and they mounted and balanced it …no problem.
SamAmazing! A 71 Beetle is not in the specs any more.
Anyway, thanks for the info. I got the shimmies too–been living with them since I got the car. Tried rotating the tires front to back & no good. Thought maybe the tires are out of round. Never thought the rims might be off center.
I always tighten them up slow, cross lugbolt, a turn or two at a time. Final tight is on the ground, probably in the 100 ft-lbs neighborhood (who the hell ever checks lug torque?). I very much doubt I’ve done close to 200 ft-lbs on them, ever–though the tire shop surely exceeded that.
Guess it’s time to jack everything up and examine it closely, while spinning…
edsnova2013-06-27 09:30:26
Ed. have you check the steering dampner yet? The shimy could be coming from a worn steering dampner. Just a reminder.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackI think my dampner dampens OK but really not sure. How does one check?
Also not sure how a bad dampner would feel like an unbalanced wheel.
To really check a dampener, you have to unbolt one end and then push/pull to see how it resists movement in both directions. Mine slid easily, like a trombone.
It is like a shock for the steering mechanism…Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...Correct. It is essentially a long, slender shock, and provide mild resistance to travel in both directions…
KentT2013-06-27 20:21:53
Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes...Tire problem fixed!
The new Nexen SB802 165/80R 15’s came in to my Walmart store today. I took all four wheels with Classic tires to the store and had them swap the tires. $32.00 to mount and balance them. The rims already had new stems.
At home I decided to wax every contact point on the rims so I rubbed an old candle on the backs of the rims where they contact the hubs, also the tapers on the rims where the lugs touch, and also the tapers on the lugs. I’ve always tightened lug nuts/bolts like you would head bolts… criss-cross pattern in steps to final tight.
I headed for the freeway with high hopes. WhooHoo! Smooth as a baby’s butt at any speed up to 65! I would have tried faster but traffic held me back.
The Classic tires are for sure out of round and have flat spots. What a battle it’s been. At last I’ll be able to work on other things that need fixing like installing the new oil pressure gauge, and fuel level sensor in the tank. Refinish the dash and new bushings on the shift rod. and on and on and on.
Thanks to all for the ideas and support. I love this forum!
I like a happy ending
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http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=7f9174ad614e43b680deba085b0abf48
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