I have the Hankooks on my '71 LeSabre, and the soft sidewalls give the car a tail-wagging feel on some pavements. Go with the Cooper 235's, they'll look good on the Riv. Barely larger.
Check the sidewall for maximum inflation pressure. Tires today can be 44 psi, or even 51 psi. If you put 32 psi in them, they can feel that way. How much pressure do you have in yours?
If you put the max tire pressure in your tires, it makes the car ride like a pogo stick. Been there done that
I don't put the max in. I put 85-90% of the max in. My Riviera has 51 psi Yokohama Avid TRZ tires on it. I run 43 psi. My GS has 44 psi Cooper Cobras. I run 39 psi in them. The car DOES NOT ride hard at all. If I run less pressure, the ride and handling are mushy. My Riviera door sticker says 30 psi at all 4 corners. The OEM tires were 35 psi max. Our GS cars originally had 32 psi max Bias Ply tires. Chassis manual says what? 26/28 psi?
LOL.......but I haven't hit 4 hours yet! Its a personal goal But you know Im usually a tooth off... (inside joke) lol Anyway, yes, the G60's on the GS take 26 psi. I remember you explaining this to me last year I think. So the spec on the polyglas's is 32 psi @ 1620 lbs max load. So at its max pressure, it's rated at a max of 1620 lbs. Just for giggles, I looked up the comparable 245/60-15 Radial TA which is 35 at 1753 lbs. and yes, I kno the 255 is closer in the real world to the G60, but that's what a G60 converts to in the charts. So if Im calculating this correctly, my G60's inflated to 26 psi are at 1315 lbs max load. So according to you, if I put TA's on my car, I should still inflate them to 26? Now hypothetically speaking, lets say the TA's were rated at 44 psi@ 1753 lbs max load. I would then inflate them to 33 lbs in order to achieve the spec of 1315 lbs? Am I wrapping my brain around this the right way?
I don't think you can compare bias Ply tires to Radial Ply solely on the basis of load. If you look at the tire placards of various vehicles, you'll see the car manufacturer usually recommends about 85% of the maximum tire pressure listed on the sidewall. My Riviera was originally equipped with 35 psi max tires. The tire placard says 30 psi. 85% of 35 is 29.75. Have a look at the tire placard on Jen's new Mustang, and see what the tire sidewalls say. My GS has the Cooper Cobras rated at 44 psi. 85% of 44 is 37.4. I run 39. My Riv tires say 51 psi. 85% of 51 is 43.35. I run 43 psi. Neither car rides hard. In both of my cars, I noticed better gas mileage with the higher inflation pressures. When I first got the Coopers, I inflated them to 30 thinking that was plenty. I noticed them squealing on turns especially on asphalt surfaces. The handling was mushy, that's the best I can describe it. Look at the sidewalls of your tires, then inflate them to 85%. Drive the car and see how it feels to you If you Google recommended tire pressure, you'll find most say to look at the tire placard. IMHO, that is wrong. It doesn't take into the fact that tires today have higher maximum inflation pressures listed on the sidewall. John Csordas will back me up on this. John is pretty up to date on the latest maintenance recommendations. He is the one who brought this to my attention when I first had the Yokohamas installed on the Riv at his shop.
So I just ran out to the garage. Jen has a 285/35-19 on the back of her hot rod. Sidewall says 50 psi @ 1929 lbs. Tire pressure on the placard is 35 cold
All I can tell you is when I use a low inflation pressure I don't like the way it feels. If you have tires that say 35, 30 would be fine. If your tires say 44 and 51 like mine do, try running at 85% of the max. Then run at the lower pressures. Tell me which way you like better after driving the car.
Normally you go higher psi the lower profile.. I run Cooper 265/30-19" in the rear, with 42psi/3 bar and the tires are evenly worn.. Too much psi will wear in the middle, and too little will wear the sides.. Tire pressure is religion for some, always running the same psi no matter what size tire, but my experience says that the lower profile/wider tire, the more psi to wear them evenly.. Cars weight has also a lot in the saying, and if I run the same tire size all the way round, I tend to run a little more pressure because of the engine weight.. Just 3-5psi more, but that still shows on gas mileage and evenly wear.. Also the car feels more "sporty" and responsive.. I personally would buy the 235's and inflate them as Larry says..
The Hankooks are 44's, I run them at 38. Waggy! Mostly only on grooved concrete or metal bridge decks, but it's noticeable. Tire guys where I bought them said they'd had complaints, and that they thought it was from the soft side walls. I wish I had bought the Coopers, but couldn't readily find them at the time and wanted to move fast. Oh well....
We use the Firestone Destination on our LeSabre - they run really great for us -Bobc455 p.s. Free mounting & balancing in Reading, MA if you want to come by our shop
Whats the part number on the B F Goodrich? I can check the pricing on them thru my Advantage acct pricing for you if you like.
Thanks Mike, but theyre not regular BFG's, Diamndback takes them and cuts a white walls in them. Im not happy abut it, but I broke down and went with the Hankook optimos. The old rear tires on the Riv are from when I worked at Goodyear in 1992! Im interested to see how better the car rides without the chopped up, 16 sided cinder blocks mounted to the rear wheels.
I can help you. The Goodyear Steelgard white stripe is available. GR70/15 equal to a 225/70/15 is available. Give me a call. 816-654-3400. Rusty
That is Steve's car, PM him, 71stagegs http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?members/71stagegs.1606/ http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?attachments/stevesredlinesr-jpg.354693/
