Hey guys, Looking at getting a set of 17 inch tires for my 72, 245-45-17 front and a 275-40 or 285-40 in the rear. I have been searching the internet and pricing, but do not want to spend a fortune. I have been considering the Nitto 555 but I have found cheaper tires in the same sizes. What are your experiences with the Nitto or any other tires in these sizes? Good or bad? Thanks for the input. Brent
kumo mx or hankook rs2 are good high perf summer tires that I have used. I think they are cheaper than the nittos.
I just bought the Nitto 555's on Ebay. The seller Discount Tire Direct was offering them at 5% off with free shipping and Ebay then offered 15% off on top of that. Anyway $489 shipped for 245-45-17 and 285-40-17. I thought that was a pretty smoking deal. Thanks for the input guys. Brent
I can fit in. This is a great post and makes me think of where I can fit in. I do a little bit of everything mentioned here and I guess I have to find my competitive advantage.
I got mine from Discount, and i was very happy with the service. My advice would be to go straight for the 285/17's for the rear. And spend the money on a good tire right off the bat. If i were to do it again id go with Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. Recommended by a few people to me, mainly about how amazing the the traction is in any condition. Im using Falken's and am happy with the performance (wet and dry), but they are not as wide as advertised. (not the tread width anyway). So a 275 is more like a 255 and a 245 is more like a 225..... Which might explain why they are so cheap. Depending on how much you drive the car they will last you a couple of summers if you drove daily, and kept the spinning to a minimum. VERY soft tire. But if youre set on "cheap" Falken, or sumitomo are the cheapest ones out there. Just go for the WIDEST tire they have listed for your particular wheel, or you will be sorely disappointed.
Heres an idea of what i mean... Widely used pic (not mine). Both are 315mm wide. SUMITOMO on the left, GOODYEAR on the right. Also from the same forum. This poster is showing his 315 Nittos on a 9.5" wide rim. He says they were only slightly bigger than the 285's he took off. (probably goodyears, or BFG).
I chose 555s becuase they are the only ones that have a drag radial with a matching non dr tire for the front. Most people will not notice you are running DRs on the back! My car dead hooks at BG w/ 315/45/18 555R tires. They do spin on the street, but that's the fun part.:laugh:
Jeff, what mods, if any, were required to stuff that tire in the rear? Do you get rub under street driving conditions? Kevin 70 GS clone
I had to pound the inner fender wells back even with the frame. This is only at the extreme front and rear of the wheel well where it sticks out from the frame. And I trimmed the outer lip of the 1/4 panel along the top . You can't tell unless you get down on a knee and look. Your backspacing must be perfect. They seldom rub. I am putting on aftermarket control arms and I hope that tighten things up enough to where they never rub.
