I was just wondering out of curiosity what is the biggest tire size that I could put on my 1973 Ford Maverick two-door coupe I currently run a 195 70 R14 but I would like to switch to a 205 70 R14. But every time that I try to put in for the Cooper Cobra Radial GT Tires or almost any other company that carries Cooper to keep telling me that the smallest size that there are available is 215 70 R14 . My main concern and question is will a 215 70 R14 cause me any type of rubbing issues on my stock Maverick. Please advise
I have 215 15 65s Cooper Cobras on my stock 72 without any troubles. Wheels are 15 x 6 with 3.75 backspacing. They have a greater diameter than stock so I had to drop down one tooth on the speedometer driven gear to keep the speedometer reading accurate.
Remember reading a post about someone saying that the 225 75 R14 Will rub in the rear on a quarter panel. And the quarter panel will need to be either rounded out further up or hammered in so the lip is completely flat. Also what type of tire should I use I was trying to do the Cooper Cobra radial GTs but what other tire companies would look good on a Maverick
I have 225/45-17 on the front and 255/45-17 on the rear. You need to make sure the diameter isn't too big, and that the wheel back-spacing is correct. A 215 70-14 will work but it's pretty tall (almost 26 inches). You want at least a 6-inch rim width for a 215. Preferably 7-inch...
Ok. I believe that my stock 5 lug steel rim is a 6.75 inches in diameter but I will go to my tire shop and ask them for the correct measurements. Then I will post here Thank you all so much so far for such great info. Correction the 6.75 measurements that I'm probably thinking about is the lug nuts and/or stud measurements. So I just purchased 2- 215/75 R14 Iron Man A/S Tires. And I'm hoping that they will fit on the Rear. I will keep my fingers crossed.
I will check with the tire shop and have them inspect for proper measurements. To make sure. Thank you all for the info. To be honest with you I'm no gearhead I was given the opportunity when I was a kid never took it now my dad is too old to help me and teach me so I'm having to learn it on my own now. The most I know how to do is tinker on things like two lights on newer cars and change oil and brakes but other than that don't know the technicals about transmissions or motors into deep or even the measurements of anything.
Your wheel diameter is 14 inches. I don't know where you're getting 6.75 from. The stock rim width is 4.5"...
185/75R14 would be the widest/tallest tire for a stock 4.5 inch rim. If you want to swap to bigger factory rims, it used to be pretty easy to get 14 x 6 Ford rims off some of the intermediate sized Fords in the day, a lot more common. Just have to be sure to get wheels with the right center bore measurement so they fit the hub right. That changed in later years. I even got 14 x 7s that came from a Ford station wagon for my first Comet for the rear. Stock steelies, painted them to match the car and ran the little dog dish caps in them. If you unbolt the wheel from the car, the rim size is typically stamped somewhere on the inside of the rim. You may have to wash some crud off to find it. After all these years, someone may have swapped out the rims. Not 100% sure, but I think later Mavs started coming with 14 x 6 from the factory.
He might be measuring width outside to outside of the bead instead of inside the bead. All year Mavericks could be had a 14"x6" rim...or 5" (1970 only)...or 5.50" ('72-'73). The 4.50" rim was standard.
