increasing size 14-15/16

[ChrisFayter]

well, after sitting on flat tires all summer like a neglected little car would all 4 wheels on the 1986 Laser I picked up last month were bent to hell
so instead of just replacing with another set of steels I figured I'd get some rims for this car before I continue with it as a project since the body really is damn near mint for a surviver car. Now heres my dilemma, it has 14" wheels and I just can't get myself to buy 14" rims, I'd like to at least upgrade to the other stock laser option of 15" or just go up to 16", no bigger than that, that being said I also really don't want to mess with the speedometer. I asked around a little and what I've been told is you can increase the wheel size and decrease the profile to compensate in exchange for a harsher ride, but I'm honestly fine with that. So what I was wondering is if anyone knows what the calculation for that would be? According to the one source i've checked my p185/76R14's could be replaced with a 205/55R16 with no affect on the speedometer. Does that seem correct? My second question is alignment related, obviously increasing diameter even 1 or 2" will increase ride height and change alignment angles, so what I was wondering is withing that 1 or 2" range if the angles could be corrected with a simple alignment, or if I'll need to start a search for some aftermarket alignment parts. Any advice will help, thank you for your time.

[speeduphoria]

your not increasing the ride height!!

you just said you want to keep the overall height the same of the tire/rim, you do this by using a larger rim and lower profile tire, if they are the same overall height then nothing changes

[detobias]

google "tire size calculator"

[Albysure]

i just bought a set of 17" wheels and tires going from 14"'s on my 84 laser. the guy had a chart to make sure i kept the same circumference.

[ChrisFayter]

wow, just read through what I had wrote, I guess all I was really asking was how to calculate profile to same circumference but it's amazing what happens when beer and internet meet in unholy matrimony. Thank you for your help. And tollerance for my intoxicated ignorance lol. Wheels have been ordered and are on the way as well as a set of potenza tires to compement them, correctly sized.

[wazzappenning]

tires are pretty easy 205 60 15 means the tread is 205 millimeters across 60 means the sidewall is 60% of the tread so 60% of 205 is 123 millimeters or 12.3 centimeters. divide that by 2.54 and you get 4.8 inches. two sidewalls(one on either side of rim) is 9.6 inches plus the rim at 15 is 24.6 inches total height. calculate other tire rim sizes the same way.
i would try to keep it within a half inch total height, but i had a michelin x ice tire beside a nordic trac with identical tire sizes and about same wear and the michelin was over an inch higher. so an inch shouldnt be too bad.
as for alignment ive never heard of that for differrent tire height. ive run caravan tires on the cavalier which were over an inch higher and no problems or wierd wear at all

[grim]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wazzappenning tires are pretty easy 205 60 15 means the tread is 205 millimeters across 60 means the sidewall is 60% of the tread so 60% of 205 is 123 millimeters or 12.3 centimeters. divide that by 2.54 and you get 4.8 inches. two sidewalls(one on either side of rim) is 9.6 inches plus the rim at 15 is 24.6 inches total height. calculate other tire rim sizes the same way. i would try to keep it within a half inch total height, but i had a michelin x ice tire beside a nordic trac with identical tire sizes and about same wear and the michelin was over an inch higher. so an inch shouldnt be too bad. as for alignment ive never heard of that for differrent tire height. ive run caravan tires on the cavalier which were over an inch higher and no problems or wierd wear at all

wow that handy