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70 Nova - 215's or 225's for 14x7 wheels

8K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  71 Fathom Blue 
#1 ·
Ok, after about 1.5 hours of searching, I still cannot find what I am looking for. I have 14x7 SS wheels and need tires for my 70 Nova SS. Going with same size for all 4 wheels. Trying to decide about what size would be better - 215/70 or 225/70. I know they came with F70-14 and that is roughly the same as 205/70 but I would like a little larger tire.

If any of you have a 3rd gen with 14x7 wheels wearing either 215/70's or 225/70's post some pics for comparison?

Thanks.
 
#6 ·
I am working on a 72 at the moment. Has 215 all around. To me the rears don't look tall enough to fill that huge fender. I like the staggered look..
If it was mine i would have a 205 on the front and 225 or larger and taller on the rear. Plenty room for wider tire but 225/70 i think would look nicer. I'll post a couple pics.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I have 205 in the front and 245 in the rear. I had to put a small spacer in the rear as the tire came too close to the shock mount. Then I upgraded my front upper control arms and sway bar so then that started just touching the front wheels at full lock so I also had to add a tiny spacer for clearance.

Overall, I think anything bigger than 205 in the front, even with stock sway bar will limit your steering.

I'm now strongly considering switching to a 15x7 wheel with a +6 backspacing. I tried one on for size with a 255 in the rear and same 205 in the front and everything cleared perfect without use of spacers.
 

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#12 ·
I'm glad you posted this CEW, as I was just researching this same thing for my 71 this past weekend. What I've found is, for future viewers of this post, the factory used the F70-14 tire on the 69 Chevelle/Nova SS 396 14X7 wheel, which is around 26.2" tall with a section width of 8.7". (Section width = distance between outer sidewalls, not tread width which would be a bit less.)
Here are average specs on the following sizes that I was considering. (varies a bit per manufacturer.)
215/70-14 hgt 25.8" section width 8.7"
225/70-14 hgt 26.4" section width 9"
225/60-14 hgt 24.7" section width 9"
235/60-14 hgt 25.1" section width 9.5"
so, the closest thing height wise (if you're worried about factory cruise rpm etc) would be the 225/70-14 @ 26.4" tall. Width wise, would be the 215/70-14 @ 8.7" wide.
I'm planning on running a Street Grip suspension system which lowers the car about an inch or so, along with a larger dia sway bar so I was hoping on running a 235 all the way around for more stability and traction for a fun daily driver. I'll wait til I get the suspension system installed then do a mock up install of the wheels and do some measurements. Hopefully I can run some 235's but knowing my conservative nature, I'll probably run the 215's as well.
 
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