I need to get the tires replaced on my GL. Options for 185/70R13 seem pretty limited (I'm also on a low budget) so I'm switching to either 175/70R or 155/80R. The 155s are cheaper than the 175s and since I'm in New England, the pizza cutters are appealing. It's not clear, however, if the 155s will even fit on the stock rims. I've tried to take measurements of the rim, but even with that, I can't find anything online that can tell me if they would fit. I also have no idea how pizza cutters before year round. Does anyone have any experience with this? Should I just be safe and stick to the 175s?

 

I also have a flat right now in one of the dry rotted tires that I have on right now and need to drive back to school on Sunday, so I'm in a bit of a bind.

The 175/70's are closest to the original tire in terms of load capacity.  If you want a single set of tires for all year, they are the best bet.  No worries about max. load, speed or heat.

 

155/80's will fit, but they have reduced load capacity compared to the original stock tires.  That being said, they have about the same capacity as the original tires, at the original, low speed, light load inflation pressure, when inflated to maximum rated pressure (35/36 psi).  I don't recommend them for all year use.  They are not good for high speed and/or full loads.

 

I have 165/80's for summer (Kumho and Toyo still have them, last I looked, also some cheap Chinese brands).   I use 155/80 snow tires in winter.  I  keep them inflated to 36 psi, and try to keep the loads down.  SInce it is winter, and often snowy and icy where I live, it is easy to keep the speeds down.

 

TIres are the hardest parts to find for these cars.

Edited January 7, 201412 yr by robm

Take a look at tireack.com. That's where I got my 13's for a good price. Course I guess if you need them by Sunday, that might not work so good...

 

John

Well, I tried to have the 175/70R13 tires installed, but the guy told me I needed to replace all four since it's an AWD. I told him I was just going to stay out of four wheel drive but he insisted that I had to replace all four.

 

So, now I'm going to try to slime my flat to make it back to school where I can get a tire mounted, balanced and the old tire disposed of for 6 bucks, I'm looking at used tires.

 

That being said, what do people like for sizes/what can I fit on the stock rims? I was thinking of maybe doing larger tires so I can lower RPMs on the highway (not to mention that it might correct my speedo which reads a few miles an hour fast).

Go back and ask to speak to his supervisor. He obviously is an idiot.

TIres that fit include:  165/80R-13, 185/70R-13, 175/70/R-13 (small), 155/80R-13 (small, low max. load).

 

The first 2 are difficult to find new.  They are virtually the same diameter.  They are probably closest to the original tire diameter and load rating, and should give you the most correct speedometer reading.

 

There may be others that fit, but they are even less common than the ones above.   If looking for used tires, 165/80's are a good bet.  At one time, the were the commonest tire on small cars like this.

 

What doe the car have on right now?

 

If forced to run mismatched tires, put the odd one on the back. 

If you are only replacing 2, mount them diagonally form eachother. As long as one front and one rear tire are the same size, the 4wd won't know the difference. Explain to your time man that it is a part time 4wd system with no center differential.

For tire information, go to the Discount Tire website. They don't have any stores in your area. On their site, there is a tab for 'info center'. General knowledge and interactive areas where you can check tire-rim combo's, diameter changes and speedometer errors.  Could be helpful as you burn up a lot of hours in your search for tires.

If you are only replacing 2, mount them diagonally form eachother. As long as one front and one rear tire are the same size, the 4wd won't know the difference. Explain to your time man that it is a part time 4wd system with no center differential.

Well really that won't matter because if he's gonna be in 4wd he'll probably be on snow... if he was driving in 4wd on a surface he was getting pretty good traction on like wet pavement he definitely would want them diagonal so he wasn't binding up the 4wd. We'll leave that up to op....

I rarely use 4wd, only in snow and even then I use it as little as possible to avoid getting stuck in it. I tried to explain to the guy that it was part-time and that I was just planning on not using 4wd, but I guess it's the shop's policy.

 

I've got 185/70R13 now, however, I'll be replacing all four since none of the tires on there now are in very good condition - and it's stil ~20 bucks cheaper to do all four tires at school than two at home.