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[alan]

What size tyres should I put on my stock wheels on my TR4?

[Bob Muzio]

I'd suggest a 165X15 tire. Through Tire Rack you can obtain a Kumho Power Star 758 radial (165/80X15). Wire Wheel Source has a Vredestien (165SR15). They'll fit a 4 1/2" - 5 1/2" rim.
I have the Kumhos and find them to be fine though a friend with a TR3 found them "twitchy" on the freeway. He eventually went to the Vreds. I liked the price on the Kumhos (that has increased from $30 to #45/tire) as our tires tend to "time out" for us before we wear them out.
Bob

[gmowen55]

I would also recommend the Kuhmos, a very good value with regard to the "time out" factor Bob mentioned. When a got my 67 4A, it came with a set of 18 year old Michelin XZX's with probably less than 1000 miles on them. Broke my heart to have to replace them.

[lfew1]

I just got a set of the 165R15s Kumhos for my 72 spoke 5.5" wires on my 1966 TR4A from Tire Rack.  Being winter here, I haven't had much opportunity to get a view on performance.  If you have wire wheels make sure you get new tubes too.  I got mine from Universal Tire, which also carries a variety of tires to fit the TR4/4A, including the Vredesteins mentioned in this string.

LFW 

[gmowen55]

LFW,
What size tube from Universal did you use? In my reading I have seen some recommendations to use a 14" tube on the 15" TR4 wheel because of the deep throat in the center of the wheel. I see that Universal carries a KR-14/15 Radial Tube which I guess would be an answer.
Glenn

[lfew1]

Glenn,

Sorry for the slow reply!  Hadn't looked at the forum in a while. I got the FR-15 Radial Tubes, based on the recommendation on the Universal site for the 165 series Vredesteins.  No problems in fitting.  I have driven a few miles on the new Kumhos and they seem to be fine for moderately spirited motoring. 

LFW

[vila]

Alan
First, what year TR4 do you have?  The next question you need to ask yourself is what you expect from the tires.  Are you looking for something close to the original designs and size offered when the car came out or are you interested in getting more / higher performance out of the tires.  My 1962 TR4 would have originally had either 590-15 bias ply or 165-15 radials.  If you are going for originality then stick with one of those sizes.  I would recommend getting some original Triumph TR4 sales literature for your specific year TR4 and see what it has listed for tire sizes as the bias ply may have been dropped in the mid 60s.  The 590-15 and 165-15 are both available from either Univeral Tire or Coker Tire depending on the brand and price you are looking for.  Price range varies from approximately $120 - $366.  The  DUNLOP 590-15 RS5 blackwall from Universal is at the high end, while the Michelin XZX which is as close as you are going to get to the original Michelin X are around $169 per tire from Coker.  At the low end of the pricing are some of the Bias Ply tires like BF Goodrich 590-15s.  Some brands like BF Goodrich even offers a whitewall if that is your fancy, but depending on the year of your TR4 you also need to know the Whitewall width specific to your year car and again the sales literature could have pictures of whitewalls to use as a guide in determining the original width for your year TR4.  As far as tubes, I know Universal lists the correct tubes to use with each tire listing, or you can just send an email out to Universal or Coker and they will tell you everything you have questions about.  I am looking at the Michelin XZX for on my wire wheels and wanted to verify it was OK to use Tubes in Tubeless tires and got a quick affirmative answer from them.  If you are going with something like the FR-15s or 165/80-15s as mentioned in the email string good luck.  Also be sure to check the minimum wheel width specified by the manufacture for the performance tires, since some may specify a minimum width wider than you the wheels you have on your TR. I'm a Michelin man and go for originality so that is what I am leaning toward, but I am not to the final decision point on new tires yet.  To check out the progress of my restoration visit: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze114b79/index.html
Bob Beers