I've been doing a good bit of work for a tire store and have gotten to know the head tire man well. I asked him today if he had any 165 sr 15's in stock, he said yes and asked If I pland on using them on a drag car. He then said if the car was over 3000# and ran 110 mph not to run them, spend the money for the MT's or some like it. He does not sale the race tires so no money for him to make and I did just sling some tread off my old tires. What do you think?

on a daily driver, go with the 165/15's. the MT wear out REAL quick on a daily driver. i run the 175/15's, cant beat the 24 dollars a peice. but i only run around 100 in the quarter. and that is my two cents graemlins/clonk.gif

Plenty of people run those tires, as did I for about a year.

However, if you look at the load rating on them you'll see why he doesn't want you to run them.

I don't recall the rating on the Kumhos I was running but I think it was about 1200 pounds. 1200 pounds on each front tire is 2400 pounds and my car weighed 1850 on the front standing still. Now, how much weight was on the front of the car when I was braking? Probably more than the tire rating of 2400.

The issue is cost really. If you can't afford something like a M/T front runner at over $100 a pop, the 165 tires look awful good at $29 each.

-gw

I've been running 165's for over 4 years now, street and plenty of strip trips too.

The one's that just came apart on me were 10 years old. I'm only running low 90's in the 1/8 so I think I got to go the cheap route.

Dragn70,
Which type of tire came apart on you after 10 years? I'm running 165r15 Coopers on my 70 SS. The car is a drag only car now. I never ran them on the street. So far so good with the VW tires running 12's.

It was a 165sr15 with the words Metric radial in large print, I do not know it this was a brand name. Its a drag only car and I ran 45psi in them. It came apart driving around my block at 20 mph not at the track.

Since were on the subject of metric radials(front 165r15), anybody run them on their drag only cars? If so please give some feedback as to their pros/cons on a heavier car, Chevelle,Monte Carlo or Impala. I've heard so much about load ratings and all. Seriously, their are tons of NHRA drag cars out there running 4 ply Moroso front drag tires and weighing over 3800lbs with no problems. Are the metric radials rated less than the Moroso type tires?? Any tire pros out there?? Has anybody ACTUALLY had a problem with the metric front radial 165R15??

Anybody???

I read recently (can't remember where though) to look for the ones with a "44 psi" rating on the sidewall and not to use the ones with the lower rating -32 psi I think. I run this tire on a 3700# daily driver '79 el camino every day on the street. They are fine, I just always remember what's on the front. That and the 3.90 gears keep my speeds sane and down in corners and iffy weather. But merging and traffic lites are another story :D . I think i'd replace any front tire that size that was over 3 years old. Certainly they showed signs of aging before they came apart. Dave H

Thanks Dave !!! Anybody else??

How tall are those 165r's? I would like to replace my 28x15 MT Sportsman front.

I have one brand at 25.5" and another at 26"