Will General Altimax RT43 in P215/70R14 fit OK on stock '69 Cutlass steel wheels ... or too wide?
I want to keep original wheels and wheel covers.

 

That size will be just fine. A touch wider than originally on car.

 

It will fit a 14" wheel just fine, but may look small in the wheel wells. You might consider the 225/70-14.

 

Are you going blackwall? They do have OWL in the 225-70-14 in that model. I just received the picture from General tire a few weeks back. It's a brand new offering in white letter. I bought a set for my Impala. Very good tires.

 

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I'd think the 225 might be too wide for the stock steel wheels... anyone?

 

Not much width difference between the 2 tires, you'll be fine.

 

215/70/14 is ~F70-14, the stock tire on a '69 442 (& others) with 14x6.0" wheels
225/70/14 is ~G70-14, the stock tire on a '68 H/O with 14x6.0" wheels
225/70/14 is ~G70-14, the stock tire on a '70 442 (& others) with 14x7.0" wheels

IMO go with the 225/70/14

 

a friend just put that exact tire on a '73 Dart - General Altimax RT43
215/70/14 on 14x5.5" wheels front
225/70/14 on 14x6.0" wheels rear

 

My '69 is a Cutlass Holiday Sedan - 4 dr hardtop - not sure they have the same stock wheels as a 4-4-2? Maybe narrower?

I like the look of the Generals, and prefer a US brand to a Korean or other Asian brand.

 

Yes your wheel will be either 5.5 inches or 5 in width.

 

FWIW...been using that brand/model tire in 15 and 16" sizes on two non-Olds daily drivers for a while and have been very satisfied.

Good luck!!!

 

Have a feeling the wheels are 5 inch width, but won't know for sure until I can demount a tire and measure.
So if 5" wheels is that wide enough for a 225 or should I stick to 215... I'd prefer wider... if it'll work.
Roger in NY

 

Your wheels are probably 6" because if disc brakes were ordered there would be no need to change wheels. A chebby would more likely have 5" wheels.

 

hmmm. see 66SportCoupe's comment above...?

 

1969 Oldsmobile A-bodies wheels are 14x5.0" or 14x6.0" (with the exception of the H/O's 15x7.0" wheels)

you will need to determine what size your wheels are - got pics? Do you know if they are original to the car? lots of changes in 50+ years

 

Unfortunately the original steel wheels are skinny, making tire selection somewhat limited.

Something to consider no doubt. I have undersized tires on my ride, height wise. Its definitely noticeable. About 1 inch shorter than stock all around.

I thought our cars (1969 Cutlass Holiday) came 14 x 5.5 , I will look into my notes etc when I have a chance. As you say wheel size needs to be verified. My ride came with SSIIs which are obviously not factory correct.

In any case, holidaysedan when it comes to tire size I am a stickler for manufacturer and distributor recommendations. Tire Rack.Com is a very handy site, their recommendations fall in line with manufacturers. P215/70R14 should not be put on a rim narrower than 5.5 according to them and i agree. P225/70R14 should not be on a rim narrower than 6 inches. Now this of course is going by the book, likely there is some leeway but I wouldn't chance it myself.

In my case I am doing the opposite of what you are leaning towards. I was aiming for the narrowest tire possible on a given rim while still having decent width. Of course this is a luxury I have because I went with aftermarket wheels. My front tires are max width 7 on a 7 inch rim and my rear tires are max width 8.5 on a 8 inch rim.

 

I'd bet they are 5" wide wheels since it's a lower line model with just the basic 2 bbl V8, but will verify before deciding.
I don't want to go too wide but am told generally 1 size up from stock is fine.

I may have to go with Hancook Optimo P205 or P215/75R14s. I used those 215s on a '68 Chev Impala w/ 14" wheels, as 215/75R14 was supposedly the replacement for the 8.25/80-14 stock tire, but it seemed too small, and GM and other mfr's tended to save $ by putting under-sized tires on cars at that time, they were often criticized by the car mags for that... bad GM! They seemed a tad small on that car, however may be ok on my Cutty, but I kind of wanted a better quality US-made tire... options are very limited.

 

I'm running Hankook on my 66 442 and my 66 F85. Great tires! Both now have 15 inch wheels on them. Had 14's on the F85 for awhile and fit good. They were 215/70-14.

 

Whats more important too you, road feel, looks, or efficiency ? How do you feel about BF Goodrich Radial T/As.
I have had them on my 69 as well as other Olds over the years and they are the widest looking tire bar none. They look great on recommended rim widths, and seem to have the closest thread width appearance to sidewall bulge out-there.

The one thing they aren't is lightweight. I'm sure that extra weight is the reason they look so full.

For me lightweight supersedes everything. My car has a great deal more unsprung weight than it came with from the factory, so I am perpetually trying to reduce that. My fronts are currently Firestone's, and the rears are Cooper Cobras. The mismatch is intentional. They are both the lightest for their size that i could find while being comfortable with the brand etc.

PS I looked into my notes regarding factory rim specs. I see 1969 GM 14 x 5 steel rim code YL nos weighing 17 lbs, written down. Also I have notated that my Supreme came with 14 x 5.5 steel rim weighing 18 lbs + hubcaps, and that the factory bias plys were approximately 22 lbs each. Hopefully someone can either verify this info or set me straight ?

 

Safety is #1, ride #2, don't care if it's whitewall or not, just want the right size to work with stock wheels. Will look at BF Goodrich too.

 

100% correct !

When in doubt like Joe P always says, go to the Chassis Service Manual. Which is exactly what I did.







These pics are from the 1969 Oldsmobile Chassis Service manual.

holidaysedan obviously you and I share the same base standard wheel. In turn this severely limits your tire options if going by the book.

PS according to the Automobile Catalog that matches this information, our base standard tire was 26.4 inches in diameter. I had believed the base standard tires were 27.10 in diameter. So I am not as off in height as I thought I was. When I first got the 69 it had 225 70 15 BF Goodrich Radial TAs on 15 x 7 SS IIs. Very tall, 27.4 in diameter and filled the wheel well beautifully height wise..

 

Phil: you and Joe are spot on, it never occurred to me to look in the CSM, so I just did, and there it is right on 10-5.
So now I know that 14" x 5" is the wheel, I'm hoping P215/70R14 will work, 205s just seem so small, then again as mentioned before, GM and the other companies were known for using undersized tires in those days.