Tire Size

[gbbbie]

Hi guys I’m new here and I recently inherited this K25 from my cousin who passed away 6 years ago. I have no idea where to start with it other than it has been sitting for 6 years and the tires need to be changed. I’m planning on restoring the wheels or buy aluminum brushed to match the trim? Not decided yet. My question is what size tire can I go up to on these stock 16x6.5 without having to worry about rubbing? Using it for hauling/towing camper!

 

[bucket]

It has 16's on it, not 16.5's?

For the stock rim and stock ride height, a 255/85/16 is a good fit. It's tall and skinny, like a narrow 33" tire.

 

[Grit dog]

235-85s max IMO. You may even consider real pizza cutters and go 215-85s.
Reason being, assuming it’s a stock or stock-ish 70s engine and running perfectly, you’ll be lucky to get 130hp (less if you’re actually up in the mountains, plus summer, heat soak, borderline vapor lock, etc) out of the flywheel.
You’ll need as much power to the ground as you can get if you plan on towing more than a harbor freight fold up trailer.

 

[Grit dog]

To buckets point, 255/85 would likely fit, but she looks a little poochy in the suspension department, so you should do some measuring before buying.
It’s easy. Measure clearances at the worst case, wheels turned, suspension compressed or stuffed and then compare your tire size to the bigger sizes. If you have x amount of clearance worst case somewhere and you go up in diameter and width, take that into account and subtract the applicable dimensions.

 

[Grit dog]

Then decide what look you want as well. 255/85s will look a bit “stuffed” at that suspension height.

 

[Grit dog]

245/75s and 265/75s are options as well. 265 gettin a bit wide for a 6” rim but doable.