So during a recent walk around my 1990 240 DL wagon, I looked at the tires closely and saw two of them had a date code for 2006 with sidewall cracking(aka sidewall checking). Tread is perfect I always replace my tires after they hit the 4-5 year mark due to a past experience.

The tires on the vehicle are 185/75R14

The problem is that no place around my way carries this "obscure" size. What is a good alternative to this size? Will a 195/75/R14 or a 195/70R14 work without throwing off my speedometer? or rubbing?

I am not concerned with the tires looking good(Black tires on black steel rims with faded Volvo hubcaps ain't exactly stunning)

Thanks

 

they can't order them and have them in a day or two?? any tire place I've been too will do that.

actually, P195/75R14 is the right size for a 240 wagon, its got a heavier load factor and is a little larger. the sedans came with P185/70R14. not sure where the 185/75 came in, that's the wrong size for either, but its in between them in load capacity and size, so its an OK substitute for a wagon but not optimal.

if you use a smaller tire than original, your speedometer will read higher than your actual speed. the 180/70 is about 5% smaller than the 195/75.

using a kumho solus all season as the reference

p195/75-14 - stock 240 wagon tire
* diameter 25.5"
* turns per mile 814
* load 1400 lbs

p185/70-14 - stock 240 sedan tire
* diameter 24.2"
* turns per mile 862
* load 1200 lbs

p185/75-14 - compromise size
* diameter 25"
* turns per mile 834
* load 1290 lbs

hankook, kumho, general, goodyear, firestone, and others seem to have tires in the P195 size.

 

Here...this removes the mystery...
Tire size calculator

 

Yes they can order them but they say that size will take a week. Of course the only tire place that is not 20 miles away is NTB and that NTB is full of D bags.

The label on the passenger front door on my car says 185R14


A look at a few of the 240 wagons and sedan's in the junk yard show the same label with the same tire size. What tires were on those sedans and wagons showed that the wagons had 185/75R14(like mine) and the sedans had 185/70R14.

I did however score a nice newish 185/75/R14 tire(date code 2010) on a good looking Volvo 240 rim that i got for $25 for the whole thing. It will make a great spare tire and yes it fits perfectly in the spare tire well of the wagon and even uses the same restraint strap

 

185R14 is a different, older size. no longer made. metric tires with no / were roughly equivalent to /82 (82% width ratio). no tires that narrow are made anymore.

see this table: Tire Size Conversion Chart

the P-Metric P195/75R14 is the direct match. it has a bit wider tread than the original tire in 1990.