Ok guys, my '95 850 wagon has 205/55/16's on her now. I have a brand new set of Blizzaks that have been sitting in my garage for 8 years because the car they were bought for was totalled.
They are 215/60/16, will they fit? Are they going to rub?
What do you guys think?

 

They might rub some but I don't think it will be all that much.

 

Thats what I thought too. They might rub on big bumps or turning to full lock but being snows they will wear pretty fast.
Thank you for your help Tech.

 

Hello Spike555,

Blizzaks are a great winter tire and you really have to be in it deep to get stuck. A little noisy on bare pavement but youll be driving by people doing the Devil Dance [sm=badbadbad.gif]as they try pushing their non Tracs ride.[sm=icon_rofl.gif]

How did you store the tires? Hopfully not laying on a cement floor.[:@]

Tires like everything else man made will degrade over time by, in a sense drying out, and developing tiny cracks that can under full inflation and the weight of a carmake the tires not long for this world.

Please examine them carefully before installing them. You wouldnt believe what goes into making a tire

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

QB-The Blizzaks ARE a awesome tire. We used them for one winter on the car that they were bought for. $800 for a set of four. Only 3,000 miles on them. They were on a 1997 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.At the time these were the same tires that the cops used! We could go anywhere, we would pass 4x4's that couldnt move because the ice was so bad. ad the summer tires put back on and two weeks later BAM!! car totalled.
Any way, I have stored the tires in the garage standing up, not laying down. No water has gotten to them, only spider webs.
They look good, no dry rot or cracks that I can see.
Thanks for all the help and in put guys.

 

The reason that I asked about how they were stored is that cement floors have a way of screwing a tire if left in/on one spot for a long period of time. Even if they were storedstanding up there needs to be something in between them to prevent a similar type of thing happening.

I gave my Blizzaks to the step dad a few years back, mentioned how to store them, but he just stacked them on the floor in a corner of the garage and the side wall of the one on the bottom gave out and the rest were showing signs of deterioration. They were only two years old.

Just likethe deal(steal)ership youll notice that, in the good ones anyways, the cars are always parked on small pieces of carpet under each tire in the showroom.

The price that you mentioned was about the same that I got from Frisby Tire back in 1996 but I found a place called Deals For Wheels in the Auto Trader and got the same set of tires for $390.75CDN, stems, nitrogen filled, balanced, on the car and the summer tires were bagged and properly fitted into the trunkand ever sincethen I have been buying my tires them.

By Law manufacturers and tire dealers, here in Canada (not sure about where you are), are only permitted to keep tires on the shelf for 5 years from the original date of manufacture (check the side wall) and then they have to be destroyed. One guywas beginning to getupset with me until I told him I was doing research for a friend.

The reason from all - which is surprising -is natural deterioration/separation of the materials that compose the casing and the bond betweenthe casing and the tread and after taking a tour, Ive been to three different tire shops and two retread places, for sure that this is the case. Its taken almost four hours to relpy to this psot - to the best of my ability. I will not talk s**t, I might ask silly questions thought.

This was the best type of day. Had a question (not mine but knowledge is power) and feel confident about the answer.

Volvo Means Safety First. To me anyway.

Please make sure that the tires are OK. Ask a tire shop to see what they say. I would prefer not tohear that something bad happened because of the tires. Your not driving a Ford Exploder, youve gota fine machine. Dont take any chances.

[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

I dont know what the law is on shelf life is here in the US. When I go to have the tires put on I will ask them if they arew ok or not. If they are not then I will not use them.
I would hate to waste them, they cost me a ton of money.
And yes Volvo is safety first, did you read my "Volvo Rocks" post?
When we finally do get rid of our car we will definetly buy another.

 

Those tires will have 4.9% diameter difference. This means your speedometer will read 57 MPH on the 215/60/16 tires and your actual speed on the 205/55/16 will read 60mph. It is good practice to stay within a 3% diameter difference as you may experience brake failure.

I found the above info at the following site:

http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp

 

SWEET! We'll put fewer miles on the car.
I knew the speedo would be off.They will only be on the car for about 4 months. Our winters are not very long here, but when it snows it SNOWS.