ERA tire sizes and alignment specs

ogasman · #1 (**permalink**) 11-26-2003, 03:52 PM

What is a good size tire combo to run on my ERA 002. It has the three piece halibrand look alikes. They are centerline wheels underneath. My ERA manual recomends 265x50x15 in the front and 295x50x15 in the back. Peter at ERA suggested 235x60x15 for the front. What brand tires do you like for the Cobra? I also need some specs to get me in the right ballpark on the alignment.
You may have read my recent post about the crooked ERA 002. I spoke with Peter at ERA. He said it would be almost impossible to get the body mounted on the chassis that far out of wack. Sitting in the drivers seat it looks like the body should be rotated about 1/2 inch clockwise on the frame. He said to check for a bad wheel. Nothing wrong with the wheels, but the drivers side front fender is about 1/2 wider than the passenger side. The back fender flares vary greatly from side to side. I understand the mold for the body was pulled off an origional, but I just have never heard of an ERA being this far off. The car needs a repaint, and my father is pushing to have the fiberglass "fixed" to try to true things up. Sounds like a bad idea to me. Any opinions?

REDSC400 · #2 (**permalink**) 11-26-2003, 04:14 PM

Hi:
WHen I replace my current tires on my ERA I will most likely get BF Goodrich TAs in the following sizes:

Front: 245-60-15
Rear: 295-50-15

At present I am running 265-50-15 front and 305-50-15 rear in the older (no longer available) BF Goodrich Eurata which were HR speed rated.

The quandry you have with the Goodrich TA is if you want to run them with the white raised letters outside (visible) or inside (hidden). ALso their speed rating is not as high as some would like.

BTW, congrats on you car! Enjoy.

cobrajeff · #3 (**permalink**) 11-26-2003, 05:24 PM

On my small-block ERA FIA car, I am running 265/50X15's on the front on 8.0" PS Engineering wheels, and 305/50X15" on the rear on 10.0" PS Engineering (Halibrand FIA knock-off replicas). The tires are all H-rated BFG Euro T/A's, which as REDSC400 pointed out, are NLA. I have turned them inside-out, and blacked-out the raised white letters. I don't know what I'll do when I wear them out - H rated 15" tires are getting pretty scarce.

I find it very difficult to believe an ERA body is as out-of-whack as yours appears to be, but, I guess if it were mine, I'd go for fiberglass modifications to make it look "right". Especially if it ALREADY is a candidate for a paint job. There are LOTS of shops able to work with fiberglass - look at some shops that specialize in 'Vettes. I'm sure somebody could straighten that out.

Good luck with your new car!

Jeff

ERA 626 · #4 (**permalink**) 11-26-2003, 10:00 PM

Why dont you contact Rich Lacy and ask him how much $ it would take to bring the car to ERA. I bet it would not cost very much...
If anything it will be a piece of mind knowing that Doug & the boys at ERA are going to take care of it.
Knowing that you are one of 600+ people in the world to own an ERA, I would say that you are doing well

foothills gary · #5 (**permalink**) 11-26-2003, 11:32 PM

I agree with Mike-as close as you are to Conn.,I'd let the boys and girls at ERA make you day.I'm sure they are all curious as to what is going on,and would probably love to see a car of that vintage in their shop again.We are certainly all curious,so hope you keep us updated! Gary

John 550 · #6 (**permalink**) 11-27-2003, 06:07 AM

My car (427SC) came with 235 in the front (Peter put them on )
I wonder why the change from 235 / 60 from 265 /50 ? I know that you may need to make
smaller 3 pt. turns , but I may like the look of a larger tire .
I would like to see the differenceside by side , can someone post a picture ?

ST · #7 (**permalink**) 11-27-2003, 06:57 AM

I was using 295x50's rear and 245x60's front and didn't have any problems.

jschiller · #8 (**permalink**) 11-27-2003, 10:18 AM

ogasman:

I too had the same alignment problem on my car. After I had it together and painted and was driving it for several weeks, I happened to compare the rear tire sidewalls vs the fender flares on both sides. One side was profoundly further out to the edge of the flare than the other. I dont recall which side it was.

When I inquired about the alignment, I was told that my jag rear was at fault, one side being a half inch or so "longer". I was using an XKE rear that I purchased and installed myself so I dont think that was the correct answer.

There may have been a problem in the early cars with too much clearance between the body and the frame rails and perhaps I did not take adaquate care to make sure the body was centered before I bonded it to the frame.

I decided not to worry about it.