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So I was cleaning brake dust off the rims on my '95 Cutlass Supreme convertible today when it occurred to me it has the same size tires as my late father'* 2002 Silhouette, which I have at my house to sell once my mom and sister can find the title. Both vehicles have 225-65-R16 tires. The convertible has a set of El Dorado Golden Fury tires, a brand I'm totally unfamiliar with. Looking at the date code, they're a little more than three years old and have hardly any wear as the previous owner hadn't driven it much the past couple of years. The van has a set of Pirelli P4'* that my dad put on it right before he stopped driving, so they might have 500 miles on them. I'm seriously considering swapping tires and wheels between the two vehicles to get the Pirellis onto the convertible. Both vehicles have similar looking alloy wheels, although the van'* are a six-spoke pattern and the convertible'* are a five-spoke pattern and of course, the convertible'* wheels have the older rectangular rocket emblem while the van'* have the later oval emblem. I did some measuring and the lug patterns appear to be the same on both. Center to center, adjacent lugs are 2.75 inches apart and every second lug is 4.25 inches apart. On the front of both vehicles, the space between the back of the wheel and the brake rotor is two inches, measuring through the wheel opening. Spacing on the rear wheels is different since the van has drums in the back and the convertible has discs. The outer face of the convertible'* wheels have a little flatter appearance than the van'* wheels but I'm just curious enough to swap a rear wheel between each and see what happens. If that goes okay with no scraping when I move the vehicle, I'll try a front wheel. If that works, I'll take it the rest of the way. The weather is expected to be bad for the next week, so I will have plenty of time to consider this move. I've included photos of the two wheels for your perusal. At the very least, I'll claim the chrome lug nuts off of the van, which were originally on my '94 LSS.
Maybe it'* just me, but Pirellis on a minivan seems a bit sad.
Originally Posted by Human
On the front of both vehicles, the space between the back of the wheel and the brake rotor is two inches, measuring through the wheel opening. Spacing on the rear wheels is different since the van has drums in the back and the convertible has discs. The outer face of the convertible'* wheels have a little flatter appearance than the van'* wheels but I'm just curious enough to swap a rear wheel between each and see what happens. If that goes okay with no scraping when I move the vehicle, I'll try a front wheel.
Lay one of each differing type on its back (pretty side up). Measure from the mating surface (surface that faces the hub) to the ground. If they are the same, or within a few mm, they'll likely fit.
W bodies of the era had some odd backspacing requirements because the calipers protrude quite a bit. If the caliper clears the rear face of the rim, and the back tires clear the trailing arms, you may be okay. If you have access, you can always try to swap to see what happens
Lay one of each differing type on its back (pretty side up). Measure from the mating surface (surface that faces the hub) to the ground. If they are the same, or within a few mm, they'll likely fit.
. . . and yes the right way to measure is without the tire, but this way is pretty close and much more convenient.