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13" Tire Options?


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Does anybody know of a decent 13" tire? Something of the A/T type perhaps?

 

Trying to decide if I should keep the 13's on my wagon or not, and it might depend on tire choices. Mine have maybe one winter left on 'em.

 

-Ben

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Does anybody know of a decent 13" tire? Something of the A/T type perhaps?

 

Trying to decide if I should keep the 13's on my wagon or not, and it might depend on tire choices. Mine have maybe one winter left on 'em.

 

-Ben

 

You really are not going to find anything of an A/T tire in 13s. You can try looking at Sam's Club and see what they have for 13s. But as you know, these are becoming obsolete. You could also look at a Wal-mart Super center and see what they have for 13s. Uniroyle's are a decent brand, try to stay away from Douglas (I had some Douglas tires on my EA82 before I got the 14" pugs) now those tires are on Desmonds old GL.

 

Good luck.

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If you can find a set of Peugeot wheels they will bolt up, its the 140mm 4 bolt pattern you're looking for. Just watch out for the 390's they are .3 too big, which means they don't work at all. and some will require fancy lug nuts, but they are available.

 

For offroad I'd recommend steel as they flex more than the alloy ones before they break.

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I'd be up for some pugs if I could find some - so long as I can fit them without a lift at this point. Could probably trim fenders and/or fabricate fender flares if I had to.

 

Where's a good place to look for pugs? Seems like there aren't too many in my local craigslist....

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I unfortunately left my crystal ball in my other pants, so I can't tell where "M" is, wait, is that for Metropolis? are you Superman?

 

JK/JK

 

Anyways, a junkyard is always a good place to start, some places are better about it than others, just have to know where to look, Seattle for example has quite a fantastic chain of local pull a parts.

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i wish manufacturers would go back to smaller tires, ride quality is so much better on a 13 or 14 than on the 17-18" low pros. i rather have smooth nice ride than handling.

 

maybe someday they will learn a lesson with to many pothole damages wheels and suspension.

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Its a trend that has been growing for, well, since the model T, You're in the minority, and fortunately only the sporty cars really come with the low profile tires, the base impreza has much taller tires than it's STi counterpart.

 

Suspensions have come a long way in the last 20 years to soften bumps that would have made older cars unbearable on current wheels and tires.

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Ben,

 

You are not gonna find any Pugs in a Junkyard around here in WI. You best bet is to look at the for sale section on here and have 4 of them shipped. I got mine from IA, shipping was about $50. I only paid $50 for the wheels ($100 total) plus $300 for powder coating Lol.

 

And no, you won't have to lift the car any if you stick with anything under 25" O.D - but you could fit 28"s in there if you wanted to hack the hell outta both the front and rear fender arches :-p

 

One tip on buying pug steels. Don't buy ones from a Peugeot 504. The steels have a strange center and most shops can't balance them. Also there is another pug steel that is 14.5 - you will not be able to find a tire for that here in the states. Make sure the rims are off a 505.

 

Hope this helps.

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Must've missed the rest of the word... city corrected :headbang:

 

I'll keep my eye out for pugs, might be easier than finding decent 13's. I do like my wheels though.

 

Wouldn't mind cutting the fenders and making some flares or something - maybe like the ones on this 2002 I saw after Rockerbox:

IMG_1165.jpg

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Yeah saw those - would be perfect if it wasn't for the price. I can't do $450 for the set, unless maybe I could use the tires and those seem big if they rub on a 4" lift...

 

I do like the split-spoke design though

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Cheap as it can get - maybe $100-200 w/out tires, shipped. Realistic?

 

Thanks for the help!

 

You could also go to a Junkyard (Auto Al's out on 00 aka old 45) and get some Chevy 6 lugs and redrill them. Some more options.

 

And yes, finding some pugs for $100-$200 shipped isn't something rare. They pop up on here :)

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I looked for Pugs. and looked and looked.

I hated the redrilled wheel option...so I spent about $100 on machine work for all 4 hubs, and got some old 6 lug Isuzu 14s for $50. they do stick out a bit more, but I'm not afraid of the sawzall:rolleyes: so they fit great with 195x75-14 BFG ATs

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Don't let these jokers fool you. Yes, 13" tires are obsolete. Finding quality tires in the premium 185/70/13 size is neigh impossible. But, look at all the 13" sizes and you'll see that there are a few good options in the 205/60/13 size (My yokohamas are in this size).

 

I just put some really (IMHO) nice Kumho Solus KR21 tires in 175/70/13 and have been very impressed overall.

 

Bigger wheels will open up more options tire wise, but will also increase your unsprung and rotational inertia, decreasing acceleration, mileage and ride comfort. Enkei wheels weigh 8 lbs per wheel and my Kumhos weighed 20 lbs (IIRC), so 28lbs overall is not bad. Plus, sidewall is sexy! :lol:

 

I just received the Tire Rack's winter mailing and they had some very highly rated Continental winter tires in 13" sizes suitable for vintage Subarus. For $55 each, no less. You could probably use that price as leverage on your local tire place and get them mounted and out the door for less than $275.

Edited by carfreak85
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you definitely can feel that there's more unsprung weight. but I can still drive like a maniac pretty well even over some gnarly washboards and/or washouts. the speedometer's off, and my seat of the pants dyno says I lost some horsepower (as if I'm passing anybody anyway:burnout:, and I haven't calculated the actual fuel mileage yet (I est. 25 or so), but still... I can go get a tire/wheel pretty much anywhere I want, whenever I may need it. that counts for a lot!

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Thought about going for those Pugs... but I have some life left in my tires and may just wait around for some split-spokes instead (I like the look of them more)

 

Just keep in mind, with the Split-spokes being 15" - you are going to have less tire to protect the wheel if you are to drive anyhwere offroad. the biggest tire you could fit without a lift and chopping the mad outta your fenders would be about a 25" o.d

 

But I too like the Split-spoke wheels! Flat spokes look cool as well.

 

Cheers and have hunting!

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Sucks about split-spokes only being 15's, I probably don't want to go that big. I guess I'll see how the current tires handle snow etc. before making a decision. The deep dish/offset on my 13's is actually pretty cool looking... so if a less aggressive tire works just as well for my use I'll probably end up getting one of the Tire Rack tires

 

Plus, 13's are cheap as hell!:headbang:

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  • 1 month later...
Just keep in mind, with the Split-spokes being 15" ... the biggest tire you could fit without a lift and chopping the mad outta your fenders would be about a 25"...

 

Please excuse me if this sound as a Dumb Question, but Livin' in Central America does not Help me to Understand the Meaning of 25" or 27" Tires...

 

 

I only Understand measurements like: 205/60 R 13 (The Tires on my -crashed- ER27 Wagon) you Know, when:

  • 205 = Overall Width, from one Side Lip to the Another side lip (The Part that Touches the Rim)
  • 60 = Percentage of that Width Taken to make the Sidewall (Tall)
  • R 13 = Obviously: the Rim Size in inches...

So, 25" or 27" Equals to... ??? :confused:

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