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Tires, Wheels, and the 1996 Saab SE Turbo Posted by juanm [Email]  (#201) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from juanm) on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:05:12
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A couple of weeks ago I had bought two new tires for the front of the car at our local mechanic's garage.
Last week, after my son's trip to New York we noticed that that driver's side tire was losing air. Our local guy was on vacation for a week and his shop was closed. So I stopped at the local PepBoys (good experience) to have the tire fixed. PepBoys showed me that the alloy wheel had a small crack in it and that was why it was losing air. PepBoys were very competent and I was glad I stopped there.
So today, I went to Standard Auto Wrecking in Worcester, MA to get one Saab 16-inch "3-hole" alloy wheel after talking to them on the phone. Great experience, great place. Nice people. I highly recommend them.
I had searched all over New England on Craig's List, on eBay, on the web and at several local salvage yards and either I couldn't find any, or I had to buy two or four not just one and in one case somebody was offering some that were painted black which I didn't want. I even explored was seemingly great deals to buy four other 16-inch Saab wheels. I know I could have had the wheel repaired but I decided I would save some money and buy only one.
I got the wheel for $75 and it was in great shape and definitely in better shape than the others on the car. Standard Auto even checked it on their machines to check to see if it was round and balanced.
I brought it home and figured I'd have it put on the car tomorrow.
So, I got home and when to the gas station down the street to add some air to the tire on the 1996 Saab. As I was doing this I noticed and was amazed that the driver's side front tire seemed to take up a lot of space in the wheel well. I was surprised that the Saab would have the tire so close to everything. I then wondered a moment or two. I checked the other side. It also seemed to be tight or at least in very cramped quarters in the wheel well.
The original tires on the 1997 Saab 900SE Turbo were Michelin Riken Raptor 205 / ZR50 /16 (or at least that was what was on the car when I got it). The owners manual also notes that 205/50/16 are the size for the Saab model.
So as I am putting the air in these two-week old tires I looked at the sidewall and read the size. My garage put on 205/60/16, NOT 205/50/16.
I checked on the stats for the two sizes:
the 205/60/16 tires are 25.69 inches high
the 205/50/16 tires are 24.07 inches high
that's a 1.57 inch difference!!! - essentially 3/4 inch all around the tire. No wonder the tire seemed to be tightly fit in the wheel well.
My immediate thought is that Monday morning these go back to the garage where I bought them for a full refund or at the very least, new correctly fitted tires.
Whadaya think? Thoughts?
Thanks
, Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:05:12 <-- Viewing This Message
, Sat, 31 Jul 2010 16:55:58
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