Trivia Question 11 - Tires

[Jason Edge]

1.  Name the tire manufactures that provided tires for 1963/64 Cadillacs?  
2.  What was the standard tire for the 1963/64 Cadillacs?
3 . What was the optional tire for the 1963/64 Cadillacs?
4.  For which Cadillacs was the optional tire recommended?

Answer all 4 and you get the Cigar!

[29crik3qhrn62]

Different sway bar?  Thicker for sure.

[Jason Edge]

No, its not the sway bar.
Think of an new deVille Convertible with its standard 8.0x15 blackwall tire, and a new Eldorado, with its 8.2x15 whitewall, just off the assembly line, sitting side by side, and you are writing specs for the Dealer Data Book, Spec Manual etc.  What "spec" would you expect to be different.
Hint: What does 8.0 and 8.2 actually mean? And... what does that almost always affect? Perhaps think of a car with 215 radials verse 235 radials. What is one significant difference if were looking the tire specs? Same related spec with the bias ply tires.

[1bt7pektvt387]

Is it the series 62 convertible due to its increased weight?

[Jason Edge]

No, directly related to difference in standard tires.

[Jason Edge]

Think of it this way. If you had car A and car B, and they were equal in every way, spec wise, but car A comes standard with Bigger tires, and car B comes standard with Smaller tires, what spec do you think this would affect if you had your measuring tape in your hand? I am specifically looking for one spec, but there are actually 2 listed in the data book which this affects.

[Jason Edge]

Nope...

[Jason Edge]

Nope...
Think of a car spec that changes when you put BIG tires on it. I think I will literally have to answer the question if I give more details! LOL

[2o93f8rdftyzj]

The speedometer drive gear in the gearbox would need to be changed to obtain a correct speed reading.

[Jason Edge]

Good guess, and would technically affect speedo a tad, but not the answer.

[Jason Edge]

Bingo, Bingo, Bingo!!! I’ll post Specs and more details later!

[Jason Edge]

Congrats to Tony who gets a Cigar for answering the follow-up tire related questions:

Since the Eldorado comes standard with the 8.2x15 whitewall tire while the series 62, deVilles and Fleetwood 60 Special come standard with the 8.0x15 blackwall tire, what other body style spec would this affect? In other words .... what non-tire spec would be different on the Eldorado vs the Series 62, de Villes and Fleetwood 60 Special, due to difference in standard tires?

The answer was.... Road Clearance ... or as Tony put it "raising the car a bit". 
- Since the Eldorado came standard with the bigger 8.2x15 tire, it has more road clearance than the deVilles, Series 62, and Fleetwood 60 Special body styles.

Per the 1963 Dealer Data Book page 90, and the 1964 Dealer Data Book (page 94), the Eldorado had 5.4" road clearance, while the Series 62/deVille convertible only had 5.2, and the other Series 62, deVilles and Fleetwood 60 Special had 5.3. And, it also affected height. While the 1963 Series 62 Convertible and 1964 deVille Convertible had a height of 55.6", the Eldorado had height of 55.8".

So, the Eldorado was basically 0.2" taller than the Series 62/deVille convertible in both ground clearance and overall height. The key here is the fact that specs are stated based on standard equipment and the Eldorado came standard with a bigger (i.e. taller) tire! So up goes the tire, up goes the tire!

[Jason Edge]

By Golly, Tony is on an Uptick! Good to see you rebound from the TERMISTAT FIASCO!