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I thought I had read all the relevant information on finding the right tires for my '87 245, but I still seem to have gotten burned.
I bought the car about 5 years ago, and replaced the tires with 4 Michelin Rainforce 185r14s. I've only put about 40k on the car, but one of the tires was badly worn, either from underinflation or because the car was out of alignment. (It's my wife's car. I noticed one day that one of the tires was badly worn, and when I checked the pressure, it was at 20lbs). The other three tires still had good tread on them.
I did all my research, and seeing that the Rainforce is no longer manufactured I settled on the Harmony (which Michelin website says resembles the Rainforce) and ordered two of them from Big O Tires, in a 195 75R14 size, which seemed to be the closest match to the 185r14s.
I arrived at the tire place, and they refused to install the two Harmony tires, because they did not match the size of my two Rainforce tires. However, they did have 4 Big O Aspen tires in stock in the 19575R14 size. I wasn't thrilled with buying a Big O brand tire, but the guy said they were made by Goodyear and were good tires. I also noticed that they had the 91T rating of my Rainforce tires. Not wanting to hassle with rescheduling, I agreed. After installing the tires, they also did an alignment. And just to complicate things, I had the wheels switched at the same time. I had a set of coronas that were on my 88 244 sedan that I am getting rid of, and I figured why not keeep the alloy wheels. I even checked to make sure that those wheels took the same size tire for the 245, and as far as I could determine, they did--that would have been the GL configuration.
Everything seemed fine until I got on the highway. First thing I noticed was that despite the alignment the car pulled to the right--not a lot, but enough. Next thing I noticed was that I felt like the car was slipping and sliding all over the road. Nothing I can really put my finger on, but definitely not like the smooth ride I had been used to. It reminded me of the feeling of driving the car when I used it to move across country and it was badly overloaded.
So now what do I do? I don't think the problem is with the wheels, as they drove beautifully on the sedan that they came off of. That leaves the tires. I want to take them back, and I know I'm going to get a fight. The question is, what do I replace them with. Far as I know, the 185r14s are only available in specialty tire that are quite expensive. Will the Michelin Harmony tires be any better than the Big O aspen tires that I bought? Is it size? My volvo mechanic said that it is probably a different sidewall--less sturdy. Any suggestions would be welcome. Thanks,
Steve Rappaport
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