Add 3/8' wheel spacers to front and adjust the steering stop if necessary.  $25 fix.

What size? Where do they rub? And x2 on what Wolfie said.

I have new Pirelli,s all round.  205 /50 / 15 on front and 225 / 50 / 15 on the rear.

the 25 year old tires of the same size didn't,t rub.  I should have asked before I

bought them on the web.  Any site where I can see the right ones?  Who makes the

best tires for wide bodies?

Lowered? Picture!

What size were on it before?

There are variances in physical dimensions between models and brands with the same stated tire size. So yes, if space is at a premium on the outer fender you either need good measurements and the actual physical size listed on the manufacturers site/catalog, or simply get a smaller tire. 205s are already about as wide as I would personally go on a 6" rim. If it's rubbing instead on the inside, but you still have some breathing room on the outside, then some wheel spacers could work.

I think this is a question for Troy, king of the wide body tire and wheel dept.

I think you need some wider wheels, with less offset.  Personally, I wouldn't go wider than a 205/50-15 on a six inch wheel. 225/50s are too wide.

How close are the tires to the fenders?

i was mistaken my wheels are 8" wide not 6" as I mistakenly stated earlier.  I have

only about 3/4" of clearance front and back.  It only barely rubs in the front on

a hard turn.  I,m not sure why the previous owner put bigger tires in the back.

what I want to know is what is the best size all season tires and who makes them.

thanks to you all for your input.

If only hard turn then check for the steering stops - they might not even be present or they can be adjusted limiting turning radius.  It's a simple bolt (might have been greased or had a plastic cap on it at one time.

8" wheels on the front are too much for 2 reasons- any wider than is needed for optimum handling makes the car harder to steer (and is harder on parts, as the VW suspension wasn't designed with such heavy loads in mind) and, as you're finding out, there just isn't enough room inside the wheelwells for such a big rim (and matching tire) to fit from lock to lock. You say there were 205/50's on the front before? That's a real stretch on an 8" rim, as tire industry info states 7 1/2" is the widest that tire should be mounted on. Are you sure you're measuring the rim properly- it's from the inside surfaces of where the tire beads mount that the width is measured from, not the overall dimension of the wheel.

That said, per the issue of the new shoes not fitting, tires the same size will vary a little bit from different manufacturers, but not that much. Unless the old ones just fit by a hair, the new ones shouldn't be causing problems. Where (and when) exactly are they rubbing? Are they hitting the fender? headlight bucket? the pan/ inner footwell area at full turn? As already mentioned, spacers are one cure, as is adjusting the steering stops, but you need to pinpoint the problem. Al  

PS- As for recommending a tire brand/model, that's a whole 'nother topic (and week or 2 of discussion) altogether!

Terry:

I used to run 6" wide front rims and 7" wide rear rims.

Tires were 205/50/16 front and 225/50/16 rear, all mounted on very light original Fuchs rims.

I had a front rubbing issue to start, but adjusted the steering stops at the Pitman arm and the rubbing stopped.  That is probably what YOU need to do, too.

As stated, 6"-7" wide on the front is about as wide as you might want to go.  8" on the back is fine, as long as the wheels themselves don't weigh more than 15 pounds or so.  Beyond that, unless you're running something larger than 2 liters on the engine size, it'll take a bit of HP to push those big tires around and you may, with a smaller engine, be seeing a performance shortage.

I'm hoping that you are measuring from tire bead seat area to tire bead seat area across the rim, and not to the outside edges of the lips to get your widths.

Gordon has a very good combo.  You could go a bit wider, with 7" in the front and 8" in the rear.

205s in the front and 225s in the rear just about perfect for a wide body.  Anything wider than a 205 in the front would probably make the steering quite heavy.

When looking at tires, try to get the same brand and model for both fronts and rears.

I could only find one tire brand/model (except for expensive track/street tires) in both 205 and 225 sizes:

Dumho Ecsta AST (KU25)

Another choice would be Yokohama S Drives in a 195/50 front and 205/55 rear.

My Speedie came with 8 inch rims front and back with 225s and 245s respectively.  It was too much tire for that little shortened chassis. It also had a turning radius of a criuse ship before some adjustment. Play with the steering stops first and see what you can get before spending any money.  That said I now have 5.5 inch rims with 205s on them and it seems fine.

Adjusting your steering stops is a good solution if you're rubbing on the inside of the wheel well when making a full-lock turn.  Be warned, though, it does increase your turning circle.....sometimes a lot.