I went shopping for new tires for my 145S and was told that they don't make 15" tires to fit on 4.5" wide rims, the smallest they make is a 5" wide which would squeeze on but not be a great fit. Is there another Volvo rim which will fit my car which has a wider rim?? I would hate to have to shell out for aftermarket rims. Thanks, Keith

The 142E and the station wagon (most of them in the USA) had 5" wheels.

The 164 from 1971 forward had 5.5" wheels with 40 MM offset. In 1975 they went to a 25 MM offset, making them look deeper. Very close to the 240-specs.

Not sure what 164s had before '71 - I assume they were 5".

BTW, the Volvo repair manual, in the specs, has 165 S 15, 165 SR 15, or 6.85-15 size wheels for both 4.5" and 5" wheels.

Were I you, I'd go find a tire dealer that knows what the hell they are talking about. Even though the proper tire size did get hard to find in the mid-late 80s, they seen pretty common and reasonably priced now. You need a 165/80-15. There are litterally millions of old Volkswagons, Saabs, and Volvos that use that size and it shouldn't be hard to find.

Alternatively, you could go with just about any 240 wheels...try them on for clearance before you buy. But they do offer a nicer selection of sizes depending on what you want...from cheapo common 14" steel wheels to spiffy sporty alloy turbo wheels....and a few in between.

Good luck!

-Matt B

71 145

65 1800

other junk

Keith: You might have a problem. Most Volvos (yours included) use a 5 on 4.25" bolt pattern which is pretty much unique to Volvos. The exceptions are a 5 on 4.5" for the 122 and 1800, a 4 on 4.25" for the 850 and a 4 on 4.5" of the 40 series. The problem is two-fold. The later cars that will have a rim to fit yours are generally 14" diameter, especially the 240 series which should be the closest match. The other issue is that you have to watch the offset of the wheel to make sure that the new wheels don't contact the fender of your ride, or otherwise play hell with the suspension. The offset for your car is 20-35mm positive. For a 240 series it's 20mm positive and the 700/900 series carries a 25mm positive offset. You might have to be content with a smaller wheel or give up on trying to fit a new tire on old wheel technology and hit the local Tyres-R-Us. Hope this helps.