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Hello, new here and not sure if this is the proper place to ask but I am having some trouble getting the proper Tires for my 1971 Econoline 1/2 ton Van (E100).
I thought that 205/75 R14 was the stock tire size but looking at the Van with that size they looks so small.
When I see pictures of this year van on the net the tires look so much larger and well they look good and the proper size.
Does anybody know the original tires size for this year Econoline, or perhaps a tire size that fits and looks good?
14" tires in any size are extremely rare these days. My 1991 BMW 318is uses 205/60x14's and there was like one BFG tire that I found and virtually nothing else.
You would have the choice of converting to 15" wheels and you could certainly fit a larger diameter tire on there. My old '73 E200 took something like 225/75x15's so the wheelwells can take a larger tire.
The bolt circle on those little half ton vans might be the car bolt circle (5 lugs on 4.5" instead of the van/truck standard of 5 lugs on 5.5") so make sure you know what you're looking for.
One other caution is to understand tire dates to make sure you don't buy tires that have been sitting somewhere for 10 years. Ideally you want tires made within the last year or two and I get nervous with 10 year old tires. I believe the date code is like wwyy with ww being the number of the week (1 to 52) and yy being the last 2 digits of the year.
Thanks for the replies, the picture of the Van that tabijan posted looks very close to what mine looks like with the 205/75 R14. I guess that these Vans came with some rather small tires right from the dealer. My speedometer seems to be accurate to within a few miles per hour.
I guess the pictures scattered around the Internet have had larger tires installed and I have come to like how they look much better then mine. I would love to know what size tires are on some of the pictures where the wheels don’t look too small. I could guess at the size and I know the wheelwell is rather large but I would not want to hinder the turning radius with a larger diameter as it already sucks.
I actually put a set of 255/70x15's on my '73 van because I had a full set of wheels and tires from a pickup truck I had sold. They hit the fenders a LOT but looked really cool. Even straight ahead hitting a bump would cause contact, and turning the wheel and going up a driveway got a hard hit. And being an E200, my van might have sat a bit higher than the E100.
I would guess something like a 225/70x15 might fit clean and 235/70x15 with a small amount of contact. The 255's were definitely too big but I had them....
If you can find a flatnose forum, I'm guessing you can find some more folks who are currently driving them. I owned mine in 1986 and have few brain cells left from back then.
The lower pic brings back memories. My '73 was a Turtle Top conversion (this pic is a different brand but the same idea).
Yea the turtle top Vans being back memories as my Dad had one and all the kids loved it. We would go camping in it every year and had the best time.
The 3/4 and 1 ton Vans came with larger tires:
P225/70R15
LT225/75R16
I don't quite know what the difference is between a 'P' tire and a 'LT' tires but these two sizes look much better then the tire that came with the 1/2 ton Vans.
Funny that you mentioned finding a forum for the 2nd gen Vans. there was a forum that I used once in a while but when I try going to the site it says the account is suspended. I can't seem to find out any information about the site. It had a lot of members and had many new posts daily so it rather confusing as to why it would be down.
I am guessing the oldies came with 225/75x15's, not 70's. 70's were muscle car tires in the day.
LT tires are for truck use and are heavier, ride harder. Vans rode on P rated car tires for a lot of years, including my current '02 E150 on 235/75x15's. Vans balanced the load very well between the axles and were not ultra heavy back in the day. Especially the unibody vans (which was everything except for '75-up Fords and '96-up GMC's).
If the original flatnoses had those tires, I'd guess that the 235/70x15's would be a good upsize. Again, the E100 may sit a bit lower than the E200 that I had. I would also stick with P rated tires unless you are gonna do a lot of towing or load carrying. The LT tires take a bunch more pressure and tend to make vans/trucks rattle like an old school bus.
My '73 flatnose E200 was a Turtle Top and my 2nd van, an '86 GMC G2500, was also a Turtle Top. Good concept but man were those conversions done with the tackiest materials and ugliest colors. Wood grain contact paper, etc. The tops would eventually sag in the middle and get cracks, which would saturate the headliner and grow mold....
Good luck with the van--I've had 5 full size vans starting with my flatnose.
ps--the vans in the pics look like something around 235/70x15". Watch your wheel offset. And I just realized that if you have the 5x5.5" bolt pattern you could use even recent (2006 and prior) E150 wheels if the offset was correct.
But something in my brain is saying they may have used the 4.5" bolt circle on the light vans--those E100's were really light by today's standards. Just don't get into an accident.
If you do get new tires and/or wheels, post a pic. I have a soft spot in my heart for the flatnose vans. All of them here in Michigan are gone to rust including mine.
I recently bought a '69 E300 Cargo van and I really like it. it needs new tires - so this thread is helpful. I want to keep the steel wheels it has - which I believe are 15". I'm thinking 225-75-15 seems like the best choice.
I recently bought a '69 E300 Cargo van and I really like it. it needs new tires - so this thread is helpful. I want to keep the steel wheels it has - which I believe are 15". I'm thinking 225-75-15 seems like the best choice.
Based on the OP's thread re the E100 and my experience with an E200, it seems like the 100 used 14" wheels and small tires; the 200 used 15" wheels and probably tires that were 215/75 or 225/75 although those were probably the day of "letter" designations like G78x15, etc. The E200 was set up for car-based tires because I remember mine well. I also know the E200 used 5-lub wheels with a 5.5" bolt circle.
I am guessing that the E300, being a one ton van, may have used 16" wheels (or the now-obsolete 16.5" wheels) and LT rated tires along with 8 lug wheels and possibly even a full floating rear axle. Check and see what tire and wheel size you currently have on the van and the lug nut count. If you have 16.5", tires are gonna be really hard to find but I would bet that some old F250/350 8 lug 16" wheels would fit and should not cost a lot of money. I am just guessing so don't spend any money until you verify.
I would do some Internet searches for either specifications for your year van or maybe even a repro of a factory brochure (which often listed the available tire sizes for each model). I know I have a 1978 Ford pickup brochure because I am nostalgic about my '78 F100 pickup.
Good luck. The information will definitely be somewhere on the Internet but I would do the same searches that you can do.
The E100 used E78x14 tires (probably 205/75 is the closest)
The E200 used G78x15 tires (probably 225/75 is the closest)
and the above had optional D rated (car rated were B's--B was 4 ply rated, C was 6 ply rated, and D was 8 ply rated)
Finally, the E300 did indeed use 16.5" wheels and truck type tires only.
06-13-2015, 05:35 PM
