Hello
I have a 51 ford f100 it has the 2nd set of tires on it. I want to go radials but have the look but a better ride. I was going to put them on the old wheels but my guy who mounts tires said that if I go radials on the rims I have they could split becouse of the different pressure the radials put on the rims. I checked into rims at stockton wheel. They said alot of people go with the 15in wheel over the 16 that I have. Does anyone know where I can check other prices on wheels. I am in the beginning stages of my truck and my tires are dry rotted but I want to drive it until the last day when I have to disassemble it.

 

There seems to be disagreement on whether radials add strain, or in truth reduce strain, on stock wheels. There was a good discussion of this over on the Vintage Truck web site (www.vintagetruckmagazine.com) about a year ago. The thread is in the General Suggestions area entitled Bias-Belted vs. Radial Tires. My 2 cents was that there were point/counter point articles in the Early Ford V8 Club magazine a while back on the subject. The tire experts who were quoted said that radials reduce stress on old wheels because lateral forces and braking forces are absorbed in the tires' sidewalls and not transmitted to the rims. On the other side of the arguement, somebody from Stockton Wheel made the arguement you heard. If you're willing to buy new wheels then I guess it's not an issue. But you might check with Coker Tire and maybe get a third opinion since they sell both wheels and tires. Unless you're a real cynic and think they'll want to sell you both.

 

Thanks for the info. I do not want to buy new rims because the tire price is already pretty high but I wanted radials for the ride. I will check with Coker and decide the way to go. Is Coker where you buy tires. Would radials give me a much better ride????

 

If all you're buying is tires, I'd think you could get them about anywhere in sizes to fit your truck. If you want specialty tires, Coker is a good bet (www.cokertire.com). I also like Universal Tire for my trucks (www.universaltire.com). They sell STA truck tires that are US made. I'll leave it to others to advise on radial vs. bias ride on old trucks, but to my understanding radials offer a better ride and track better.

 

I want the original skinny look of a tire. I am trying to keep it looking original. At first my plans were to paint it flat black nice wheels and small block it. Then I started looking at it and decided the overal condition of the cab and frame were great interior was great and the inside would not need paint. So I am changing the rear end and lowering it,keeping the flat head and enjoying it.

 

On my 51 I bought new wheels and tire's. The original wheels and tire's that was on the truck it road real ruff and the truck road walked to. I put a 15x8 wheel on all 4 corners and I'm running 235/60/15 on the front and 255/60/15 on the rear. It made all the difference in the world. It still has the old truck feel when you run over some bumps, but as far as running on the road it drive's and steer's great. All the road walking went away. It feels more stable at 60 mph. The tire's I bought where around $70 to $75 dallor's each. The wheel's where another story.My dad has 15x7 on his and running a 235/70/15 on his 46 Ford and they don't look to wide on it if that is what your worried about. And it steer's great and ride's good to.

Scott B.
1951 F1
239 Flathead V8 3sp on the tree

 

Hey Ron,
I see you are from Lima, Ohio. How far are you from Wheelersburg, Ohio. They have a Great car and truck show the 3rd Sat. of each month starting in April or May. I've had my truck there a few time's. There's never any F1's there. You should try to come to one. If your interested I'll get you the dates on it.

Scott B.
1951 F1
239 Flathead V8, 3sp on the tree

 

I,mnot sure where that is. I need to put another rearend under my truck. It has pulling ability but not alot of speed. I am in the process of fixing it. I see you converted your truck to 12volt how hard was that. I need to do it also. Is your truck green I could not really tell from the pics.

 

Ron,

I have a '54 F-100. I have the original 16" rims. When I got the truck back from teh body shop I wanted to get radials but wanted the look of bias plies. The local store of a national chain would not put radials on my rims as their were designed for bias plies with tubes. I went to my local mechanic, 3 brothers continuing thier Dad's business. The eldest one, who loves my truck, said you certainly can put radials on my rims as long they are not too rusted. He picked out a black wall tire that was not too wide and looked a lot like a bias ply. Check my gallery to look at my tires.

The ride? like day and night! I go over RR Tracks better than my wife's mini van! You need to keep the fronts well inflated to it is easier to turn the wheels.

 

The 12 volt conversion was pretty easy really. You need a 12 regulator, and coil, and a ballest resister, and battery of course. I ran my gen. for a mouth or so and it still 6 volt but it wouldn't keep my battery up at night so I had it changed to 12v to. My local Alter/Gen shop did it for $30 dollars. I still need to do the gauges and my heater. You can put reducer's on them so they will work right and change all your running lights to. Other than that it is pretty easy job.

Scott B.
1951 F1
239 Flathead V8 3 on the tree

 

I just read a good exchange about use of radials versus bias ply tires on stock wheels over on the Early Ford V8 Club site. Owners there have experienced flex in the wheels on cars which cause hub caps to move on the wheel. Go to http://www.efv8.org/dcforum/DCForumID6/6478.html.