Doc, I've got about 20 or so of the 16" wheels, some are 4" wide and some are 4.5" wide. Haven't dismounted all of them yet, but do you think those tire sizes would work ok on the 4" wheels as well? I'm sure I've got enough wheels to find 5 good ones that are 4.5" wide though, but just curious.
Thanks

 

All good, no worries - I did a ton of size hunting with discount tire's tool, and then when I found anything I liked I proceeded to look at 2 or 3 manufacturers and see what size rim they indicated as "acceptable".

All said and done, I wanted to preserve the original height and volume of wheel well fill (i.e. no dinky tires in a huge wheel well, and no monster tires where you have to drop the axle to get clear the well when changing the tire).

I never found the "perfect" fit to original in all three dimensions (rim size, width, height), so I opted to match 2 out of 3... 16" rim and 28.4" dia (same as original). that led me to 225/70/16 - which 3 manufacturers all suggest a minimum rim width of 5 if I remember correctly... Bought the Cokers rims that I posted above but have not yet pulled the trigger on rubber yet.

Using discounts tools on the size you have shows it was outside my search range - 30.39" dia, so it was not in my consideration... different strokes for different folks - and while your wheel wells seem a bit more full than I normally expect, it looks good... and now that I take a closer look man that is an amazing find, very very classy.


I am pretty laid back - and try to mind my P's and Q's when posting online cause some numbskull with a vehement passion will get all bent out of shape over some minute detail about what I said and turn it into a personal attack.

 

Here's one of the best calculators - but like discount's, you can put in invalid combinations and valid (but not manufactured) combinations. If it recognized and legit it will tell you the proper rim width, etc.

Tire Size Calculator - tire & wheel plus sizing

A decent second choice tire calculator:

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoTireMath.dos

jmadsen: Did you rob a bunch of dullies or something else for those 4" ?

doc: did you do anything about the speedo differences? calculator says your speedo should be off > 15%

From the calculator I would be a little (not much) worried about accidental dismounting em (bump a curb and the lip slip off the shoulder)... the rim called for with 215/85/16 is 5.5 - 7"

Ok steering back to the OP question... let us ask a question back at you - do you want as original as possible (and willing to pay a bit more for that), or do you want what looks good and cheap, or cheap and very very common, big fat low rider tires, tall strong waffle tires.
If you are changing rims, then it is best to define the tire and rim together...

Backspacing is also very important - buy a 14" wide rim with massive backspacing and you will be rubbing the frame while going straight :P
original backspacing was 0.620" (oh I can see numberdummy scathing me for posting unsupported details - I got those from another post here, a picture of a service manual... my point - be sure the backspacing is gonna work for you - both going straight and when you have the front wheel cranked all the way to the stops.

If cheap and very very common, I would go 235/70/15 and like I said the 15" outtie nub ribs - both of which are just like fleas at the yards I been at recently. Your speedo will be fairly off... The ratio of rubber to steel will look a little off, but I bet someone here has em and would share a pic (note what is in my pics is the PO's 15" spray painted silver with 205 up front and 215 in back - lol, sooo not stylin - don't look at my wheel pix, they are terrible)

 

Well you got my curiosity up and I went back up to my shop and made absolute sure that I definitely have a 4 1/2" bead width on those rims. As far as pushing the envelope and putting them on 4" bead width rims, that MIGHT be pushing it a little. But I'm definitely no tire expert. I snapped a couple pics of my spare (which I just bought about 2 months ago and have yet to mount). I took one shot as sort of a profile to show you how much "roll" the tire has back into the rim. The tread width itself looks to be about 6 1/4" to me. Maybe these pics will help you decide for yourself. I'd hate to tell you to go for it on a 4 inch rim and you have a problem.

 

Thanks for the compliment about my truck. I also agree that my tires do seem a tad more full than the originals. I just finally gave in and bought the closest tire I could find locally without paying Coker or Diamondback an arm and a leg for something even smaller like a 205 or 195.

 

I just double checked and I have 4" and 4.5" wheels, the first two 4" I got at swap meet, then a couple parts trucks, numerous scrap piles, odds and ends, just happened accross some of them, but mostly parts trucks.

Thanks for the calculator link, I'm a bit away from getting back to the F1 but when I do i'm going to spend an arm and a leg im sure for some wide whitewalls.

Doc, your tires and wheels look great but Whitewalls is the only thing I would change about it- Oh can I borrow your wallet while I change those to white walls... hahaha
but seriously they look good and when it comes down to it, Im sure I'll just be getting it on the road with whatever I can scrounge up.

I'm sure I have 5 4.5" wheels just need to dismount them and pick the best 5.

Cheers

Josh

 

Since you are on whitewalls I feel compelled to add on that... I seriously considered, and really really researched. One good note - Diamond takes new tires and put's white on em... so they ride like a new tire, and have modern performance and fail rates. Coker actually makes true white wall tires, white put in/on during the manufacturing process... but I have heard enough bad things about fail rates on these that while I bought the rims from em... don't think I will be buying tires.
Diamond has to shave off the sidewall to put the white on, voiding the mfg warranty so the only warranty you get is Diamond's ... premium price both those places want for 3" of white.

 

Yeah, but they sure look good...

 

The 2nd pic has the correct w/wall width, the 1st pic w/wall width was introduced in 1953.

Personally, I think w/wall tires on these trucks look out of place, because none came with w/walls originally. If someone wanted them, they had to buy them from a tire store because Ford didn't offer them as an option until 1956.

1951/52: During the Korean War, w/wall tires were not available...period, even for big buck cars like Rollers, Bentley's and Cadillac's. Only blackwall tires were available. Ditto for chrome, except on bumpers.

"Korean War" chrome, so called by enthusiasts because it wasn't chrome at all. Copper and chrome were in short supply, automakers were forced to plate nickel onto bare steel, sprayed clear nitrocellulose lacquer to protect it.

Within a short time, the lacquer turned brown, began to flake off...pitting began. Unknowing peeps used chrome polish, polished off the lacquer. Decent chrome has been difficult to find for 1951/52's ever since.

There are other sellers of wide whites besides Coker. Lucas Tires sells them, there are other suppliers listed in Hemmings Motor News.

 

I have to agree. My truck outlasted 2 farmers in the same family. And I'd imagine both of them would roll over in their grave if I put whitewalls on their truck. Don't get me wrong, IF my truck were perfectly restored, I would consider them, but I just like the original look of plain blackwalls.

Here's another option for you guys wanting radial tires with the older classic "plain jane" look. I bought these for my dad's Custom 50 car about a month ago from Diamondback. These are just a basic tire from Cooper that is specially prepared for Diamondback so that the whitewall can be added later. The sidewall is completely blank on one side (in anticipation of the whitewall process). My dad refused to put whitewalls on his car, so I found these and they look really nice and original. Ignore the wheel weights. I hadn't even had time to touch up the rims with paint.

 

I have a set of Dodge wheels that were on my truck when i bought it, They are 15" X 8" wide with a 4" backspace. They have the stainless trim rings with a plain center hub(does not have dodge ram logo).
I also have them listed in the classified section for sale if interested.

 

Oh Well, Original or not. this is my dream truck (color and all. but would have the front bumper black, and the ribbed trim rings, and cant tell if those hub caps are correct or not. otherwise "perfect"

 

Bill, I am very glad to hear someone else corroborate the "verbal tale" I have been told. My grandad (and his brother) bought 2 matching '46 back in the day new off the lot - almost impossible to get trucks, they were told they only got them because they were farmers. He claims that after WWII, for several years Ford put the surplus blackwall non directional tread on trucks - but that is all verbal with no pics or proof to back it up. Can you corroborate his rememberings, can any *cough* older folks corroborate ?
The tire style he claims was original off the dealer lot is this:
Firestone Military NDT - 600-16

 

brain 75: After WWII ended, surplus military tires flooded the market. Tire manufacturers bought 10's of 1000's, sold them to automakers and to the general public.

The civliian market was starving for tires, because none were available during WWII. Rubber came mainly from Malaysia, the Japanese shut off the supply when they captured Singapore.

February 6, 1942: The automakers shut down their assembly lines, then switched over to war production.

The War Production Board allowed automakers to begin assembling trucks for the civilian market in November 1944, but they didn't appear at dealers until July 1945...as 1946 models.

Older folks? How old would you like? I'm 67 ... but if I was young, wouldn't know 1/10 of what I know inre to auto history.

Doc: On your dad's 1950 Ford Custom Tudor Sedan, install the wheel weights on the inside of the wheels, so they won't "detract from the look."

My uncle bought a 1951 Custom Tudor brand new at Gossett-Ames Ford in Studio City CA, which PO'd my dad, cuz he was an Olds Dealer.

I was a PITA even back then. During the early 50's, my dad took me with him to the dealership on Saturdays, and many days during the summer months. I've been addicted to "old rolling piles of misery" ever since.

jmadsen: 6A-1130-A .. Hubcap has blue FORD block letters / Late 1947 & 1948 Ford Passenger Cars / 1948/52 F1.

BAAA-1130-A = 1953/56 F100 is almost the same hubcap, except the FORD block letters are red. 6A's are repro'd, BAAA's are not.

 

I agree. But unfortunately those rims have lived a hard life. I found them on craigslist a while back. We tried very hard to keep the weights on the inside only, but they just wouldn't balance. Beauty rings are always another option, but he likes the look.