I haven't been on here for ages but I am looking for tire help as I can't be the only one in this situation. I have pretty much brought back a 1976 F250 Super Cab and I just love the quirkiness of the beast. I have known the trucks history since it was new and it always was used as a race car hauler and is in very decent condition. At one point it was sorta hot rodded as the original owners used it to haul a late 50's T-Bird Altered with it, so they raked the truck pretty hard with bent front I beams and a 2 inch drop on the rear springs. I took it back to close to stock, but I want to get it back to its hot rod look. I am also taking it a bit further and for the first time in its life, its actually going to be the race vehicle. My goal is to get it into the 14's and still keep it drivable as I want to take it on a Drag Week type of event. Trying to give it the whole mid 80's resto mod look with full chrome, new Wimbledon White paint and cool wheels and tires.

The motor is a blueprinted 460 with a bit of a hotter cam (maybe an RV type or very mild street cam) that gives it a lope, breathed on heads and Hooker long tubes into a 2.5" exhaust. I am adding all kinds of bits and pieces to the motor to try and get the HP up to as close to 400 as I can without tearing it apart. Going dual 3" exhaust, new intake, bigger carb, tweaked distributor, cold air intake box, etc... lots of hot rodding stuff. I am going back to my youth with this. Going to add some suspension pieces as well, to keep things under control and the truck handling well.

Just wanted to give you guys the background of what I am looking to do. Anyhow, I want to go with the Ion 171 style wheels in a 16x8 in front and a 16x10 in the rear to sort of match the 16.5x6 front and 16.5x10 rears it presently has. This is where I am having an issue. BF Goodrich used to make a Radial TA in a 285x60x16 size and Goodyear had a very similar tire, both street performance. Now they both seem to be discontinued. Anyone know of a tire that is around 30 inches tall, somewhat sporty and will work on a 16x10 rim? I have been scouring the internet, but I can't be the only one looking for a tire like this. I hate the look of an 18 or 20 wheel with a rubber band around the outside and the look just doesn't suit the truck and I need some sidewall to wrinkle for grip at the track. Just a shot of how the truck looks at present. Any ideas on tires???

 

Can’t help much on tires but you have a cool truck.

 

Since I posted this, I found the tires. Hoosier has a Pro Street tire that will work and I even found a picture of it on the wheels I want to use. Its almost like its preordained.

 

Coker seems to have a number of options that might suit your needs. Pricey though. The 16" wheel seems to be a somewhat limiting factor. I saw more options for 15s and 17s.

 

Now I need to determine if I keep the original Ford Cap on the back or save the weight. It always had the cap, so I am conflicted. Here is an original shot of the truck doing what it did best.

 

The cap can’t add that much. 200#? Max. What are you racing?

 

Just myself. I am not competing with the truck, just going to take it to the drag strip a few times and then do a drag and drive event with the truck when I get it all sorted out and not be embarassing to take on track. What's really cool about the truck, is the back slider has decals from the 1978 Winternationals on the window and the cap has decals inside it, from SCCA Pro weekends and CASC weekends when it used to tow a Formula Atlantic car and then my race cars. When we had all three cars out, I needed this truck to tow one, my Explorer towed another and my buddies F150 towed the third. Busy days, LOL.

 

Neat truck! What gear do you have in it, and is it a trac lok/ locker? Even if you just race it a few times, with 400+ hp on tap you are more than likely to roast the hides off it here and there, and it just looks cooler with both of them spinning. C6? Might take a look at a different converter. Of every automatic I have ever messed with, a proper converter has been the piece that brings everything else together.

 

I am not certain of the gear. I think somewhere around a 4.30:1 ratio. Truck turns 2,800 rpm at 60 mph with the 33" tall rear tires right now. It has the huge Dana rear end and the diff is an open one. I agree that a locker would be a better rear, but the truck is my 4th toy and I am trying to get where I want to go without spending huge bucks on it. With the other 3 race cars and my Jag XJR, my beloved will kill me if I drop a lot of coin on this for a vehicle that I barely drive. It only has 72,000 original miles. I will see if it hoses the rear tire first on a prepped surface. If it does, then I will need to rethink things.

Also, toying with the idea of adding nitrous as well, but want to see how it works without the power adders first.

 

Keep the canopy, especially since it adds provenance and history to the truck. Plus, you're going to want the weight over the rear axle to help with traction. And it adds to the cool factor at the track, having a pickup with a canopy doing 14's. You should have no trouble finding 400 horses out of a 460.

 

I hope so. I am also pulling the 4 ton steel bumper off the back and putting a roll panel back there. I hate the bumper's looks and keeping the canopy it may help me with the weight. distribution. Using the drag calculator kind of thing, assuming I can get the truck to about 4,800 lbs, I have to make 320 engine horsepower to get it into the 14's. Should be doable if all goes well.

 

Started the heavy work this past weekend. Pulled the front off the engine and found some interesting things. First, the almost 50 year old clutch fan, still works perfectly. Who'd a thunk it. Secondly, the crank snout pulley bolt was torqued to about 15 ft pounds, yikes. Everything else in great shape and as the truck is a BC truck, nothing is rusted underhood, just oily as crap. Even the rubber in the damper is in perfect condition. looks better than the stuff on my 2010 Explorer. Pulled the front cover off and the timing chain was super loose with at least 1.5 inches of freeplay on the slack side and a ton of wear on the sprockets. Turns out its an old Melling set from 45 years ago and the truck already had straight up timing, just the wear on the chain causing an issue. No biggie, just clean everything up and put it back together with the new Cloyes set. Also, the front main seal was hard as a rock and brittle. No wonder there was a front crank seal leak. Also, also, after years of only working on the race cars, everything is so simple, very robust (like made by a blacksmith robust) and seems like its agricultural. Everything weighs 10 pounds at least, lol. Odd in that after degreasing the front of the motor, its painted grey. I thought all Fords were painted blue. Maybe its from the shop that redid the motor 40 years ago, but there is no blue anywhere.

Next step will be to clean everything in the accessory drive, bolt it all back together and then move on to the top end of the motor. This is very fun and offering huge flashbacks to my youth. Enjoying things so far.