RB - I'll have to get back with you on where I found the info I posted above about the tire use info as I was doing that search on my phone and didn't save it in a screenshot. I'll get back on that in the near future.
Otto - RBs '36 original stock 17" wheels had a tire mounting rim width of just 3.62" according to the
1936 Chevrolet Truck Data PDF (screenshot of tire/wheel data below).
At basically 3-5/8" width, they are significantly not nearly wide enough to properly support a radial with a minimum wheel width requirement of 5"s.
In RBs case, I think the only way he is going to get a radial tire like the Diamondback on his truck is to invest in some very pricey and probably custom made wheels, to keep it with the 17" diameter, or reduce the wheel diameter to 15" to find some currently available 5" wide reproduction artillery rims (still pricey) to give his truck the safety of a modern wheel/tire combo for sustained regular highway driving. Note that there may be 16" artillery wheels available, but I haven't actually seen those yet to state for a fact they exist.
I did see the 15" x 5" artillery wheels and cango back and look up that source and provide a link if RB would like it.
