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Has anyone found at least a 30" dia tire to fit
on a 15" rim? Also need to keep tread width
under 6". Since I need tires anyway I'm going
to try and get the largest tire possible so that
I, hopefully, can get decent highway speed without
changeing the rear end.

A 265/75R15 tire will give you a tire height of 30.6 inches

Ooooops!!! That will also give you a tread width of 8.2 inches. To get a 6" tread width you have to go all the way down to a 205/75R15 27.3 heightand 5.9 wide or a 215/75R15 at 27.9 height and 6.1 wide, and those will definatly not help with you gear ratio problem

I have BF Goodrich 235-70/15s on my 55 1st suburban, and don't have any trouble with the tires hitting anything.

The fronts did just touch on the inside behind the axle, but when I converted to disk brakes they moved outside just enough to stop that.

I think these are only 28.5 tall, but the 8-inch width isn't a problem, so you might be able to use the same width with a taller aspect ratio and be okay?

Hope this helps...

I'm running 255 15s on the rear of my '40 1/2 ton.
They sometimes scuffs slightly against the bed if one tire is lifted so the whole thing tilts especially when carrying a load. The tires are about perfectly centered in the well. I plan to move to the next size narrower when I replace them.

I did some research before I bought mine; I wanted the tallest/narrowest 15" radial I could find that looked good too. I have been very happy with these: Tall tires . Some tire shops won't want to order these for you, but any of them can. I found a tire shop manager that happen to like what I was trying to accomplish. They are very nice tires and should last a long time being an 8 ply LT. The worst thing about them is that they have "Yokohama" on the side walls. But they are black-wall and not too noticable. Check out the dimensions... Hope this helps.

I'll give an enthusiastic 2nd to those 700R15LT Yokohamas, Russ - they look good, raised my 58 about 2" [gonna take a while to learn to quit trippin on the door step!] - made it like power steering compared to the old passenger radials - the narrow tread reduces rolling resistance too - trucks were meant to have truck tires!! I got the ribs on the front, lugs on back [it is a work truck]

Bill

Only problem is those are 8 ply tires, he has a 1/2 ton truck, according to his profile. They will work, but the ride will be rougher.

I was thinking along the same lines with my 55.1 with the 3.9 rear. I converted back to the 16 inch wheels, then I put on some Power King Bias tires that are 31 dia. I think they are 6,5 wide. They don't rub anywhere. I see some Power King snows that are 33 dia. and am thinking of getting them for the rear sometime. - Scott

I have looked into the springfield tire 33 X 91/2 X 15 around $120 nice and tall 33" a little wide 9 1/2" made for a light truck.I'm still looking around? good luck Bill

Thanks for all the input. I also got contacted
via e-mail and was told about Firestone and
B F Goodrich have a 820-15 with a overall
diameter of 29.56 and a tread width of 5.40.
The forum did it again. If anyone else is
interested, Firestone also has a 890-15 whitewall
with a 31" dia. and still has about a 5" tread
width.

I recently bought a couple of Yokohama radial truck tires (I think 10 ply?) . . . they were for a bigger truck - 10.00 x 20. This was the single best purchase I have made to improve ride, steering and smoothness. When I go to get new tires for the '49 - I will take a serious look at Yokohama tires, the quality is outstanding.

The eight ply Yokohama's I posted a link for and have on my 1/2 ton 52' ride very nice.
51Jimmy: If you wind up getting one of the tall BF Goodrich or Firestones that you mention...please post a picture sometime.
(oh yeah, there's pictures of my tires on the link below)

Good luck on that one! (I think that breaks down to about 155/125R15 -- just over 30" X 6")

Many of the tall tires produced by the big names show up overseas but don't seem to be available here. How about fitting some inexpensive 16" steel wheels? Your tall tire selection will increase dramatically.

Here are some web tools that I have found useful:

• DML Tire and Wheel Calculator
• Tire Calculator and Comparator or Miata Tire Size Calculator
• Raingler Metric Tire Conversion Calculator

Wheel swap thread.
Good luck!

I see that there are tall tires for 16" wheels. I have 2 questions:

1) Are any of these radials tubless ?

2) Are there any 16" x 5.5 or 6" rims with the 8 hole pattern available ? This would be a correct fit for the old AD 1 Tons, backspacing and all.

Yes. I'm running 7.50R16 on the back of my 52.

Yes. But the backspacing kills you. I have a pair off an early 90's model. Same bolt pattern, center hole, and you can even put your hubcap clips on. On the rears, the tire clears the frame by 3/4". On the front I would need 2" spacers. I have plans of putting in a late model differential under mine, with these rims I will have a little less than 1" clearance to the fenders.

Fred T,
what is the width of those rims? Because the modern Chevy rims of 7" widths have a backset of about 4 1/2" but I would think that a 5 1/2" rim would have a backset of around 3" ?

Just a comment on the above link. I have read that before. I think that the 1 Ton is a little tighter on space at the front. The factory rims have a backset of 3" and 4" would be out of the question. I read Bob Adler's column where he said the problem had already been solved, well maybe for the 3/4 Ton but not for the 1 Ton.

If I remember right, the rims are 6.5" wide. Setback is somewhere around 4.75". Total width of the mounted tire is 9". When I measured the differential I got it was 52" across the backing plates, and 72" total width with the 7.50R16 tires.

Wally/Montana found that some Dodge rims had the correct bolt pattern and center. I'm thinking his were actually made for a trailer, which made hubcaps unusable, my reason for sticking with the GM wheels. The inside of the rim center was the same size.