The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Who makes the best black wall tires for my 49 Panel?

Hello Everyone,
I've noticed the trend lately for 47-53 Chevy trucks is to use white walls. While I have no problem with this, I would like to use black wall tires either radial or bias ply. What company can I trust?

Like you, I want to put radials on original 1939 15" artillery rims. My current bias ply tires are 7.00 x 15. American Classic carries radial black walls that look like bias ply. Lucas, Coker and others carry American Classic. They are expensive. Have any of you folks used American Classic?

Rick

I have used Cooper and Goodyear blackwall 16" LT radial tires, with and without tubes on 4.5" rim-width original wheels.

Rick,

Still awaiting confirmation but it appears American Classic has been sold to Classic Parts.

V/R
John

You can find 285/85R15 black walls many places for about $75 each. This is a close match to the original tire size.

But what company can I trust? For example, I've heard and read that Coker Tire Company has given folks quite a few problems with poor quality tires....? What are some other companies that I could shop from that y'all know of?

Just looked at the Lucas Tire website - WOW, nice looking tires BUT very expensive! Almost double the price.... :(

I think you need to double-check that size, 285mm is over 11 inches wide (compared to ~7-1/4 inches for a 7.00x15 tire). A 7 inch wide tire would be around 185 mm. I run LT265/75R16's on my F250 and they're definitely not pizza cutters. They'd look almost comical on an AD.

To the OP, Go to TireRack.com and browse the sizes available, If you look at the specs for a tire, it will tell you the diameter and overall width. Here's the specs for a 700-15: Diameter 29.18 Tread Width 5.38 Overall Width 7.35 Revolutions per mile 691.
Here's their listing of all 15 inch tires.

check with local tire shops where you can go back and bang on the counter if there's a problem
here's a size conversion list, 235/65R15 is the nearest equivalent to 700-15


Bill

I wasn't necessarily advising to buy from Tire Rack, but they are a good resource for info.
The best time to bang on the counter is to wait till the shop is full of customers. They tend to give in quicker to shut you up.

I appreciate the info guys, but some how this thread became about 15 inch tires. I'm trying to locate 16 inch tires (6.00) black walls to give my 49 Chevy Panel the authentic look - in either a radial or bias ply? I heard of Coker which would have been my first choice until I read some threads on Stovebolt that people have had bad luck with Coker tire. So I'm asking what other companies out there do y'all trust and deal with?

Sorry, we got sidetracked by the reply about 700-15 tires.

I just checked Summit Racing and they carry a couple of Kelsey brand tires in 600-16 as well as a bunch of Coker tires. I have no experience with either brand though. Sorry.