Hi all, first post here after many late nights sifting through all the good info here! I just acquired a 1949 3600 and will be doing the 16" wheel upgrade that's been discussed many times on here. The truck has modern 15", nondescript modern rims and 235R15 polyester radials on it now.
Plan A is the simplest: buy a set of 16" x 6.5" .5" offset Dexstar rims from eTrailer:
https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Tires-and-Wheels/Dexstar/AM20766.html#exp-productdetails=.questions and put on a set of either 215 or 235/85R16's on. This was the solution discussed in the 2015 thread here:
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1158249/1.htmlAccording to the Tire Calculator (
https://tiresize.com/calculator/), with the 215 rubber, I'll get a diameter (30.4") almost exactly the same as the original bias ply on the optional 17" wheels that you could buy in 1949. With the 235 rubber I get an extra inch of diameter (31.7" actually).
The goal for me is to get a bit more highway speed. The 235's should improve my speed for the same RPMs by 9.9%, while the 215's improve it over the existing tires by 5.2%. This is all to just tide me over until I get around to doing a ring and pinion swap in the rear end (if I can find the parts).
So two questions:
1. Anybody have rubbing or fit issues with the 235's? Is the truck still steerable or is that too much rubber on the road? Carl52 advised in this current thread that 16x8 would be too much, but I get the sense that 16x6 with 235's is ok:
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...-wheel-question-52-3100.html#Post13680332. Has anybody tried fitting 17" wheels on a 3600? With a tall radial that might be worth a fifth gear! :-)
Thanks for the help!
Pops