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| | | | Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 360 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 360 | Read a few things on this both for and against. Has anyone heard or had negative experience putting modern radials on 40s/50s rims? Read that the beads won’t seat, constant leaks, tire instabilities ect. Wanted to use the 16” six lugs I have but if there are tire issues, especially with highway speeds around here, modern rims might be a necessity. Thanks for your input.
Ed
"it's only old if you can't find a use for it; otherwise it's cool and i'll use it."
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,440 Bolter | | Bolter Joined: Apr 2005 Posts: 7,440 | As long as you use radial rated tubes you should be fine. I would not even think about tubeless.
Martin
'62 Chevy C-10 Stepside Shortbed (Restomod in progress)
'47 Chevy 3100 5 Window (long term project)
‘65 Chevy Biscayne (Emily)
‘39 Dodge Business Coupe (Clarence)
“I fought the law and the law won" now I are a retired one!
Support those brave men/women who stand the "Thin Blue Line"! Hug a cop!
USAF 1965-1969 Weather Observation Tech (I got paid to look at the clouds)
| | | | | Joined: Sep 2011 Posts: 1,451 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Sep 2011 Posts: 1,451 | I've been running tubeless radial tires on 1960 wheels for the last 30 plus years with no issues .
(Several sets of tires)
BC
1960 Chevy C10 driver 261 T5 4.10 dana 44 power loc
1949 GMC 250 project in waiting
1960 C60 pasture art
Retired GM dealer tech. 1980 - 2022
| | | | | Joined: Mar 2014 Posts: 4,473 Moderator, Electrical Bay | | Moderator, Electrical Bay Joined: Mar 2014 Posts: 4,473 | I've had both non-radial and radial tubeless tires since 1976 on these wheels with no problems at all. If tubeless, make absolutely certain of 2 things: 1. use the right size filler stem. There are different sizes. 2. DO NOT TRY TO RUN WIDE TIRES ON THOSE RIMS. The 6 lug 16 inch rims were thin. We have no idea what year wheels you have, but originally the 6 lug 16 inch wheels were only 4 inches wide. Then sometime in 1951 the width was increased to 4.5". My guess is what you need will be 215 width and nothing wider. Good luck.
~ Jon
1952 1/2 ton with 1959 235 | T5 with 3.07 rear end
| | | | | Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,038 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,038 | When I drove my stock '51 1/2 ton on Coker radials (6.00x16) with appropriate tubes to the 2015 Stovebolt reunion I ran into a problem. Even though I had put a couple thousand miles on the tires over a couple of years, I ended up with three flat tires on my 2500 mile round trip. Turned out the radials have an aluminized identification sticker on the inside. This rubbed against the tubes until they leaked, possibly enhanced by the heat of all day driving, something I hadn't done before. My third flat tire was in Pratt, Kansas where a tire shop with experience with tubes showed me what the problem was. If you go this route with your tires, and I do think it is an excellent option, be sure to remove that sticker.
Kent
Last edited by Lightholder's Dad; 09/05/2021 11:29 PM.
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