The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Tire Sourcing

Trying to get my '50 ready for the road; three of the four tires are sort of iffy (put new tires on it about 15 years ago before the project got pushed to the back burner, and they are dry-rotted). Looking to go original 600-16, bias ply, tube type. I can find tires from Coker, but my gosh, the price seems way too high. Does anyone out there know of a supplier that is more reasonable, or is that what I can expect to pay (north of $200 a copy)?

Not mine, but from a previous thread.
ike the looks of the 215/75/R16 tires on an AD truck. Fills the fender openings about right and the face is a bit wider than the factory 650/16's

Might try Nebraska Tire in Firth, NE.

Good luck.

John

Coker tires are absolute crap. I would only put them on a show car that never gets driven. They are made on 70 year old, worn out machinery that makes the tires nearly impossible to balance.

If you want whitewalls, purchase Diamondback radials. They're made to look like bias ply tires and cost about what Coker's crap sells for. By the way, Corky Coker honestly told me that if you drive your vehicle, buy Diamondbacks, not Cokers.

I purchased a set of Firestone All Season 215/70 R16 for $94 each on Amazon earlier this year. They have a nice flat sidewall without a lot of junk designs on it.

Otto, are you running the Firestones tubeless, or w/tubes? Reason I ask, are the OEM wheels capable of going tubeless?

Hi Jim,

Tubeless. I had new rims made for me by Wheelsmith.

16"x6" w/3.5" backspace. If I were to have them made again I'd have made them 16"x5" which would be closer to the original width of 4.5".

However, If you have good, straight rims, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to use tubeless tires. My '39 Packard runs tubeless radials on the original 16"x4" wheels without leaks or blowouts.

If you're worried about leaks, I know two people who have coated the inside of their original, two-piece, riveted rims with Flex Seal in order to run tubeless tires without losing air. It works very well.

I have the 600-16s bias on my 52, a little small, you may want to consider a little larger, not to large or it may make turning the steering wheel while stopped harder. Heard good things concerning radials on AD trucks.

Putting the Firestone radials on my truck made a night and day difference in handling and steering. Smooth and easy at any speed. Without power steering you want a narrower tread.

In regards to original rims being able to go tubeless, the answer is yes. I had a standard LT215/85/16 mounted on an original wheel for my spare. FYI - that is the closest size for a modern tire I could find to the old 650-16 - 4" . If you are going with black walled tires you can find a lot of deals. the minute you start searching for white walls get ready to open your pocket book. An alternative to Coker is performanceplustire.com. Another California company. They offer all the same tires as Coker at the same price but if you buy four they cover the cost of shipping whih can save you a couple hundred bucks. FYI - in 2016 a set of four FIRESTONE VINTAGE - VINTAGE BIAS PLY 23 650-16 - 4" WW cost me $903.75. I have a second project truck and I WILL NOT be paying that for tires again.

Another option if you want white walls. I have never used them. Port-A_Wall

https://www.amazon.com/PORT-WALL-Am...a1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

I am using Power King tires from Simple Tire. They are about $146 each. I use the 6.50-16’s, it improves your Highway speed slightly over 600-16. They are bias ply and look more like a truck tire should.

Greenie-reddy, I took your advice on the Power Kings. Got them headed my way; should be here by the end of the week. Hope they pan out well. I've got a set of tires with 0 miles on them on the wheels now, but dumb me let two of them go flat and sit there for no telling how long. The sidewalls look like Aunt Fannie's fanny and I don't dare put them on the road. You can bet your bippy that I won't let that happen again!

Sorry to be so long getting back, but the Power Kings came in, got them mounted (tubeless), and they look like they will be the cat's pajamas. I went with the 650-16 size. The ride is a little rough, but what the hey, this ain't a limo that I'm driving. Thanks to all you who gave input.

I assume you had the tires balanced, right?

Jack the truck up and spin each tire to see if it's round and that the rims not bent.

Mike B

I’m a new Stovebolt owner and in my search for tires this past week I ran across those Power Kings too. Unless you guys found a different 650 x 16 than I could find, those are trailer tires only. I know I’m the new guy, and I’m not knocking what any other owner is doing with their trucks, but just wondering. Myself, I wouldn’t put a set of these on a truck.

I but the bullet and ordered a set of the Coker Tornell Highway tires in a 650x16 with new tubes. I hated to spend that kind of money on a set of bias plys, but I wanted black walls and it sure seemed they were my only option unless I wanted to wait till December or later for the other Coker black walls to come back into stock, I believe they were BFG’s.

The Tornells came in yesterday and I have a rim clamp tire machine and a balancer in my shop. Headed down there soon to mount these up. If I can figure out the image resizing thingy, I’ll post up some pics when done.

Tornells mounted and installed. Found a bad driver side outer front wheel bearing and didn’t take a test ride yesterday, but I’m pleased with the way they look, at least. This truck had rotten Coker Firestone white walls that were 22 years old.

This may be interesting, they have some really nice tires:


https://www.stausaonline.com/

And for the record: you guys are blessed living in the US.
There is not a single company in Europe, that makes bias ply tires.
If we need new tires, we have to ship them here, and you can imagine the extra cost plus customs (plus customs on the shipping).
It pretty much doubles the price for a set.


Frank

Another option for people who want a bias ply look but radial performance is Diamondback.

They're expensive but if that's what you want, they are excellent tires. They'll make whitewalls as well as blackwalls. I have a set on my Cadillac and Packard.

www.dbtires.com

The Auburn tires have the pie crust sidewall edge to mimic the bias ply look.

https://dbtires.com/product/auburn-deluxe-radial-15-16-sizes/

After researching available tire options and sizes...

215/85r/16 were my choice.

Like dgrinnan said earlier in this thread, this size radial is closest to stock and works well on stock rims WITHOUT using tubes.

Can't you just get whitewalls and reverse mount them? I used to do that to my dad's takeoffs back in the day.

I went with Coker Classis 225/75 15s myself.

The Coker white walls cost a considerable amount more than the black walls.

Performance Plus has the same tires as Coker but if you are buying 4 shipping is free. that saves you some money.

www.performanceplustire.com

If you don't want white Walls the standard size modern tire I found that seems to fit best on the stock wheels is LT215/85/16. these should be available at any of your local tire stores and you should be able to shop for bargains. Walmart even has them. Some for just over $100 per tire. Not sure of the quality.

Looks good with the blackwalls.