The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 17” original artillery wheels

Anyone running these with radial tires and no tubes?

My original 16x4.5 steelies have been wearing radials without tubes for several years now.

Does anyone make a narrow 17" tire that would fit? I have my original wheels, but still running bias ply tires.

RB36, I assume you want to switch to radials?

Check with Diamondback www.dbtires.com

Otto, I was more questioning original poster if he knew of thin 17" radials since he was asking about them. I had previously searched for white walls that would fit my artillery wheels without luck. So for now, I'm satisfied with my bias ply because at this point I guess I have to be. But I wasn't going over 45mpg, and that's going to change soon due to 235/T5 swap. Everyone says the radials make a huge difference. The next question will be, are the stock artillery wheels sufficient for use with radials?

Thank you for your link, in case I do decide to switch. I also did find Excelsior makes a 17" tire for a 4.5 rim. It's not a whitewall, and it has a Euro-type tread, but it does still have a classic look. Coker sells them.

Also the original question of needing a tube or not remains.

I have used Diamondback radials on several cars. They are the best tires I've ever had on my Cadillac. The ride and handling is far superior to that of bias ply tires. They are immensely superior to the horrible Coker radials I once had on it. Coker doesn't have a very good reputation in the classic car community.

Even Corky Coker told the president of our Cadillac club that he would use Diamondbacks if he intended to drive the car rather than just show it.

They should work fine on your original wheels. I have them on my '39 Packard which uses 4.5" x 16" rims. They're expensive but if you want wide white walls, they are about the only way to go.

Your rims shouldn't need an inner tube. My Packard doesn't use tubes.

Otto, thanks for that link. Now I'm drooling over the Auburn pie crust whitewalls.

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

I put those on 2 Cadillacs and my friend just installed a set on a '58 Coupe de Ville. They're beautiful. They also don't have that ugly radial tire bulge that looks ridiculous on antique cars.

They are excellent handling tires.

So it looks like the only 17" version of the Auburn radials is a 700R17. Minimum rim width seems to be 5". That's "recommended". Wonder if they would work on a 4.5, and would that result in that ugly buldge you mention...(rhetorical questions)

The radial bulge I was referring to is where the tread meets the road. Compared to bias ply, common radials always look like they're going flat a little. I don't think you'd get that due to the way the tires are made to look like bias ply with an inward taper at the outer edge of the sidewalls.

My Packard has 4.5" rims and I do see that the sidewall is a little more rounded than flat but it isn't really noticeable and the tires seat in the bead just fine. I would speak with the DB people about it. My tires are 700R16.

Well, that's good news that you're doing it and getting away with it. I'm having a hard time finding a size conversion chart that shows the 17" tires, only the smaller rim sizes, so I'm only making a guess that it's a 5" minimum rim size based on the other size 700 tires that I see.

www.premiertiresandwheels.ca (conversion chart)

www.tiresize.com (rim and tire chart)

215/85R17 and 235/80R17 are the closest in size to 700R17

The Premier Tire chart says 235/80R17 requires 6" rim min.

I would still contact Diamondback on the phone and ask what they would recommend.