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

Many 'bolters will recognize my ongoing search for tires for the 49. I have some choices and would like some opinions.

The 49 presently has Cooper 650-16. I liked them but they are worn. I wanted radials, 215-85R16 which is the right size.

Dealer did not want to install radials on the narrow 4" rim.

I can try to get later model 16" truck rims which are a bit wider.

I can get my rims widened at $75 per, plus sandblasting and paint.

Or I can get 650-16 bias-ply which I actually have no problem with, except for the price averaging $180 each.

I have heard many stories of folks putting those radials on the narrow rims with no problem. And I have read warnings about putting radials on old bias-style rims. (Coker catalog)

I had radials on my 53 (with older rims), but frankly they did not ride better than my Coopers.

Incidentally I can get bias-ply from Los Angeles at $80 per but they want about $160 for shipping!

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

For what it's worth:

Later rims run what, about $40 each and still need to be sandblasted and painted? Plus you still need tires.

Widening your rims runs $300 and you are out the original rims plus you still need tires.

You buy four bias tires at $180 each for $720.00.

I guess my thought is that by the time you take the time to get new rims or modify old ones you haven't really saved much in terms of $$$ but you have a whole lot more work.

I'd go for the bias original style, but then I lean towards the original whenever I can.

I have Goodyear "Work Horse" 650-16's that are about 15 years old. I asked at Discount Tire and they told me that they had a 10 ply replacement for that tire at something like $100 a piece.

Thank you. I like bias-ply and have been happy with them. Sadly in Canada they are all imported from the states or some third world country. None of the dealers I have spoken to up here carry them and will only special order them at big bucks.
I am verging to bias ply but would still like more opinions.

Oldblu49, I suggest you contact a fellow Bolter, Whizzerick.

He was able to retain the original look of the bias-ply. The tires he purchased are radials.

They look very good. I believe the cost was economical and available in Canada.

Whizzerick will have all the details because this topic was discussed about 3 years ago.

Greg

Niagara thanks. I have been in touch with him. He suggested the radial size I am looking for BUT he was able to have his mounted on his stock rims. If I am not mistaken he paid over $150 each for his Bridgestones. Even a truck I did for a buddy a few years back has that size radial on stock rims, but the same tire dealer won't do it on mine. I can get radials for less money than bias ply but the latter are hard to find up here.

I hear yah oldblue49.

I spent way too much money on my rims and tire combo. I think I was the only guy in North America who purchased a Firestone tire during the Ford Exploder tire problems several years ago.

I bought the tires from the Old Car Center in Langley, BC.

I got my rims straightened prior to purchasing my Coker Firestone bias-plies. The rims were repaired at Green's Automotive LTD. in Richmond, BC.

It is amazing the fellas who forget about how much wobble an old 50+ year old rim has. I believe a lot of guys restoring their rigs forget that detail.

Some fellows would say, "Why spend the $$$ to straighten the rims of an old truck that can only max out at 45 MPH?"

Well... a tire scrubbing on asphalt surface will wear rapidly and I am sure it will promote premature front end bushing wear plus give the "wandering down the road feeling or swaying side to side" we read here occasionally... and then folks say... it is your "kingpins"!

I was very disappointed in the quality of rubber used by Coker for their inner tubes...I had a flat tire after the first day. The inner tube they provide was no thicker than a condom

I replaced all the inner tubes with radial tubes.

Radial tubes are very thick. Very popular with the off-road guys. No flats since.

I have had about 3 thousand miles with my bias-plies...lots of thread remains.

Generally, I am very pleased with my purchase.

Amortized over the 7 years of owning my truck...the sticker shock has worn off!

You mileage may vary!

Greg

Niagara I didn't realize the Old Car Center had tires. I saw one guy at Cloverdale who had them but lost his number. Am certain I have some wobble so I should take a trip across and see Green's. Glad to hear someone else likes bias-ply. And thanks for the tip on the tubes.
Bill

Greg,
You would have to bring up rim wobble wouldn’t you! The only time I drove the '50, 3604 that I bought in Sep.,'06 was when I tried to drive it the 40 miles to my home right after handing over the check. The brakes locked up on the tollway and the last half of the trip was on the back of a car hauler. The one thing I did notice at 55mph was that there was a lot of side ways vibration which I attributed to worn front end and 30 year old dry rotted tires. All is new now 7.00-15 bias ply on two-piece rims, and I'm still finishing up the mechanicals. I hope to be able to drive it round the block in a month or so when the weather breaks.
So, thanks to you, as soon as the sun comes up I'm gonna get out the indicator and spin the rims to see just how much run out I've got. I realize now that I should have checked this before I spent a grand on blasting, painting, mounting tires, tubes and flaps.
Do you have any idea how they straighten the rims? Do they have a fixture that they put in press of some sort? Is there a spec on the run out for a rim? Can it be done with the tires mounted? I would very much like to see how that is done. As far as I know there is no one in the Chicago, IL USA area that does that. All the dealers around here tell you of you have a bent rim to replace it.
I grew up with bias ply tires and never remember there being a problem with them other than they had a short life span. The first radial tire I had was on a new '75 TR-6 Triumph I bought for my "Big Old Wife". The only thing different that I noticed was that it coasted a lot farther with the clutch pushed in, (lower rolling resistance). No difference in ride as far as I remember.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny,

I had my 50 year old 16" wheels straightened prior to painting.

I had to find a specialty shop that does wheel repairs only. Most regular tire shops do not have the special tools required to straighten steel wheels.

They first spun each wheel vertically to see how much wobble was in each wheel. [I do not have a spec for run out..sorry ]....go for zero run out

The price varied for me from $5 to $40 depending on how much effort was required to straighten each wheel.

The wheels were then placed on a horizontal machine which spun the wheels slowly.

A large, hydraulic drill press looking device with adjustable fingers was positioned over the wheel.

The fingers were positioned between the outer ring and wheel centre plate...hydraulic pressure was applied to the slow spinning horizontal wheel and corrected the wobble.

The shop foreman told me "NEVER use heat to straighten a rim!"

The shop also walnut blasted, acid washed and painted my wheels.

Denny, I do not see why they could not straighten your rims with a tire mounted...unless there are some physical restrictions with the equipment used.

The sad thing for you, will be your paint job will be ruined during the process.

Another member of this board, Tiny, mentioned to find a frame shop....they may have the tools do do this work.

I found my specialty wheel repair place by asking my local body shop.

This was an additional cost for me, but I believe it is an area overlooked by most folks restoring their trucks.

Having straight wheels and running bias ply tires, I do not feel any front end shimmy or shakes.

Greg

cant remember the last time i used a inner tube as a condom--they were the days

Niagara is right about getting rims straightened. However, any tire store can check them. All they have to do is put the bare rim on the wheel balance machine.

As for which tires,it's a tough call. When I got new tires for the front of my 52 my dealer haad 7.00-15 8 ply in stock for about $50 a tire. But that was 10 years and 26,000 miles ago. Not bad for Mexican tires. He used to stock them for trailers, but not anymore. For my rears he got me a pair of 7.50R16's, I wanted the tallest tire I could get and used some newer rims. Cost me a little over $300 mounted and balanced for the pair.

The tire saga continues. Went to a well known tire shop in town, they handle everything from hot rods to big semis. Same story, they don't want to put radials on my 4 inch rims. Bias-ply. Well they didn't know if they could get them up here. Tried and found a dealer in Nova Scotia who has 4 650-16 at $100 each plus $25 each for shipping. Some unknown brand that has been sitting in a warehouse for years it seems. Called a place in Langley which handles old cars and they can get Firestone bias at $160 each plus $10 each for shipping here. But it would take a month. So as they say the story continues.

Oldblu49...we / you need to get in touch with a brother Bolter who lives in Washington State and who is planning to visit Victoria in the upcoming months.

They could bring the bias-plys you need and paid for by you in advance.. you can give them a special tour around Victoria and everybody wins.You save duties , brokerage fees, freight and other shipping charges.

Old tires are expensive...don't ask me...I know!

Greg

Oldblu...disregard what I said previously. I sound like I am a smuggler.

Order the tires you need in Langley and pick them up yourself, or have someone you know deliver them to you in Victoria.

Greg

Greg. You a smuggler? Impossible. I know that some of the dealers bring stock to Monroe. Another option.
Bill

Bill,

How about this for a plan.

After the meet & greet this weekend with the Mainland fellas, I am willing to organize something similar with you Islanders.

I am willing to bring your new tires with me!

Deal or no deal?
Greg

Greg that sounds really great. I would have gone on the 10th but I have two big commitments. And I don't trust my tires at highway speeds. Have fun take pictures and keep me posted.
Bill

oldblu49

I ran 215R16 tires on my old 4" rims on my 52 GMC for over 10 years, Never had a problem with them. I didn't use tubes either. I know there is no safety bead on these old rims but I never had a sudden failure. I'm not saying what I did was right but I had no problems with it. I have just bought and mounted a new set of Coker 7.00R16 with the 3.5" Whitewalls and did not use tubes. The tire shop here did not think they were neccessary. I really don't think you will be happy with bias ply tires. I remember my 59 VW was "twitchy" and "mushy" to steer with those bias ply tires. Good luck.
Kurt.

One of the reasons they might not want to put the tires on may be the lack of safety beads on your old rims. I would just lever them on myself. Just remember to take small bites, clean the bead of the rims real good, and lube the bead before putting the tire on the rim. After one bead of the tire is on, put the tube in, straighten it out, and pull the vlave core out of the valve stem. Lever on the second bead. Make sure you don't pinch the tube with your tire irons, and then fill the tube with air until the bead of the tire pops in place. Let the air fully escape from the valve stem, and then replace the valve core. Then fill to proper PSI. The shops probably won't have a problem balancing the tire for you. If they do, stick it on the front axle and static balance it the best you can.

Kelowna and Builder.
There are quite a few people on this Forum that have put that size radials on 4" rims and have had no problems. In fact I helped a fellow build a 51 a few years back and he put them on his. That same dealer now is giving me stories about why they should not be mounted. Its not like he is giving me the brush off as I had ordered 4 tires last year from him and when he saw the 4" rim, told me he didn't feel right about mounting them. He showed me a book that read a 5.5" minimum rim width was needed for those tires. Went to a scrap yard today looking for 16" 6 bolt rims and found some 7" wide which I personally feel are too wide. Maybe 6".
As far as bias tires go I have a set of Coopers on it now and except for the fact they are finished, always been happy with them. They run nice, steer easily, and the flat spot goes after a mile or less.
Out of curiosity what kind of radials did you have and secondly how pricey are the Cokers up here, if you do mind me asking.
Bill

I've run Generals, Bridgstone, Yokahoma, Cooper, Uniroyal...I think Cokers are just as expensive here as anywhere. It just might be the shipping charges that change the price.

FWIW:

Nobody wanted to mount tires on my split rims -- because they were split rims.

Grandpa and I mounted them ourselves with no problem.

Though, we've done it before, and we've got the safety equipment.

I'm running 235/75R15's

Bill,

I paid $1150.00 Canadian (13% tax included) for a set of 4/7.00R16 WW. It will take so time to get used to the narrow look, after removing the 215/85R16s.

Kurt,

Bill,

Correction, make that $1350.00 Canadian.

Kurt.

On my '57 GMC half ton I ran a set of Michelin LT215/85R-16 take-offs for a couple of years on stock narrow rims,tubeless,with no problems. But then I hooked onto my 35 foot 5th wheel RV and left Reno for Boise Idaho,moved it several times up there then brought it back down to Elko. It took all that distance to figure it out,but 3 out of 4 of the tires separated from overloading,so I changed to E rated 235's,still on the skinny stock wheels. No problems-drives fine.
I think the refusal to install radials on the stock 4 inch wide rims is mainly a liability issue. With people as "sue-happy" as they've become,tire shops really have to be careful. I think builder has the right idea-they're not that hard to install yourself,with a couple of good tire irons and a tub of Murphys tire soap,and the tire shops shouldn't have any gripes about balancing them,since balancing is a "non-invasive procedure".
Good luck with your tire purchase,whichever way you decide to go.
Speed

That is a lot of money so you can see why I want to know exactly what I need before I lay out that kind of money for an experiment.
Thanks.
Bill