The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk New wheels and tires for a 1953 3600?

My truck has a 4.56 rear end, and 15" wheels with 225/70 R 15 tires. I would like to change the overall gearing for better highway performance.

I am interested in the 16" OE wheels now offered by Vintiques. Then I could go with something like a 235/85R 16 and get about a 12% change - just about what I would get if I go the rear end ratio.

I see a wheel/tire change as a viable alternative to a rear end gear swap. I don't have a great deal of experience in the wheel/tire area. Am I missing something?

Thanks for your help.

Harry

GM used a 4.10 rear in the 60's in some models, but they are getting hard to find.

I use a similar setup on my 1Ton only I do have the 4:10 rearend. If they can give you the specs, you will want to keep the setback on the rims to about 3 1/2". The Tire Rack site will give you the numbers on both tire sizes so you can compare. If you multiply the revs/mile by your rearend ratio you will get the RPM at 60 mph.

I think you are right on.

I have some flavor of 16" tires and a 4.10 and 1st gear is still a granny.

I want to say I have 4" of backspacing on my wheels and I'm OK by a hair.

Yes, I think 4" is pretty well the limit. I had them use tape weights on the inside of the rim in case I didn't have room for normal ones. As it turns out, the regular weights would have worked out OK.

Could you please tell me how to measure that 4"? Is it from the inside of the tire to what?

Thanks! That is a great site. Looks like a 235/85R165 will produce a significant RPM drop compared to the current 225/70R15.

I think it is the distance from mounting surface inside of the wheel to the edge of the wheel. try here.

Flop the rim (without tire)so that you are looking at the inside. put a board across the rim from edge to edge and measure how far it is to the surface the bolts come through.

On my '51 3800 the 4" backspacing puts the rim less than 1/4" from a tie rod end.

Thanks to everyone. IU learned a lot.

One more question - if I go with a 16 x 6.5 wheel, what is the tallest tire I can use? Object is to enhance the top end.

Thanks.

Harry