The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Tire fitment question...

Hoping someone can help me out. I have been looking at ordering tires for my truck.

I have 4.5" rims on the front of my 36, and I know that you can fit 600-20 tires on them but I am hoping to run 550-20 tires. The 600-20's cross sectional width is 6.3" where the 550-20 is 5.9" The main reason I want to go with the 550 rather than the 600 is that they are 4 ply versus 6.My truck will never see any sort of load carrying, and I have been told that 4 ply will ride far nicer than a 6....

I emailed Coker with this question and his response was less than helpful, "it will probably work but I wont guarantee it will"

any thoughts???

Thanks guys

Springs on 36 models were pretty stiff. You won't see much ride improvement with 4 ply versus 6 ply.

My truck is highly modified and no longer has leaf springs...

Here is a couple of pics if you are interested..

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo291/mack1416/7f472e83.jpg

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo291/mack1416/efc5caf8.jpg

http://i385.photobucket.com/albums/oo291/mack1416/130e46c0.jpg

No other opinions???

I love the truck!

What axle ratio are you running?

Thanks man,

It is a Dana 61 with 3.07:1 it's a custom job I made by merging it to the original axle

Thats cool!!!

My response must first start with a question. In 1936 there was technically no 4.5" wide truck rim made. So we need to know how you've measured your rim width. The standard of measurement back then, according to period National Wheel and Rim Association (NWRA) catalogs, was to measure across the rim lips. In 1936 Chevy listed wheels that were 20" x 5", and 20" x 6". These rims, however, when measured using the revised NWRA standard that came into use in the 1940s measure 3.75" and 4.33" respectively. This measurement is taken across the inner rim base. I have Goodyear charts from the era that show a 5.50" tire would be correct for a 5"(3.75") rim, but would not be correct for a 6" (4.33") rim. They show the correct tire to be either a 7.00" or 7.50" on the 6" (4.33") rim. I know I have later references that show use of a 6.50" tire on the 4.33" rim, but don't recall any showing use of the 6.00" tire (much less 5.50") on that rim.

Edit - I found a 1944 Budd reference that shows use of the 6.00" tire on the 4.33" rim. Stu McMillan

Boy I'm glad you are blazing the trail for me on this truck. Have you considered all of the types of wheels that would fit on those Tahoe disks? If the disks fit over the original hubs, maybe there are some rat looking wheels that will take a better tire.
BTW, I love your truck and the innovations that you are putting into it.
bob

IMHO, those wheels make the truck. Did you install new outers on some OG centers?

4ply should ride softer than the 6 plies, but I have no idea how much better.

Looking closely at your Photobucket pics, it's clear you have custom made one piece drop center rims up front. I didn't look that closely before my first reply, so your 4.5" statement is no doubt correct. I still think the 6.00" is the narrowest you'll want to go, but would suggest you check other sellers to ask the question. Places like Universal Tire, M.E. Miller, and Lucas Tire may be able to give an answer. Stu

Stu, you are correct my referring to a 4.5" rim is in reference to the inside dimension, the outside dimension across the outside lips of the rim is 5 7/16"

I appreciate your input... I think I need to do more research.

Bob, the tahoe disks are mounted to the inside mounting pattern, where the original drums mounted. Couldn't mount rims there if I wanted. Plus I really wanted to maintain the original look

Yes, that is exactly what I did, I did a thread on how I did it a while back

I will double check with other tire vendors, what has thrown me on this whole thing Is I have spoken with a few different people at coker (coker made the drop center blanks) and I haven't gotten the same answer

I read a build where a guy built a hot rod with these same wheel blanks and he said he had 550 in the front and 700's out back, but when I sat down to order my tires the fitment chart at coker says that both the 550 and 600 should be on 3" rims. This was odd to me because I know I pulled 6" tires off the original rims, which these blanks are as close to those as possible.

Thanks again for your help, I will let you guys know what I end up doing.

well guys, I ended up going with the 550-20s for the front of my truck... fit just fine on the 4.5" rims. I will post up some photos shortly..

Thanks for everyone's input

Looking forward to seeing the new pics. Normally not a ratrod kind of guy, but that is pretty sweet with the open duals in the back.

I posted them here
https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=847387#Post847387

I like to think of it as more of a big hot rod than a rat.. just because rat rods are becoming more and more known for poor fabrication and gimmicky add ons.. skulls/iron crosses/spider webs/tractor grills..

Looks real mean!