Modern steel belted radials on '37 wide five wheels

[farmertom]

after reading thread for wide five rims and dyna beads,need input on anybody running modern steel belted radials on wide fives. is it safe to,will they walk off rim in turns,can you run without tubes? my wide white bias ply do have some age to them tread is still very good and all are just getting dry i think were mounted in 2014 and are in pretty good shape i'm just thinking of making a change.most modern radials in 16" are light truck tires iv'e heard 215 85R 16 or 195 85R 16 will work. thanks for input,Tom.

[Bored&Stroked]

I'm running Coker Excelsior radials on my 32 . . . which were kind of designed to have the look of bias ply tires, with the great improvements of modern tire technology. I'm running them on old wire wheels, so I am running tubes. In every car I've had where I switched from bias ply to radials (variety of brands), I've been super happy with the results. You'll find your car will track a lot better, will handle better, will brake better, will be better in the rain . . . every single aspect is better - period.

[farmertom]

Thanks bored&stroked. i was wondering whats barners thoughts on using just modern radials that can be purchased locally actually are light truck replacements 215 85R 16. Do the mounting beads differ from those tires like yours made by coker. i dont care that they dont have the old bias ply look.I will probly go with black walls anyway. Tom

[blucar]

I am in the process of upgrading the tires on my '36 to Coker Classic 600 x 16 (16" Bias Profile Radials) w/ Coker 16" tubes. My wheels are stock 5 on 10 16" that I had checked for truness and powder-coated...

Radial tires are high pressure, therefore if you under-inflate them, you will scuff the shoulders off of the tires, I generally run 34 lbs in the tires on my older cars. I have radial tires on several old cars, '39 conv. 38 Buick '53 Olds 88 and a '56 T-bird.

Chrysler went to a safety, beaded wheel in 1941 on Chrysler/DeSoto's, GM did not until the '70's except on the '51 and later Century's and Roadmasters.
Generally it is a myth about tubeless tires walking off of the rim, if they are kept properly inflated.

I am using tubes in the 600 x16 Coker's because the sales rep suggested that I do so because of the riveted rims in lieu of welded.

[johndee138]

36 side view.jpgWhat blucar said

[Brian]

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I've run 205R 16 on the rear, 175 85 R 16 on front of my 35 for years with absolutely no trouble. I also run dynabeads and tractor tubes. The tractor tubes are heavy duty and have the large valve stem that fits our early ford rims.

[39deluxecp]

i have 185/75/16 on my 37 coupe with tubes. they work fine

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by johndee138

Attachment 487199What blucar said

[cas3]

Man, Thats a nice lookin coupe !

[farmertom]

hi 39deluxcp fellow iowan,do run those 185/75/16 radials on oe wide five rims and would it be safe to run without tubes? and where did you purchase the tires.

[Bill OH]

I had Diamond Back 6.00 R 16 installed - no tubes - 40 lbs pressure last June. So far so good.

[GB SISSON]

I have 215 85r 16s on my woodie wagon. They are pretty tall and skinny and that's the look I like. You get a bit of 'rubber overdrive'. I would think they equate to 7.00 x 16 truck tires and a 235 85r 16 is the same as the old 7.50 x 16, which was the standard 3/4 ton pickup tire for many years. I run 32 lbs in mine and have run them tubeless for a couple of years without issues. Steering is waaaay beter than when I ran bias ply.

[cas3]

The wide 5 "artillery" wheels have so many rivets I believe you would have to have some pretty nice original wheels to not have a slow leak some where. I recently went tubeless on my 52 willys army jeep. I had very good, not rusty, original wheels. I had them sand blasted, then while they were naked I brushed epoxy primer around each rivet to make sure it got good penetration , then after spraying the whole wheel with epoxy I went around each rivet with silly cone, and used a rim lube to mount and seal the beads, and....no leaks after a year.

[Tinker]

I'm being a bit cheeky, but what about some flexseal or some other modern coating too.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by cas3

I had them sand blasted, then while they were naked I brushed epoxy primer around each rivet to make sure it got good penetration ....no leaks.

All I've ever done is bead blast Ford wheels, dab some JB WELD around each rivet, and never a leak! Coop

[36coupe]

Originally Posted by farmertom

after reading thread for wide five rims and dyna beads,need input on anybody running modern steel belted radials on wide fives. is it safe to,will they walk off rim in turns,can you run without tubes? my wide white bias ply do have some age to them tread is still very good and all are just getting dry i think were mounted in 2014 and are in pretty good shape i'm just thinking of making a change.most modern radials in 16" are light truck tires iv'e heard 215 85R 16 or 195 85R 16 will work. thanks for input,Tom.

I have those exact sizes on my 36 I’m building. I think the biggest draw back is the 215/85/16 BFGoodrich weighs about 37#, that’s a lot of unsprung weight. The 195 85 16 that I have are discontinued and I can’t find any more. They weighed less than 20#s.

[GB SISSON]

Originally Posted by 36coupe

I have those exact sizes on my 36 I’m building. I think the biggest draw back is the 215/85/16 BFGoodrich weighs about 37#, that’s a lot of unsprung weight. The 195 85 16 that I have are discontinued and I can’t find any more. They weighed less than 20#s.

I agree, they are overkill. Mine are load range E. They came on many dualie pickups as standared equipment. I bought mine at a used tire place for 25 bucks each and they are 'knee deep' in rubber. I bought all six and they match. The woodie built on a pickup chassis is a pretty heavy vehicle and I drive at 40 mph and slower so I mounted them myself on my manual tire changer and didn't balance. The beads would be perfect in them I bet.

[farmertom]

Hey use guys, are '37 wide five wheels welded or rivited. I assume a tire dealer that also does agricultural tires would have correct size valve stems to fit my rims if going with tubeless radials. Tom.

[36coupe]

Originally Posted by farmertom

Hey use guys, are '37 wide five wheels welded or rivited. I assume a tire dealer that also does agricultural tires would have correct size valve stems to fit my rims if going with tubeless radials. Tom.

They have rivets. I used heavy duty gorilla tape as rim tape. The local tire shop used a metal type of valve stem and mounted the tires tubeless. I used an old front drum with the bearing race knocked out so we could mount the rim on the tire balancer.
Beads would probably be a better solution.

[37don]

ben running diamond back 600x16 equivalent for over 30,000 mi with no issues. many 700mi trips in hot weather and don't leak. balance them with adapter from speedway.
37Don