1939 and 1940 Wheel Size

[neilp]

I have an excellent low mile, original paint 39 Deluxe and a very nice 40 Deluxe repaint that were put in storage 30 and 50 years ago. My plan is to bring both of these cars back to running/driving/stopping condition this year with no current plans for restore as they do not need it. I have been working on "waking them up" for the last several months as time allows and have recently migrated my focus to the tires. Both of my cars have the original 16''rims/tires and both have tires with cracking from storage. I will need to buy proper tires in the near future and I need some advice.

I am curious on what size tires you guys are running on these original 39-40 cars for daily drivers? Do you leave the 16"s as is front/back or something else? Please tell me what size and WHY? I have no interest in bias ply or "Concours Correct" responses so I am asking from the radial tire crowd who drive their cars all the time. Please tell me what you are driving and WHY.

thank you
Patrick

[mercman from oz]

Your 1939 and 1940 Fords look great. Original size Tyre for both is 6.00 x 16"

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by neilp

I am curious on what size tires you guys are running on these original 39-40 cars for daily drivers? Do you leave the 16"s as is front/back or something else? Please tell me what size and WHY? I have no interest in bias ply or "Concours Correct" responses so I am asking from the radial tire crowd who drive their cars all the time. Please tell me what you are driving and WHY.

Patrick ....These Stahl Excelsior radials come in a multitude of antique car sizes, and were designed to appear more-narrow like our original size tires were. These tires will not disappoint you as far as drive quality (both SLOW & at SPEED), and as seen by the picture enclosed of a 6.00R 16 Stahl mounted on an early wheel, they LOOK the "look"! We have run these on 4" wide 1940 Ford wheels, tubeless, on a '36 Ford 3-window coupe.

Stock-sized 600R16s look great on a '40, however I love the look of 700R16s on the back, with 600s on the front. We run them on '40 Ford 4"-wide wheels, as well as '42-'48 Ford 4-1/2"-wide wheels for the larger size. We run them tubeless with no issues.

They don't give these things away, for sure, but worth every penny in our experience. These Stahl Excelsiors are available via several sources, but if you purchase yours thru Jeg's or Summit Racing, they often have promotions on these tires offering FREE shipping! Click the links BELOW for the 700R16s & 600R16s.

COKER Does Not manufacture these tires. They are a very high quality tire with NO issues!! Coop

https://www.cokertire.com/tires/700r...rt-radial.html

https://www.cokertire.com/tires/600r...rt-radial.html






.

[tubman]

Unless you are going for concourse quality show vehicles only, radial tires are a natural for regularly driven cars. I have Coker Classic wide whitewalls on my '51, and they are a significant upgrade in ride and handling over the bias-ply Firestone re-pops I had on previously.

Some folks don't like Coker tires, but mine have been excellent. The fronts didn't require any weights to balance them, while the rears took less than 2 ounces each. They've been on there about ten years with absolutely no problems. I'll probably be replacing them soon because of their age, but they still look and drive fine.

DD's right; there are a lot of places to get them and they come in all sizes. I will agree, they are a bit spendy, but you get what you pay for.

[corvette8n]

I bought 15” rims from speedway and 205/70R15 tires from Walmart, this lowered my car about an inch overall. I use my original hub caps with these rims. BTW my car is a ‘41

[V8 Bob]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

My choice is, and has been DiamondBack for over 20 years. Their Auburn Deluxe series pie-crust bias-looking tubeless radials tires give you the look of a vintage tire with the all the advantages of a modern high quality radial.

[neilp]

I am still on the hunt for 16" radial tires for my 39 and 40 cars. I bought some Coker tires online from Lucas in California last month and they called 15 minutes later to tell me "out of stock" and that Coker had a 40k tire backlog and could not get materials with no ETA on re-stock. I then went to Diamond back for 16" Auburn Deluxe radials and got the same out of stock response. They were waiting on shipment from supplier in Tiawan I think. Are there any RADIAL 600 or 650 16" blackwalls to be had in the USA?

Patrick

[swoopNZ]

Place an ad in the Wanted section of Ford barn.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by neilp

I am still on the hunt for 16" radial tires for my 39 and 40 cars. I bought some Coker tires online from Lucas in California last month and they called 15 minutes later to tell me "out of stock" and that Coker had a 40k tire backlog and could not get materials with no ETA on re-stock. I then went to Diamond back for 16" Auburn Deluxe radials and got the same out of stock response. They were waiting on shipment from supplier in Tiawan I think. Are there any RADIAL 600 or 650 16" blackwalls to be had in the USA?

It's happenin', Folks! Today, it's tires, computer chips and baby formula. Hoping that some of my better-informed friends here are attempting to plan ahead a little!

Coop

.

[Pech33]

I bought Diamondback Auburn Classic 600 16’s last month, 3 1/2” WW for my 40 convertible. You could always turn WW around. I wanted 6.50 x 16, but I got the back order business. I couldn’t drive on my 40 year old split everywhere, but still holding air (tubes) tires. Too dangerous for an old man (or young man).

[Ford Freak]

Originally Posted by V8 Bob

My choice is, and has been DiamondBack for over 20 years. Their Auburn Deluxe series pie-crust bias-looking tubeless radials tires give you the look of a vintage tire with the all the advantages of a modern high quality radial.

Yep, it's DiamondBack's for me too!