40 Front Tires

TomT/Williamsburg

TomT/Williamsburg

Well-known member
For the 40 car and 40-41 p-up, what size radial tires are you fellas running? I have a dropped 32 axle and 32 spring in my 40 truck and it sits too low with 24-25" diameter tires. I wanted it to ride low but not that low ....

It would seem a 195/75-R15 would work but they are only available in Europe? Trailer tire size perhaps?

Thanks ....
 
Tom............on my 41 pickup I'm using Coker's P195/75R15 on Wheel Vintiques 15X6 wheels, 4in dropped axle. Works, looks good.
 
shuffster said:
Tom- What is the actual lowering effect of a 4" drop axle- is it a true 4 inches?
Click to expand...

Well, my drop will be lower than most as I am not using a front wishbone but Speedway's 4-bar setup. So, that adds to the lowering effect as well.

Normally, a dropped axle will give you an additional 2.5 inches of drop as the axle already has 1.5 inches built in I believe. However, you can buy a reversed eye lower single leaf spring and together with the dropped axle and taking out a few leaves at the top, you can just about get an additional 4" of drop using the stock or split wishbone setup.
 
41PICUP said:
Tom............on my 41 pickup I'm using Coker's P195/75R15 on Wheel Vintiques 15X6 wheels, 4in dropped axle. Works, looks good.
Click to expand...

Thanks to all who responded ...

I am glad you responded 41PICUP as I've seen your avatar before but could not remember who it was -
icon6.gif
- yours is the look I'm after. I had seen the Cokers but they are a bit pricey - just trying to see what folks are running.

What FE are you running and what size tire and suspension out back?
 
Tom....Oops, I'm running 15X5 front wheels. Front end is a 4in dropped axle, ECI disc brakes, stock steering, So Cal steering damper, Pete & Jakes shocks and a Mono Leaf spring.
Rear end.......15X7 with Coker's P235/75R15 tires, stock rear with Speedway 3:54 gears, Lincoln brakes from MT Products and a 26% over-
drive from Mitchell and stock ****** rebuilt by Vern Tardell.
 
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I'm running 205/70r/15 tires on 6" rims on my 40 car. It has a MII suspension and the tires only barely touch the fender on extreme turns. Of course, wheel backspacing is a factor, too.
This chart http://tire-size-conversion.com/tire-size-chart/ shows the 195/75r/15 to be 25". If you have about 24" tires now, you will only gain 1/2 of the diameter in ground clearance. The P205/70 shows to be a 26" tire.
 
I found a General tire in 205/70-15 and will use it on a 5 1/2' rim. front of my avatar.
 
Just my opinion. but if you're so low you think a taller tire will get you there...wouldn't that take away from the profile of the car?...i/e a tall front tire.

Why not look at raising the suspension?

Side [pics of the car would help in guesstimates:)
 
Tom,
I'm running 195/75-15 on the front of the pickup, 235/75-15 on back. These sizes are readily available. The suspension on it is almost stock, tube shocks and 3 leaves taken out of the rear spring. The top of the tire is about even with the fender lip. The Courier has 215/70-15 all around. The 70 series is slightly smaller in diameter than the 75s.
How low is too low?
 
It is all about filling up the wheel well for the right look. Look at some of the old pics of hot rodded '40's with tall 16's on them. They may have gone up into the wheel well but with a rake, they looked good. IMO
 
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