16" Radial size recommendations

russcochiolo

russcochiolo

Senior Member
My '31 Roadster has '35 Ford wheels and brakes with 13 year old Goodrich 6.50's. Lots of tread and few very small cracks. It has a B engine, "touring" cam, 6.1 head, Holley 94, FS Ignition, '39 gear set in '32 case, Laycock O.D., and 3.54's. I am very happy with it's performance. Some say, "Run those old tires 'til you start having problems".
I'd like to head off problems and get new tires. I'm thinking modern radials but am having problems with sizes. The '35 rims are 4" wide and the tire manufacturers recommended minimum is 4.5". I want to keep the diameter at 29.25" (6.50 dia.) or more.
I've done a site search for "Radials" and "tires" but could not find any size recommendations.
Our club members, that actually drive their cars, have mostly Pinto power and smaller diameter radials. Those that have stock cars have stayed with bias and radials in original sizes, so I'm not getting much help there.
I'm looking to Barners for suggestions. Thanks for your suggestions in advance. Russ
 
Russ have you checked out Cokers bias look radials? I have a set of them on the 34 wire wheels on my 31 roadster and they seem to be a real nice fit and look. Don't know about the quality of the ride yet as my car is in the final stages of assembly. I believe if you check their website they list the tire sizes and diameter.
 
Gordon, yes I've scoured Coker's web-site. I'm hoping for modern radials because they are so much cheaper and I'm thinking also of going with blackwalls. Russ
 
I was not successful finding a radial to fit a 16 lunch tin that cleared the brake rods. I think the answer is the Coker but they were out of my budget.
 
I just went to America's Tire down the street and asked what price range they had to fit my 16"ers. The guy went from $800.00 to $500.00 to $400.00 mounted and balanced. Naturally I went with the $400.00 which are the General 205/70R 16 and without any steering geometry changes, rides and steers great. Because of the wide contact patch, turning is a wee bit stiffer, but I think the black walls look great and they keep the wheels off the road.
 
Bettlesr, The Yokohama site states a minimum rim width of 5.5 and a diameter of 25.3. If you've had no problems with the width, what about the diameter. What rpm for same road speed difference have you noticed. Thanks, Russ.
 
RawhideKid, The General 205/70 16R is listed as needing a minimum 5" wide rim and has a 27.3 diameter. Question......what rpm change? With the 6.50 16 bias tires and O.D. I get 62 mph at 2000 rpm. The car feels good at that and I'd like not to change. Russ
 
I added an adapter from Clark Transmission in the speedometer cable to correct for the change in tire size. I can't check it for you until I get the engine back together. I think it read about 5% higher than actual speed. I added a 4-speed F150 trans so the cruising RPM is much lower than before.
 
russcochiolo said:
RawhideKid, The General 205/70 16R is listed as needing a minimum 5" wide rim and has a 27.3 diameter. Question......what rpm change? With the 6.50 16 bias tires and O.D. I get 62 mph at 2000 rpm. The car feels good at that and I'd like not to change. Russ
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Russ, I just today got my speedo to work since I found out the cable was on the short side and I did change out the drive gear to a 17tooth. Now with all that, I am still running a bit slow with the GPS in my phone, but it really doesn't matter since I have a 370:1 rear ratio. That is even stated on the stock turtle that I kept original and fly-cut a 21tooth turtle to make the 17tooth meet the driveshaft gear.

Now, all that said, yes, I am reving higher for less speed, but I also don't do rural routes or freeways, so it really doesn't matter at this point. Now, IF I get a windfall I will be changing out that rear end to 327:1, and if it is a big windfall, a Mitchell OD and who knows, maybe the Mitchell syncro ****** too!

I am also breaking in a full new set of Randy Gross brakes and that alone has taken my tudor from a 35mph car, to a 45mpg car, since I can now stop!!

But, yes, reving higher, but still within reason. Oh, BTW, the guys at AT didn't say they wouldn't work because of width, and they really don't look squatty, I figure, the sidewalls are made to flex, ain't hurtin nothin to put'em on narrower than "recommended" rims.
 
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205 x 80 x 16" 8ply Fits stock 16" rim very close to original height , Toyota, Nissan pick ups . Dozens out here using them , cool drizzly day in NZ
 
Re: 16" Radial size recommondations

bettlesr said:
I am running P215/70R16 Yokohama tires on mine. I run them as tubeless. No problems after 10 years.
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There are a couple of different Yokohama P215/70R16 tire models. One is Geolander and another is Avid Touring. Do you know which one you are using. I am interested in running tubeless radials on my 16s also.

Thanks.

Ken
 
KenCoupe:
My tires are the Avid Touring-S. Before these I used a set of Dunlap tires. Don't remember which model.
 
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