Radial tires for a 50 Ford

Bill S

Senior Member
I want to put radial tires on a 50 ford with Fox Craft skirts. Cross referance calls for 205-75r15. Looking at the spec it looks like they may rub on the skirts. Anyone have any experance with this.

Tks
Bill S
 
The 205X75R 15" should work with the skirts. Putting Radial tires on the original wheels will cause any full disc hub caps to fly off. You may want to put sillcone on them and let dry.
 
before you buy new tires i would mount a used one just to make sure, you can pic one up for free at any tire dealer...
 
The 205X75R 15" should work with the skirts. Putting Radial tires on the original wheels will cause any full disc hub caps to fly off. You may want to put sillcone on them and let dry.

I have been running (as well as several others I know) radials on my stock rims for over ten years and never had a full wheel cover 'fly' off. For that matter they have never even shown signs of being loose.:confused:
 
I have that size on my 49 convertible with the skirts. No problems with clearance. I also have never had a problem with the hub caps or the trim rings.
 
I've been running radials and full wheel covers ('54 Olds) on stock rims on a '51 Ford for nearly 10 years and they did have a tendency to fly off at first. I had to aggressively bend the tabs on the wheel covers to make them stay on and I still occasionally have to go around the car with a rubber hammer and nudge them back on where they have moved a little.
 
If no one remembers, those full disc hubcaps have been flying off cars since they were new withj bias ply tires. The rims must spring when you hit a hole in the road or turn a sharp curve. That is when i usualy lost 1 or 2 at a time. Marv
 
I have been running radials on my '57 T-Bird since 1973. In years gone by I have driven the car on long distance high way trips through out California and Nevada and have never had a hub cap come off.
The full disk hub caps are prone to coming off during tight high speed turns or if a large bump is encountered, however, the style of the tire has no bearing on the loss of hub caps....
This is one of those old tales like thermostat's or no stats making engine run cooler and non-detergent oil being better for old flat-head, etc., engines.
 
i agree with blucar. The reason that full disc hubcap fly off is the springy tabs. if they've been bent at one time or other they may fly off radial or bias tires make no difference. Radial tires are the best thing ever invented for making an older car ride and handle tremendously better. I first noticed this on my 66 mustang but shoebox fords respond even better!
 
I've been running radials and full wheel covers ('54 Olds) on stock rims on a '51 Ford for nearly 10 years and they did have a tendency to fly off at first. I had to aggressively bend the tabs on the wheel covers to make them stay on and I still occasionally have to go around the car with a rubber hammer and nudge them back on where they have moved a little.


I never had a problem until I switched from bias ply to radials.
 
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