I知 new to posting on this site. There may be a previous post on this topic. If so, please direct me in the right direction. Hubby has a beautiful 1938 1/2 ton truck project. We値l be driving it locally and light farm work. We致e been through many projects but this is a new one. The old polyester tires are rotten and he痴 wanting to replace with radials. But of course, it has the original rims. Any suggestions out there for replacing the original rims to accommodate modern tires?
Thanks so much.

 

Assuming your p/u has wide five rims since its a 1/2 ton. That said run the rims you have with radials. That is what I have on my '39 p/u with stock wide five rims.

 

He says he has 4 inch wide rims which won’t accommodate modern tires

 

The 215/70/R16's on the stock wide fives on my '39 have been on my truck for close to 10,000 miles with no problems. Truck is mainly used around town at speeds under 45 but a couple times a year I load it up to go to a local swap meet 20 miles or so away and I run on the freeway around 55 MPH.

 

How do you determine if you have wide 5s?

 

They have a very large bolt circle and the center is open, like an old VW bug, Four year thing. I'm running 215 85 16s 10 ply from a 90's dually pickup on my half ton woodie. They are a huge improvement over the bias plies I removed, but I do miss the bias ply look. I mounted them on my stock '47 wheels without tubes, which is very common these days and works well. Nice truck btw, and looking at the photo, yes you have the correct wide 5 wheels.

 

Can you send a photo of the wheels, etc? Thanks and Merry Christmas

 

The 215 85 16s should be a bit more 'tall and narrow' than a 70 series. I think Brian 'Bernette' here on FTE sells tires and understands the ratio of width and diameter way better than me. Maybe he will chime in on this matter. Some pics of my recent tire swap. I bought them used and got to pick from two tall stacks of the same size. I ended up with two matching continentals, a never mounted mastercraft and I don't remember the fourth tire.

 

Nice truck! Our rims are 4 inches wide and trying to choose some tires that will fit. Basically, hubby is looking at cost. The tires such as Coker, etc are a fortune. Especially if you add cost of an inner tube and a rubber liner for the rim.

 

I run 215/85/16 Avon radials on my 48 pickup because the profile is close to the old bias plys. I don't know how well they might work on a 4" rim.
Your local tire shop should be able to give you advice on what's available for your setup.

Here's a picture of a wide 5 wheel. It mounts with 5 lugs that have a wide spacing. It is 4" wide where the tire mounts.

 

hi Carlene ! i know a bit about tires . the metric tires are kinda easy to understand . lets say 215 , this is the width of the tread in millimeters. so a 215 85 r16 is 215 mm wide. the next number is a percentage , 85 % of 215 mm is the height of the side wall. R is for radial and the last number is the diameter of the wheel ,so 16 is 16 inch diameter. when the number are preceeded by P it means the are for passenger cars. and when its LT its for light truck. so if you were to change from a 215 85 16 to a 215 70 16, your tire would be smaller but the same width. A is 2 ply B is 4 ply C is 6 ply and so on on trucks you go to G for 16 plys. i hope this helps !
brian

 

It helps ME! I can drive a truck that smokes, has no oil pressure, a few rust holes, etc, but if the tires look wrong, or aftermarket wheels are involved I lose all interest. Knowing what this modern code means and how to read it is very important to me. I am totally into this 215 85r 16 thing. On stock wheel of course and the wide 5 is the same. I say go for it!