Tires for my 33coupe

Steven

Hi All.  I'd like to put tires with a wider stance on my 33 coupe.  Any recommendations?  Not a fan of Coker.  
Thank You

Jon B

I've moved this discussion to the "Hudson" section.  Since you are neither buying nor selling a specific item, but rather asking for advice, I think the "Hudson" category would get you more helpful answers.

bob ward

If you are using the original 4" rims the preferred widths are 145 or 155 with a lower limit of 135 and an upper limit of 165.

Jay_G

If you are on original rims you choices are somewhat limited.  If these are wood wheels I highly recommend you stick with the original size.  A wood wheel is not designed to handle the stresses of a wider contact patch and you could have a catastrophic failure while turning especially at speed.  If not wood then I would consider the condition of the rims and move forward.  Just my two cents.  I don't remember If Hudson was all steel by then.

Jay 

dholck

Only definitive thing I can add is that the 33 Essex Terraplane coupe had steel rims - just bought a set of four 16-inch wire wheels from a 33 ET for a 34 Terraplane (the 4-lug wheels) to come down from the 17-inch. The car does look like it is up on spindly legs on the narrow 17-inch tires. I am going with the 16X6 (or 6.00-R16 if you like) radial black-wall tires.

Steven

My Coupe is an 8 cyl...KT I believe...It has steel wire wheels. ..The tires on it currently are 6.5 x 16

Steven

What brand dholck?  Do they come with tubes?  We tried tubeless but the wire wheels leak air

MikeSheridan

Yes, you need tubes and I would also put a "boot" in first. It is a rubber covering of the spokes. It protects the tube from rubbing on the spokes and getting holes in them. The correct size for 33 Terraplanes is 6.00 x 16. Larger tires will not fit the spare tire holder in back or sidemount. Radials will not fit either. Nothing on this car was made anticipating radial tires. This car is not really suited to radial tires.

dholck

Maybe you just need tubes?  I invite other knowledgeable members to weigh in on what Mike said - I think "radials will not fit" is incorrect, likewise "car is not really suited to radial tires."  These specialty radials are sized to replace the bias ply tires and in all the testimony I've seen people say the cars drive much more nicely with the radials.

Excelsior Stahl Sport Radial is what I bought to put on my 1933T 16-inch wires (on a 34T); No, you cannot get away from Coker; yes they take tubes - bought separately.  They come in 600/R16, 650/R16, 700/R16, 750/R16, etc.   I think I bought from Summit Racing (free shipping) - now priced at $269 for 600/R16s.
Of course I just bought 4 to put on the road; side-mount spare will stay the same 5.5-incher.

"Tire cross section" for the 600s given as 6.5 inches (tread width 4.6 inches) and take 4 to 5 inch rims. 
Cross section for the 700s given as 7.8 inches (tread width 5.2 inches).
The 750s cross section 7.5 inches (tread width 5.5 inches) takes 4 to 6 inch rim. 
Some tire expert may be able to tell you why the cross section is less for a 750 than for a 700.  What exactly is best for your car I do not know - they all say they will fit on a 4 inch width rim.

Hudson_in_Seattle

hi - i just went through a bunch of research and expense to get wide whites for my '53 hornet - check the h.a.m.b. for this subject

-  i didn't want cokers either (they were on the hornet when i bought it), although i just saw that hagerty insurance has a 10% discount on Cokers, if you get insurance through them

- i decided to go with diamondbacks - https://dbtires.com/ - i think they have a much better quality product for what i was looking for, i.e. radial, wide whites, 215/75 r15, t speed rating

hope this helps for your vehicle

dholck

We're talking here about "specialty radials" sized for the old cars.  I think we're not always talking about the same thing in this thread.
This is where we get into the weeds and where Mike Sheridan is correct about "regular radials" being not suitable/will not fit...  The early 30s cars I think are mostly 4-inch wide rims.  The 195/80R16 would basically be the 600/16 metric equivalent, and you need a 5 or 6 inch rim for that. Your 215/75R15 tires need a 5.5 to 7 inch wide rim.

As for me, I also had bias wide white 17s on the 34T and decided to go back to black-wall radials; ever seen a factory photo of a 1933ET or 34T with wide whites?  I haven't. 
So I've decided I'm not such a fan of the wide whites on the old cars in the period where all black was used.
I even went back to black-wall Michelens on my 66 Mercedes ...the white stripe would not have been common in Germany in 66 - plus, the brake disk dust kept turning them black anyway.  

Hudson_in_Seattle

sorry if i was unclear - i was making a general comment about cokers vs diamondback -  check the diamond back site for your vehicle size tires - https://dbtires.com/product-category/tires/size/16/600r16/ - i think that's your size

i mentioned my hudson only as a reference, hence the wide white mention, not what you should do to your vehicle

i also have a 66 mercedes, w111 250se euro sunroof coupe - white walls are incorrect for this vintage, but some folks like them anyway

MikeSheridan

I don't know if I misled anyone by trying to be brief. I will write a longer answer to try and be clearer. First, if you buy tires larger than 6.00 x 16, whether they are bias ply or radials, they will not fit in the rear tire cover or a sidemount if you have that. Measure carefully so you won't be unhappy. Diameter and width. Radials have a much larger contact area with the road than bias ply. This makes it much harder to turn the steering wheel at low speeds or stopped. The 33 Terraplane is already hard to turn in this situation. I would not recommend putting more strain on the steering system and the steering gearbox with radials. I would assume with mechanical brakes, you will not drive this significant distances any way. So low speed maneuvering is key. Some older cars, when fitted with radials have had wheel failures. There is a lot of extra side force on the rims with radials. These earlier rims were not designed anticipating this. At any rate, you absolutely must have tubes on this car. The tire manufacturers don't really like to have tubes in their radial tires. The tire squirms and moves too much, and the tube can rub inside the tire and blow out. Radials last a much shorter time than bias tires. The bonding of the cords to the rubber in radials makes it much more important to pay attention to recommended life. Seven or eight years. I've had bias ply tires last for 20 plus years on collector cars.
I put radials on my '51 Pacemaker when I replaced them last. Yes, it rides better on the highway, but everything else is worse. I'll go back to bias ply when I need to replace them.

dholck

Good to see your perspective.  The discussion has been going on for years - you may refer to a LONG thread "Radial vs. bias tires on 1930's Hudsons?" from back in 2015. Overall the impression that I got from looking at the various threads was that most people liked the radials; there were some who thought they made parking too hard with the radials and no power steering.  Also the earlier Cokers apparently had some manufacturing issues.  My new 16-inch wheels are being painted (yes, paint instead of powder-coat because I wanted a good color match), so I don't have the radials on yet -  I'll let you know.

dholck

Hey Steven - did any of this help you at all?