Technical 1935 Wire Wheel Tire Sizes

I'm sure this has been covered before so I apologize for asking again. I have no luck whenever I try to search something on here. I would like to know what minimum and maximum bias ply tire sizes will fit on original Ford 16x4 inch 1935 wire wheels? I would like to run 500/525 front and 750 rear on these wheels but according to the Coker rim width chart, the 4 inch width is too wide for the 500/525 and too narrow for the 750 tire. Any real world experience that you guys could share with me is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jim.

 

Hey Jimmy,

The most effective search method is to type your question into Google and it will come up with a whole heap of responses from the Jalopy Journal. I just did a quick test and typed in " tire size for 35 wire wheels" and got a bunch of hits.

And yes, plenty of people running 4" wide wires with those size tires.

 

DeLuxe, Thanks for the advice. Any idea why Coker says these sizes won't work on the 4 inch wheels? Jim

 

Liability

 

True, guess I should have known that. Anyone running a 450/475 on a 4 inch wide wheel? Thanks again. Jim

 

<------5.50 front and 7.50 rears.

 

The 500/525 is definitely the most popular front tire size, some run 600.

And because this thread is useless with out pics...







^^^^ 600 on the front ^^^^^

 

I have 5.00/5.25 on 40 Ford 4" wheels. They are stupid looking. Not because the wheel is too narrow but because the tread of the tire is round like a VW tire not flat like a 4.75 or 6.00 tire. Just saying

 

6.00s on the front and 7.00s on the back

 

I have Coker 7.50X16 on rear of my 35 wires and MT90 motorcyclist tires on front. Mounted easily without issues.

Sent from my XT1585 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Yes.......because the tire cross section width of a given tire size maintains the desired shape/profile when mounted on rims of a certain width range. Wheels narrower or wider than those the tires are intended to be mounted on distort that shape/profile. The tire then does not perform as intended by the engineers. Too tall a tire profile on too narrow a wheel also creates cornering loads the wheels were not intended to carry.

Now, does that mean you cannot mount them on whatever you want! Nope, you can do whatever you want and, in most case, 'get away with it'. As long as you are willing to accept the compromises that result.....which you may not notice. But that doesn't make it right.

Ray

 

I'm running 5.50 on 4" and 7.50 on 4.5" x 16" Kelsey Hayes wheels

 

Plenty run them on 4 inch rims and seem to get away with it.
Fronts will be okay with 450/475 or 520/550 probably ok with 600s
I would not run 700 or 750 on a 4 inch wide rim, - just too narrow in my opinion, so I widened mine to 6 inch and they seem ok.
I believe that a 700 or 750 on a 4 inch rim with low tyre pressure could bounce of the rim. - some scoff at this comment.
Safety first !

 

Great photo!

 

Years off off road use has taught me the opposite is true. Too wide a wheel will loose tires, too narrow will not. A4" wide tire on a 4" wide wheel is a problem a 6" wide tire on a 4" wheel is pretty hard to break loose.

As a test once we put a set of 15" wide 38's on a stock 6" wide Toyota wheel. Horribly hard to get on the wheels and you could run them with almost no air and they wouldn't unseat the beads.

 

ONKuy6f3to0DnOAO20YC0A by G V Gordon posted Sep 18, 2015 at 2:15 PM

6.00 X 16 and 7.00 X 16s No problem with somewhere around 10,000 miles.

 

This one belongs to my Dad, it's got 5.50's on the front and 7.50's on the rear: