Customs 7.10 Tires on Customs Why Not? The Sam Barris Merc did it!

I know that 6.70's are generally the rule of thumb for most customs but some of my favorite cars used to run 7.10's.

Examples like the Sam Barris Merc



Or how about the Valley Custom's Polynesian



Both of these cars ran the massive 7.10's and I love the way it looks. Is it an option for lets say a '54 Chevy done in the same manner? Why do they look so great on these cars and why am I restricted to 6.70's?

Any examples on contemporary cars or historic cars would be great!

 

Sorry to disagree, but they look wrong (out of proportion?), even on those era built customs. "Massive" is the operative word. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, though.

 

That's not the Polynesian, it's Ron Dunn's Ford.

 

Oops correcting, I got lost trying to find an old picture.

 

I have to agree and think that 6.70's are the way to go. I believe Sam and other guys felt that 7.10's looked better on larger customs such as Mercs, and that the 6.70's looked better on the smaller cars such as shoebox Fords. Rik, isn't that what you heard/read ?

 

Who says your restricted to just one tire? Do whatever the hell you want!!

I dont see anything wrong with the looks of those tires, but what do i know, i built the halloween merc.

 

See that is what a friend said. He said that a Merc is just a larger car which lent themselves to use a bigger tire. A car like a '54 Chevy would look funny with that size.

I'm just curious if the 7.10 was a popular tire for an early 50's custom and if it was used on other cars other then these two. 6.70's to me look great but I was thinking that I might be missing something, so I dive in and see what I come up with.

 

I may be off a year but in 54-5 we were street racers and used 800x15 worn out Atlas Bucrons mfg. by Humble on any thing that raced on the street because they hooked the best. 6.70 weren't in the ball park if you wanted to win. There was a lot shoe box and 34-36 coupes with the 6.70 back then and couldn't hang so some of the traditions I see here are mith.We did use the 6.70's on the front though.

 

I love huge whitewalls.
Wish I could have found them back when I bought my tires, but at the time, just couldn't find what I really wanted so I bought smaller.
I love the way these look on our man Rusk's car:

 

That may be true, but what about for slow customs.

 

So are there any examples besides those two? Is Rusk running 6.70's with 3.5 or 4" white walls?

 

----------------------------------------------------
what did he say?(ok he changed the photo)
Tires had only about 4-1/2" rubber on the road moving up size
you had less blow outs

 

Wrong!!

Ian

 

I had a different picture up before that and it was not the one that I wanted. He was correct in correcting me. The one up now is in fact the Polynesian though.

 

Copy that, my apologies!!

Ian

 

Hi Axle,

I already PM-ed Jeffrey about this.. and told him I do not know.
So far info like this comes to me.. but does not always stick.
Simply since I do not own a custom of my own and since I dont need to figure out the perfect tires for my own custom yet... I know what looks good, and which car had it.
But don't ask me about the numbers.... yet. My time will come, my daydreams will get materialized... sooner or later

 

Jeffrey I cant remember any slow custom cars that were driven on the streets. A couple of kids that did the show's at that time didnt drive or race them and were just pretty trinkets for the shows. Many flatty powered customs raced every weekend and some were badass. A few had Cad,olds or redram power. We did like the WW tires and the Bucrons were WW type so they fit the bill so to speak.

 

7-10s on mercs, always.

 

7.10's will work just fine..most of them on 50's customs are on a 14 or 15 inch wheel...it's fine

 

I was thinking "massive" 16 inchers. 14's or 15's might be OK. In fact, I've got 7.10X16's on my '27 T Sedan.

 

7.10-15 Firestones on my Merc...I think they fit just fine. The Firestones actually measure a bit bigger than other 7.10s according to Corky.



But, it is all sexual prefference..

-Abone.

 

Tire size went according to the size of the car & weight. No one would use 6.70s on a Cad or Lincoln, just as no one would run 4 8.20s on a '50 Chev ... it's proportion & need for a tire that will support the weight. Also, every tire manufacturer used a different whitewall width, with some (Goodyear Super Cushion) being white within 1" of the road.
Then comes the time period when the "California Rake" look - performance (or the appearance of being fast) becomes foremost - standard equipment becomes 8.20s in the rear no matter what was under the hood, front end dropped, with the smallest tires you dared to run up front.
As for the Barris Merc being equipped with 7.10s - you can bet they were on the car when he bought it as that was the factory supplied tire size ... remember the car still had single exhaust due to the added cost for duals.

 

it's not too late, you still have time to redeem yourself...

 

What a piece!! "Only posers drive un-chopped cars".....haha.

Hey JJ....those are Goodyear 6.70-15's with a 4" WWW. '49-54 Chevy's came stock with that size and I think they look best, but I also made my decision based on height because of my suspension.

TheFrenZ posted some great info in this thread awhile back....
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=208333


Bryan

 

How do you know that Sam ran a 7.10? You cant see the numbers. I know on a goodyear the whitewall is the same dimension on a 6.70 then it is on a 710. I just bought some goodyears 670's for my merc yesterday,when the whitewall is the same size,a 670 is just fine,my car is too low for a 710,Sams car was higher in the front so he had the room.I dont see the point of not having a bigger tire if just the blackwall is a little bit bigger.

 

Depends on your preference I guess. I run 8.00-14s on the wifes 54 Chevy. The car is lowered about 3inches front and 4-4 1/2 rear. I like the look of a filled wheel well.
However, I went for a late 50s look and the WW are 2 1/4 .
Yes the fronts rub a little on tight turns and yes I have to let the rear hang a little to get the rear tires off.
I think if the tires are too small and there is too much opening between the wheel well and the tire, it looks akward.
To each their own, now you have heard mine.

 

Well on the restoration the tire that were put back on were 7.10's. I am going off what TRJ article said. I would assume that the meticulous restorations that these cars go through the tires would have been the easiest thing to get right. You car looks awesome with the 6.70's so I think that it really depends on the car. Flamedabone's merc is one of my favorite's and he ran 7.10 so I guess it's different for each case.

 

It's pretty simple, Sam's car was brand-new when he began to customize it, and the tire size from the factory was a 710-15. The big Buicks and Cadillacs ran an even larger tire, while the lighter Ford and GM models usually used 670's.

 

6.70's on 15's
6.00 on 16's