I've looked and have not seen the answer to this specific question before. If I missed it please point me in the right direction. This is my first post here. So, I am thinking seriously about a 51 Ford, apparently very much stock and unmodified. Tudor, V8, manual. Assuming it's as good as it looks, I think all it initially needs is tires (and fluids, tune-up, battery, etc). I've done a bit of research and basically just come up with more questions. It currently has 205/70r15 tires from a very "low cost" brand that I don't think I would trust. I would prefer to keep the stock steel wheels. The tires that I'd like to put on it are Cooper Cobra Radial G/Ts. I like the look, it gets really good reviews, and the price is reasonable. But the only size that might fit is 215/65r15. Question 1) Will this work on the stock 5" wheels? The specs say 6+, but I know sometimes specs are very conservative. Question 2) If the tires work on the wheels, will that fit in the wheel wells? I'm not concerned with keeping the fender skirts and I wouldn't be adverse to lightly rolling the fenders. Question 3) If this won't work at all, any recommendations on a similar tire that will? Thanks
The 215/65R15 is close to the 205/70R15 size wise, but are 1" shorter (26") than the 670/15 (27") which was stock on a '51. My choice on my '51 has been 205/75R15s and present 670/R15s from Diamond Back. Short tires on shoe box Fords look odd, but that's my opinion.
The 205/65/15 will make it harder to steer. I use Volkswagen tires on the front and can steer around a corner with one from finger with my 1950 Ford Crestliner. Use narrow tires on the front, you're not paving roads
If it doesn't have overdrive, or it doesn't work yet it's good to have like a 28" tire on the rear. Mine has 225/75/15 on the rear, 205/75/15 front. Steers easy, pretty easy to park. Mine are just typical economical tires.
I installed 225/75R15 rear tires on my '51 coupe. I have done some minor clearancing on the inside the fenders and they still rub occasionally going around sharp corners. I'm going to try 215/75R15's next time.
I run 640's and don't have any rub. If, as you say, you are willing to put some curve in the rear fender lips you can run bigger tires. You might want to look at putting a sway bar in the rear. How about an introduction and a picture of the car.
Since your car is "unmodified", I would suggest you go with the narrowest aspect ratio available. The important thing here is the height of the tire, not tread width Unless, of course, appearance is the most important thing for you..
Are you on the stock steel wheels? 15x5 correct? If my math is correct 215/65R15s should be almost half an inch narrower than your tires and just over a quarter of an inch smaller in diameter than the 205/70R15s currently on it.
I should have mentioned the rear tires are mounted on later Ford wheels that are 6" wide. I don't know exactly what they're off of, because I pulled them out of my "wheel pile". I don't get what your trying to say with your math. I have found that the car (1951 Ford) will take taller tires easier than wider tires You have to be familiar with the tire's aspect ratio or profile. This percentage (in my case 75%) represents the ratio of the sidewall's section height to the tire's section width. The section height can be calculated by multiplying the section width by the aspect ratio percentage. The answer will be the height of one sidewall. I want a taller tire in relationship to the width to fill the wheel well. That's why I have 225/75R15's on the rear. If I put a 70 or a 65 on it, I would end up with a much shorter tire than I have now that I think would look funny. Going to a 215/75R15 will give me a slightly narrower tire that would only be a little bit shorter.
When I drove mine as a daily for eons I ran the 670/15 www’s for most of the year and I had a set of BFG 205/75-15’s mounted already for my winter tires. They were the closest to the bias ply tires and didn’t throw the speedometer off. One year we had a cold snap over the weekend and on Monday I had to drive to work with the www’s on it and going down the interstate it about beat me to death running down the lanes that the big trucks were using their tire chains
JFYI, the 670/15s I'm running on my '51 are new Diamond Back Auburns that are tubeless radials. not bias.
I would expect that, since my 225/75R15's almost fit on the rear. There are, of course, no problems in the front.
I just found the tire I'm looking for in 215/70R15. The specs say it will work on a 5.5 inch tire. Thanks for all the input.
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