Are 14" wheels out of place on a 50's custom?

+84 on 1957. If you were doing a custom that was an easy way to both lower it a bit and update it, and it would let you run a lot of late 50s-early 60s hubcaps.

Interestingly, some of them stayed 15" longer, I have some 60 and 61 Buick caps that are still 15".

 

So, alot of guys run big n littles as they call it. What if a custom were to reverse that. With my rear axle and OD I am at times a bit geared on the high side. So I have decided to run Firestone bias tires. Say I ran a little lower profile 14 incher on the rear and a 6.70-15 up front. Skirts I am building are full coverage except for the pie crust edge of the tire showing put of the bottom. So...who would ever know. I am thinking would help out with the taildragger look as well as help out with gearing at the same time, or...I am just completely crazy. Has anyone ever seen it done anywhere, seems kind of backwards as we know it.

 

I ran 14' on my simi-custom 54 Chev. in 1961 car was lowed in front & back, the 14,s really put it on the ground, no air bags in " 61 ".

 

Back to the top for the night crowd

 

You can love them if you want too, I personally cant stand them. I dont like carrots either.

 

If you wanna look like a TONKA toy run those monster rims with the rubber band tires (just my opinion)

 

What rubber bands? I am running 7.10-15 Bias tires now, I just have been seeing 50's customs at shows last year running 14's and was wondering if it was common practice.

 

running 14s also limits your hubcap options....keep your 15s

 

Glad to hear you're keeping the bias ply tires.

Nothing wrong with running smaller wheels in the rear, but you won't be able to rotate your tires. That would be a problem for me cause I drive the crap out of my car.

 

Use what you want 14's are Ok. Bias-ply if you have money to throw away on higher initial cost and less tire life not to mention a shitty ride.

 

From 58 to around 60 the 15 inch size tire could be bought cheaper than 14. This is true for the Atlas brand tire sold at Standard/Esso gas stations.......................... The 14s were also harder to mount..................... The ford would only dismount/remount from the back side. In 1961 I assembled my own reverse 14 wheels for my 54 F1.. 16 inch centers with a 58 to 60 ford outer shell with the valve core mounted toward the brake drum. I thought they looked cool but with all the offset on the front it made it very hard to stear at slow speeds.

 

another reason i love my 14's.. I can get Coker bias plys for 99 bucks each

white one has 15's.. green one has 14's.. not a huge difference in my opinion.

 

not sure if you mean a 50's body style or a 50's era. and then if you mean early or late. but either way...

my car came with 14s and they look in proportion with a g78-14 bias ply WWW. i'll probably still go with 15s so i can run my desoto caps, but i think the 14s fit this car well.

hey bad luck... what caps are you running?

 

Not a huge difference in my opinion either. 99 Bucks a piece can't be beat either. What are the wheels you are running, offset and such, or do you know what vehicle they came off of? Looks like the wayto go to get lower and save a ton of money on tires too. And yeah, was also curious what cap you are running too.

 

i get a lot of questions and comments about those caps! i got them off a guy in Michigan from the HAMB about 4 years ago. They are like the crossbar hubcaps without the bars. I havent seen a pair like them since ive had them.

not sure the offset.. i know they do have one because they clear my front disc brakes.. i got them for free from my buddy.. who had them on a 50 truck. The tires are cheaper and i didnt have to cut out my rear fenderwells with the 14's. I almost switched to 15's just so i could run Caddy hubcaps... but decided to keep what i have

 

When you order the tires from Coker what size did you order?

 

this is the tire here.. they are $136.. but there is a company that comes to the large car swapmeet by me once a month.. that sells them for 99 bucks.. no tax. might be a little over a hundred now with prices going up.. ive had my set for a few years.. but either way.. pretty cheap for a name brand bias ply whitewall.. they are E-78's

http://www.cokertire.com/tire-styles/e78-14-coker-classic-2-3-8-whitewall-tire.html

 

brings back memories.. i bought a rough 55 pontiac chieftain back in 1987, first thing i did was get some wide whites, they were 78-15s made by dunlop and later by remington, i believe they were "candy classics", then a few years later i bought a 57 star chief that was in my neighborhood, also kind of rough, and i went to go get wide whites for it and asked for 78-15's, they told me they wouldn't fit because i had 14" rims.. oh.. well then, do you have 78-14 tires? I didn't know they were both available, but i was learning.. back then i could find them locally and they ran about $85 a piece but that in L.A., now i have to have them fedex'd in from coker or universal...

 

You are aware that going from a 15" rim to a 14" rim only gives you a half inch drop?

 

Harley Earl put 13" wheels on the 1938 Buick Y-Job to get it sitting lower. Someone has to be a trendsetter; its not much of a "custom" if everybody builds it by the same rules.

 

Yes

 

My 49 chev fastback has 225/70X14 WW and my 50 shoebox runs G78X14 Remington WW. They are both the same outside diameter as the 8.50X15's on my buddy's 50 Cadillac...... BUCKD