I got 4 nice 1940 wheels and want ro run 700 or 750 on the rear , if i let the wheel shop widen them 1" so they will be 5" wide should the extra 1" on the inside or outside ? I am using a 1940 axle on my fenderless 1930 sportcoupe.
I have 1941 Mercury 16 x 5" wheels that look just like 40's. They have more backspace than the 4 1/2" wheels I had.
I think you can go either way depending on the look you want. Inside and it looks more like a stock 40 wheel or outside and it starts looking like a reversed wheel. I have seen it done both ways and also seen it done where the wheel was widened adding to both the inside and the outside. I run 7.50's on a stock rim with no problem as stated above.
I usually widen them to the back side if I have he room as it keeps he tire close to the body. Most old Fords (at least most of the ones I've dealt with for the last 50 years) always seem to have too much space between the body and backside of the tire. The only way to tell for sure is to mount up a bare wheel and check. Frank
Here are a couple shots of my 16x5" 1941 Mercury wheels before and after mounting. You can see that from the front they look like the 4 1/2" wheels. The difference is in the back spacing and that they make the tire look a little better/fuller to me anyway. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
A lot of folks would LOVE to have those 40 wheels, they are 4 inches wide and very desirable for fronts. Consider, trading or selling and getting tthe 4 1/2 for rear.
Some 'well informed tech' (love that description!) got all over my young pal about his '29 Hiboy with the 7.50 X 16 tire on 4.5" wheels... "Those narrow wheels will start out wearing the tire treads in the centers...Then, the tires will split right down the middles, I'm warning you!" Rod pilot Eric asked him, "Which one'll split first, left or right?"
save your money...7.50 on 4" is done all the time, even by me. I've even run 7.00x18's on a stock 3 1/4" wide '32 wire wheel hundreds of miles.
my coupe with 40 ford wheels with 750 rear and 450 front have about 10000 trouble free miles on them Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
In more modern tire configurations, the very narrow wheels being discussed here are totally unsuitable for a tire with the section width the same as the 7.50 x whatever. However, the fact that the tires under discussion here are about 83% aspect ratio, the tall sidewall significantly reduces the 'curving' or 'bowing' of the tread face that would necessarily occur with a low aspect sidewall, such 50, 60 or even 70% on the same narrow rims. So, while in my opinion, a wider rim would be desirable, I can see why this has worked for those using these traditional tires on the traditional narrow original wheel rims. Just don't expect the same results from lower aspect ratio non-traditional modern tires.
So, apparently you either didn't read the entire post, only the last sentence, or you didn't find fault with the rest of the post....just picked out something you could 'hang' a post on.......... Neither you nor the OP are the only persons reading this thread and the information offered was intended to be useful to anyone who MAY have an interest in the general subject. Besides which, 'compare and contrast' is time proven means of illustrating a point. Question for you.....just how much information did your post add to the discussion?
I always widen my wheels inwards just because I like the look of hubcaps all looking the same as you look down the side of the car.
On a fenderless hot rod I like to see the rubber closer to the sheet metal as opposed to running a more "reverse" type wheel which pushes the rubber out and away from the body. Looks like a mock-up is in order to be sure.
Really man? A pissing match about additional information someone threw into an answer, an answer that did address the OP's original question? Slow day at the shop???
my $.02 I've run 3 sets of 7:50-16s Stones from Coker on stock 35 wires wires on the rear of my 31 A Never had any problem.
I have a set of 40 steel wheels and a set of K.H. wires, I don't plan on widening either of them for my tudor, I also want to run the 7.50's on the rear tight to the inner fenders...
IMO (which is not worth much) I think when you put 750 tires on a 4 inch wheel it does not look right, However I know alot of guys do it, and either like it or they just live with it because finding good 5 inch wheels is not as easy as it once was. As tall as the 750's are I think they look best on a 6 inch wheel. Which Ford never made in a 40 type. But we used to be able to buy them from Wheel Vintique, Until Coker took them over. Now you can still buy a 16 X 6 40 ford style wheel, But you have to live with 2 bolt patterns, Which looks like shit with no hubcap. But to answer your original question, Of which way to go, I would split it, As I also think rear wheels look better being a little deeper dish than the fronts. But a full inch deeper may be too much.....Just my 2 cents
It's easy to see that some guys don't put much effort into getting the right width wheel for their fat tires. When Ford went to 650s on some heavier models, they went from 4" to 4.5"s. It is more than just a matter of getting away with it, but just because the tire doesn't pop off doesn't mean that they take advantage of the engineered profile of the tire. Just to sell some of these retro tires, they list rim widths as narrow as 4" for the 700-750s, just so they can sell them. What happened to true high performance? Those 5X16 wheels were continued long after Mercury had gone to 15"s, on the Ford pickups. Look for the FoMoCo logo on the ones with the outies lug holes which are not Merc. '41 Mercs are all innies. Good Luck: Fred A
If you are running a '40 rear end in a Model A it will be too wide. Adding the extra width to the inside will help solve this problem. Charlie Stephens
Thanks for al the comments ! I think i will widen the rear wheels and like the rubber close to the body so if possible i will ad the 1" on the inside. This weekend i will remove the fenders and mock up the wheels.
Wise decision , look up post titled. - 16 x 6 wheel vintiques - From 2009 - has some good info and pics also
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