1940 Ford Tire Size Question

I searched with no luck.
I am getting ready to order tires and wheels for my 40 coupe. It will have all stock suspension with slightly lowered front(heavy engine shot spring......)
I remember a post on here that showed several nice 40's with the tire size listed. One was a maroon one with chrome steelies... this is the look I'm shooting for.
I would like to go with new chrome 15" wheels from coker and bias 2" or so whitewalls.
Also backspace info would be nice.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

I've got the following on my '40:
Front:
16x4" stock early Ford wheel
6.00x16 Firestone blackwalls
Rear:
16x5" stock early Merc/Lincoln wheel
7.00x16 Firestone blackwalls

 

Flat Earnie, thanks for the quick reply. Nice car. Those 7.0-16's really fill up the rear wells nice. I was thinking of going with 8.20-15's which I think are a little shorter. Thanks, Aunuki

 

I have a reversed eye spring & Tardel lowering shackles out back (they're not that long). Front is still stock height...for now.

 

here are pics of several I've built---blue one has 15 x6 in front and 15 x 7 in rear with 1 inch reverse due to narrow 9"-tires are 185/65 on front and 225/70 on rear-cloud mist grey with red wheels have same in front with centered 15 x7 in rear-tires are 195/65 front and 235/75 rear-both have dropped axles,stock springs with 8 leaves. Convert is the same----other cloud msit grey has same in front but orig 40 wheels front and rear (wider rear end) -ideal ht. for me is 23-23 1/2 at front fender and 26 at rear---have had no luck with any aftermarket springs in front--wheels came from Ralleye America (wheel kid)

 

Olscrounger, wow, nice group of cars. Thanks for the good info. I will look up the sizes and compare to bias sizes...should be a good start. Thanks, Aunuki

 

I prefer a 165R15 front tire on 3.5-5 inch rims, and currently have P285/70R15 rears on eight inch rims. They are, to tell the truth, about ten lbs in a five lb bag. The inner fender panels are pushed in some, the outer fender opening tweaked a touch, and the tires are still too close. I have run it that way for a long time, but since the tire size is obsolete, my next set will be P265/75R15. About the same height, but a little narrower, which should improve the clearance issues. Another size worth considering for the rear is the P245/75R16; I run them on the back of my roadster on an eight inch rim, and they might work OK for a '40 as well.

 

Thanks for the info, Aunuki

 

Sadly, I don't own this car. I wish I did, but I don't. Its owned by Bob Lick. I'm building a '38 coupe and will be using the same wheel/tyre/suspension combo to (hopefully) gain the same stance. Anyway, it runs 15" Merc rims, with 550-15, and 820-15 tyres.

Refer to Traditional Rod & Kulture mag issue #13, and Hop Up annual #8 for more pics and info.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks, after a lot of great input, I think I'll try 8.20-15's rear and 5.90-15's front...maybe. Aunuki

 

Olscronger what tire sizes on the cloud mist wheeled coupe.I undestand you are using the orginal wheels

 

Aunuki,
I have Coker Classics G-78 X 15 on the rear and 560 X15 on the front. Rear rims are 15 X6 and fronts are 15 X 5 gennies. If you like piecrust style, I ordered the following from Coker which fit great:
Rear: Firestone 560-15 with 2 3/4" whitewall
Front: Firestone 710-15 with 2 3/4" whitewall
If you are going for the traditional look, the Firestones look great. The Coker Classics are what you see in the pics that I will send you if you PM me your email address and since the pics were taken, I have taken out one more leaf out...looks much better and still rides great.

I previously order the bigger L78-15 for the rears, but they would not fit properly (too wide) with my stock rear end.

Good luck!
Ebert

 

olscounger, on the cloud mist grey coupe with red wheels, what backspace did you use on the rear 15x7 wheels? 4 -1/2"?
bill

 

Hope this helps. Front chin pan is 4 3/8 " off the ground.
Magnum 4 inch dropped axle. The one that is 3/4 in. narrower than stock to give better tire clearance. Magnum dropped steering arms. Posie 39 in. reversed eye spring # 2040. Coker 5:60 x 15 2 3/4 WW up front on 15 x 5 1/2 early Ford truck rims. Tire dia. is 25.88". Rear suspension is stock with BF Goodrich 7:60 x15 WW (3 3/8in.) from Coker. 28.66 " tire dia. Rear rims are 15 x6 SOLIDS with 4 inch back spacing. Years ago I used 8:20 x 15's on back with 15 x 6 Lincoln rims (49-51). 4 1/4 inch back spacing. They fit but rubbed on inner fender panel once in a while on corners.

 

Just a reminder. On your rear tires make sure the "Fat tires" don't rub against the spring shackles. Correct backspacing is important.

 

I know you said you were going with bias ply tires but this should give you tire sizes to work with. I'm sure a tire shop can convert them for you. I am running P185/70 R 14 on 14 X 6 wheels in the front and P225/70 R 15 on 15X7 wheels in the rear. It has a dropped front axle and reversed eyes on the front spring. I think it sits right and has an agressive look.

 

i have 185/70/r15s onthe front with 4" dropped axle, im real happy with the way the front sits, but the on the rear i mounted 235/75/r15s on 15x7 genies with 4" back space and only had maybe 3/8" clearance at the fender edge but about a inch at the rear radious rod at the shackle mount so im thinking 4 1/2" backspace might work but would like to know if anyone has used that combo, i put a posie reversed eye spring on the rear that is supposed to loewer the rear 2 1/2" but the rear still sits too high for what i want so may need to remove some leaves

 

Front:
Magnum 4" dropped axle with stock spring.
15x5 Merc wheels with 165x15
Rear:
Stock spring de-arched 2"
Wheels are Merc centers widened to 6" with 235/75x15.
Tires are coker.

 

Looked this morning and saw a few more responses...all good info. The pics are all nice, great looking cars. Thanks again for the help. Aunuki

 

Love your 40's. Do you have a photo of a forty done in tropical green 39 Ford color ?
thanks
Larry
Phx AZ

 

would 165 r15 look good front and back on a 41 vert that is very low full skirts rear

 

185 75R 15 is about as small as I would go in front and 205s in back

 

FRONT: 5:60 x 15 Coker wide whites (2 3/4 in white wall) on early Ford 15 x 5 1/2 Pick up rims with 3 3/4 in. back space.Total wheel dia is 25.88 in. Dropped 4 in Magnum axle and steering arms with Posie reversed eye spring #2040 and shackles. Magnum axle is 3/4 in narrower than stock for better tire/fender clearance. Front chin pan is 4 1/8 in off ground. Stock sway bar. STOCK REAR with 7:60 x 15 (from Coker) on 15 x 6 SOLIDS rims with 4 in. back space. Rear spring is stock. WW is 3 3/8 in wide. Tire dia. is 28.66 in.
Keep in mind if it's tooooo low you will need two jacks to change a flat tire. One lifts the frame. The other lifts the axle. Years ago I ran 5:60x15 (with port-a-walls) up front on 51 Merc rims with the stock suspension and 8:20x15 on the stock rear with 50 Lincoln rims - which are 1/2 in wider than Mercs. I could change the tires if I put a jack under the frame. See it in winter photo. The last photo is the car with completely stock suspension with Lester 6:00x16 tires on 40 Ford rims. Hope this helps. PS: WHILE YOU HAVE YOUR FRONT WHEELS OFF ON YOUR STOCK FRONT END PLEASE MEASURE THE DISTANCE FROM WHEEL MOUNTING SURFACE TO WHEEL MOUNTING SURFACE of the drums VERY CAREFULLY as I would like to know what it is.

 

15/6 3 1/2 15/7 4 1/2 195/15 235/15

 

16x4 front with600 16,16x5 rear with750 16, stock ford wheels rear stack has some springs removed,front has to come apart to get modified,probably drop frt 1 1/2" rides nice no rubbin