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

Hey Jeff, your merc is looking fantastic as always and I love the new 7.10s. Good years are the way to go on a period Kustom.

Here is my shoebox with 6.70-15 Goodyear Super Cushions...

I know the pictures suck, so if I get a chance I'll take a few more if anybody is interested.

 

Nice, those tires look great on that sled.Thanks for the compliments on my car. Im with you Goodyears are the way to go, I just wish I would of had mine before the roadster show and Sacramento but oh well. Nice Pics man!!!

 

Where can I buy Good Year supercushions? When I started reading this thread I thought man these guys are way over analyzing this. I changed my mind.

 

Lucas in Long Beach, CA has the Goodyears. Not in the Coker catalog= off the radar!

And just to be a picky asshole, that bitchin under construction chopped chevy looks like the rims are too wide and are ballooning the tires out a bit. Everything little thing is important in getting the look right. (Easy fix though, so I don't feel like it's a mean comment!)

 

(I meant Rusk's btw)

 

So...If I'm doin my math correctly, 6.70=Shoebox Ford.
7.10=Chopped Merc.
8.20's=Bigass Caddys, or Hot Rod Rears.
P.S. Mine are 7.10's Firestones.

 

I wish it were so simple. The Super Cusions that Shoebox1950 posted look amazing...I mean really amazing but they don't look like firestone 6.70's. The Goodyears may be a bit taller or something because they fill the wheel well properly like 7.10. Also I have seen some '53-'54 Mercs like the Dragoo merc run 7.10's and look awesome. I think it depends on the car and the style to which it's being designed with. I am going to try to run a 7.10's on my '54 and see what it looks like. I figure if I don't get carried away by slamming the car all the way down the 7.10's may look appropriate. The Goodyear Super Cusion 6.70's look like an option also.

Anybody have a measurement on the total height on the Super Cusion 6.70's 15"? I would be interested to see how they stack up against the 28.88" in height the 7.10 Firestones are at.

Weez what are you running on your shoebox? Tire size and wheel width?

 

Super Cushion
Remember the Packard Mayfair, the Hudson Super Jet, Studebaker President, ’50 Mercury, or the Pontiac Chiefton. Quite a collection representing but a few of the original equipment applications of this beautiful Goodyear tire. After World War II, this was the tire that carried the automotive industry quickly into the future 1945 to 1952.

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="58%" border=1><TBODY><TR class=style4><TD width="15%" bgColor=#cccccc>

Size​

</TD><TD width="10%" bgColor=#cccccc>

Rim
Width​

</TD><TD width="12%" bgColor=#cccccc>

Section
Width​

</TD><TD width="14%" bgColor=#cccccc>

Overall
Diameter​

</TD><TD width="22%" bgColor=#cccccc>

Rolling
Circumference​

</TD><TD width="11%" bgColor=#cccccc>

Rev./
Mile​

</TD><TD width="16%" bgColor=#cccccc>

Tread
Width​

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670/15​

</TD><TD width="10%">

5.0&#8221;​

</TD><TD width="12%">

7.47&#8221;​

</TD><TD width="14%">

28.40&#8221;​

</TD><TD width="22%">

89.22&#8221;​

</TD><TD width="11%">

710​

</TD><TD width="16%">

4.5&#8221;​

</TD></TR><TR class=style4><TD width="15%">

710/15​

</TD><TD width="10%">

5.0&#8221;​

</TD><TD width="12%">

7.74&#8221;​

</TD><TD width="14%">

28.50&#8221;​

</TD><TD width="22%">

89.54&#8221;​

</TD><TD width="11%">

708​

</TD><TD width="16%">

4.6&#8221;​

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Smaller overall then firestones? Huh. I would not have guess that.

 

It may be that the white wall is bigger by about an inch over the Firestones.

 

I think you have to be a picky asshole to produce a fine, period custom. That's one of the reasons that tire brand and size are so important....just look at the difference on Jeff's Merc. And you're right, I need a skinnier wheel....

You should check out that link I posted earlier.

Bryan

 

Yeah that was a pretty useful thread, thanks Rusk! Now that the Goodyears are in the mix my head is spinning. So 5-5.5" max width on the wheels to keep things looking right? I think that I have been focusing on the tire size a great deal and forgetting the fact that the size of the white wall can also throw thing out of whack or brings things right into focus as far as styling goes.

 

My 2 cents on finding the right tire for your sled....... Start doing the homework, start looking in all the old magazines and books and find the look that you like and try to research and figure out what they were running back in the day on your type of car.

 

Hey Robbie, I was just looking at your pictures again and those 6.70s look fuckin great on your car!!!!!!!!!!

 

I have 7.10s on my '51 Stude and they look great..............Rich

 

let us know how you get along jeffrey, ive got my 53 in the works and would love every bit of help getting it perfect.

 

I've beeen following this thread closely and i have a question. Anybody ran 14's at all back then?? I have 14's and i've been looking for the right size bias ply (www) and i go back in forth with the sizes. anybody got suggestions! thanx

Ian

 

I am not sure 14" were available until the 60's maybe? You have to think about wheel cover options when running a rim like that. All of your classic option are lost and personally a 14" wheel does not look right at all. I think the tried and true 15" x 5(.5)" wheel is your best bet. Especially for such a nice car as your own is turning out to be raunchero13.

JeffSled's advise on looking at the little books and old magazines is probably our best bet. I am going to be looking into those Goodyears though because they look great!

 

I agree with the options part for sure, but i bought a set of OEM chrome 14x5 , the reason is CLEARANCE and clearance only. when my car is at the lowest in the rear the top of the tire hits the top of my 1/4 and i dont want to put any stress on the body! Compromise i guess!! I'd rather run 15's for sure!!

Ian

 

Man that sucks when you start having to sacrifice one thing for another. I think your car is classy enough that it could not completely lay out on the ground and still give that same impact. If it were me I would run the 15" wheels with a choice wheel cover and run bump stops to dictate where the car lays in rest position. It sucks because you spend all this time getting the stance to where you would like it then have to settle on a pretty big part of the overall look as a result.

 

Yep!! It kinda blows because i really like the rear very low !! It's interesting though, Mcphail's old chevy now owned by another BEATNIK as 14's on it and i have never heard anybody say anything bad about the wheels or the overall look of the car.

 

What about 14" out back and 15" up front with a cool wheel cover.

 

ian
whats up man i meet at the unique twist b.b.q. in burbank. i got the 52 bel air.
the tires hitting the 1/4 is not a good reason to run 14's. there is a bigger selection of wide whites tire sizes and hub caps in 15's.
i used to run 6.00 15's so that it would hit my rear 1/4.

 

Ford didn't have a 14" until 1957...I think it was the same year for Chevy.

 

Exellent thread!

 

Bingo! 14-inch tires became commonly available in 1956 as a "gimmick" (as they were called in magazines at the time) to lower the 1957 new models ever so slightly.

I have some 1957-1959 kustom magazines and there were some reader's early 1950s cars running them already by then, but none of the feature cars had them.

 

Great thread !!!! I feel the correct tires are SO IMPORTANT.

 

ok, after reading through this whole thread i still dont get it. With only about a 1/2" height difference betweens 670s and 710s whats the big deal? Im missing something here, this question has been asked 3 times with no answer.

Whats the big deal?

 

Well the 7.10s are a little bit bigger for a bigger car, such as a merc compared to a chevy or a shoebox.Also if you are going after a look of a certain period then you want to go with the tire size that the car came with.

 

yeah a little bigger, is it really that noticable?