I've searched to no avail. And I don't have the back issue of TRJ with the car featured..... Does anybody know what size tires, front and rear, he is running on it? I'm guessing maybe 7.60-15 out back....not sure about front. My '39 is running 8.20's and 5.60's, but I am tired of the cartoonish rubber rake. Time to dial everything down a bit, and keep it in the late '50s vein.
Your tires aren't too far off. The tech sheet we ran in TRJ #13 has them listed as 6.40x15 front and 8.20x15 rear. I'm not sure if he changed that with the recent makeover, but I always thought that combo made for a pretty righteous stance.
Thanks, guys. It makes sense for me to keep the 8.20's, then, since I still run 3.78:1 gears in the banjo. The 6.40 fronts fill up that front fender perfectly, on Lee's car. Mine sits/has the same frontend setup as him.
I wanna see photos of your cartoonish rake. I've got some of that going on with my stake truck, but I'm running late model style radials.
Pretty much sits just like the Bob McCoy '40 Tudor......looks great on a flamed '40 Deluxe, but I am more into subtlety. Especially on a mostly stock, black '39 Deluxe. It lends itself to some restraint, even if it's running 15" steelies from a stock '54 F100....
Neither Curt or Ryan know what they're talking about. Fronts are 5:90 X 15, rears are 8:20 X15. You can't believe everything you read in the magazines.
What type of challege is it to change the rear 8.20's in your 39 with the long axel snout? Everybody is encouraged to answer!
My '35 really could use tires like his. They are perfect but I can't bring myself to run 15's because most of the time they have a hard time filling the wheelwells. I wish I could find medium white walls for 16" tires to mimic that look. Probably the best '40 ford ever?
Easily in my top five '40 Fords, ever. Thanks for clearing up the sizes, Lee! I am running '40 drums all around on my '39. And yes, it can be a pain to fit the 8.20's around the axle snout. Just have to jack it high enough, and angle it in. Steel rims are stock F100 offset, so it's not too challenging.
I am running 600 x 16s on my 40, with the wheels being stock 46 units. I am not sure of the width of a stock 46 wheel, but I bet they are narrower than your 15,s o I am hoping the big meats (760's -820,s) will not be a big challenge to get bolted on! Pratt's first version, with olds rocket, is my all-time favorite 40!
Well... 6.40X15s were the standard size of fronts on everything in high school... That is, 'righteous' high school. (1955-1959; insert earlier if necessary!) Dayton tires, U.S. Royal Masters, as long as they sported the 2.25" whitewall. Blackwalls likewise, but whites were popular. This was Northern Calif., bay area...San Jose. 7.60X15s were on most rears, but we (friends and self) opted for 8.20X15. The 5.00/5.50/5.90X15s were available from the trunks of Volkswagens...most 'purloined' tires were new spares that still had the blue protective dye on the sidewalls. There were at LEAST six 1940 Fords at school with the 5.50/5.90X15 fronts, most with 7.60 rears. My pal Teddy DeMello ran 6.40s on the front of his black '33 Tudor, as I advised him the 5.90s (and smaller) would lower the front 'excessively'. This was after I installed the chrome 4" dropped axle that Marty Costello dropped for us (Mor-Drop' in Oakland) along with reversed-eyed flattened front spring... That '33 tudor was SO LOW the 6.40s would contact the fender braces on a bump. ...and I 'advised' him that the 5 series would drop it too low... LOL Teddy's chrome axle was invisible unless the viewer was laying down, with his head on the ground...peering under the bumper blade that was 5" off Terra Firma. Rears hiked the back some, 8.20X15 U.S. Royal Masters. Oh, the front 6.40s were also U.S. Royal Masters; they didn't come in the '5' series. Another good reason... Teddy's '33 was coined "Mad Rake" by the high school paper editor, Marty Wright. Marty was right.
I'm currently running 560-15/820-15s on my 40. My front tires are pretty dry rotted and I'm going to be swapping them out for 590-15's for sure.
Anyone got any pictures? This is just one of the decisions I’ve gotta make, and pics always help. In my opinion 5.60’s are too small on the front
Not the greatest picture but that’s 5:60-15 with 8:20-15. The black wall to white wall ratio on these particular 5:60-15’s bothers me. The white wall is too wide. The 5:90-15 will fill the wheel well a bit more and has a better whitewall to black wall ratio it’s also a Bridgestone tire which matches the back Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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