Technical Traditional trifive wheel/tire combo?

I’m looking for ideas for the wheel and tire combo for my 55 sedan build. I’m going for a 50s hot rod style. Manual stock steering and drum brakes.
OEM Chrome 15” wheels, maybe 15x6”. No moon cap.
Tires??? Bias ply has the right look, but they are expensive and quality seems hit or miss.

The 55 pictured below is the basic idea i'm going for. Not trying to clone this car, but it is the closest thing that i've seen to what I am trying to build.




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Chrome wheels and blackwalls or add trim rings to the black rims with baby moons.

 

Definitely black walls. Not sure what size yet.


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Chrome reverse, Americans or slots. Cragars too.

 

Back in 1963 Frank Perdowski had American Torque Thrusts with black walls on his ‘57 BelAir hardtop. There were a lot of cool cars in my neighborhood then, but Frank was king of the street with those.

 

Keep repeating this to yourself as you cancel all thought of any 'mags' or radial tires.

 

No mag wheels on a '50s street car. How about '55 Chevy 15x5 fronts, same for the rear but reverse a set of wider Buick(?) rims on your centers. Black or red with chrome lug nuts and chrome spindle nut covers.

 

red wheels black walls chrome trim rings

 

Thanks all. I’m set on the chrome oem style wheels and black wall tires. I need recommendations on sizes and brands to get close to what is in the photos I shared.


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I know I'm late and you want chrome but.......
This is what chevy57dude was talking about,
and IMHO is as period as it gets and way cooler!
And sizes 6-70-15 front 8-20-15 rear.

 

Chrome reverse up front black steel with chrome lug nuts in the back.. Narrow the rear end so you can put a deep dish wheel in the back.. Never put deep dish wheels in the front, it screws up the scrub radius.

ET Team III wheels

 

A 50's hot rod '55 Chevy would have had full wheel covers stolen from another car like '57 Caddy or a spinner cap. If he had money he may have bought an after market cap from someplace like J.C. Whitney.

 

Hello,

Not to throw a wrench into the 55 Chevy chrome wheels discussion, but, those friends that had a 55 Chevy, a 56 2 door post and a 57 Bel Air Hardtop all had the same size stock wheels 15 x 5, on all four corners. (57=14) The only time anyone else had something larger on the back was when they borrowed my Bruce Slicks from the 58 Impala. The time period of larger tires on the back and even larger tires on the front is a misnomer for all of us that grew up in the 1955-65 time period from our high school days.

Our every day hot rod sedans and customs had the same size tires, we rotated them easily and kept the sedans running for our daily drivers and cruising vehicles. If and when a flat tire popped up, the same size tire was always sitting in the trunk. Nothing would happen to cause any difficulties with driving odd size wheels. Most of us could not afford chrome wheels or even the more expensive chrome reversed wheels.

a different hot 56 Chevy sedan from Long Beach 1959 same size stock rims all around.

The 56 Chevy post guy had a stock 265 motor and realized that he could not compete with the 57 or my 58. So, he did the custom thing with new white tuck and roll upholstery, new paint and chromed reversed wheels. Yes, we exchanged wheels during our many Saturday morning gatherings. Those chromed reverse wheels were the best look for any car, but were out of reach for me.

Mags came into the picture, but those were so far out there that we could look, but no one bought a set for their cars. It wasn't until later that copies of the original American Racing Mags were less expensive and in the affordable market for everyone. But, they were not American Racing 5 Spoke Mags.

Getting back to the tire size? Even with chromed reversed wheels, the tires were all the same size as stock. A flat tire caused some hilarity during the drive to the tire shop, with one black rim versus 3 chrome rims, but at least the driveline was not harmed with odd size tires and wheels. Also, larger tires in the rear caused some anxious moments in rubbing and fitment.

Jnaki

As mentioned earlier and plenty of times, the larger back wheels for Chevy Sedans did not start showing up until the late 60s when all street designs went to extremes. It was not always a good thing, either. The choice is yours, but if you want the 55-65 look, all rims, chromed or chromed reverse were the same stock size as from the factory. YRMV

 

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Looks just like my car did before I screwed it up and stripped it down.


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Yes. Same size wheels all the way around and no deep dish in the back.
I do like the slightly wider wheel and tire on the car in the photos. It may not be totally accurate for the time period. Interestingly it seems like in that movie sometimes it had stock looking skinny tires up front and sometimes it looks like they are all the same size, a little wider than stock.
While I want that general 50s hot rod look it’s not going to be totally period correct. I don’t have time or money to redo everything. Mostly driveline that will be later stuff. The aluminum radiator shining through the grille will be a dead giveaway. So total authenticity is not really the goal. I like the look of the movie car, so that’s more what I’m after.


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The replies seem to be from folks in the eastern part of the country and seem to favor same size tires. In California it was common to see Chevys and Fords of the tri-five era running 6.70x15 front and 8.20x15 rear. Cars with the same size front and rear were 'daddy's car'. That's my recollection from 1962 when my '55 was only seven years old. I had a good job making $1.25/hr so I could afford gas and a girlfriend but no chrome wheels, just baldy hub caps.

 

Please think about painting the aluminum radiator a not shiny black.

 

Makes sense that there would be regional differences.
I also agree that same size wheels and tires in stock size looks a little too original to me and not very much like a hot rod.
The black 55 in the photos looks like it has the same size wheels and tires, although a little wider than stock.


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I have considered doing this. My radiator looks stock in design, just aluminum. So I could paint it and it would look right. I haven’t really explored this yet, but it don’t like the idea of the aluminum visible through the grille.


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OK, teachable moment, please... my memory of that type moon cap on a black wheel is more from the early 60's than the 50's. Seems to me more people (based on period photos I've seen on this site, etc) were going with non-stock, non-tri-five hubcaps or wheelcovers to spruce up their tri-fives. Case-in-point is my avatar photo which is my dad's car photographed in '59. I believe those are '58 chev hubcaps on those painted steelies. Was the type of moon cap in the OP's opening photos on the black '55 part of the 50's mods?

 

Looks like your are pretty limited to stock steel wheels with caps, chrome or full covers. Either way the car is going to look great!!


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My attempt at a mid 50’s GM car with a late 50’s look from a while back.

I know you said no white walls but I posted it as a possibility for others going through the thread.


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Mmmmm...... Gravy samich!....

 

The early part of that movie I think was set in 1963, so that could make sense.


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The OP car wheels look like all paint versions of these from Wheel Vintiques:


Or US Wheel:

 

I’m voting the chrome OE wheels and black wall bias ply’s. Sizes...I would have to do some thinking, but would likely do something like a 6.70 15 in the front and something a little taller and wider for the rear. But, again would have to think about that a little. My 56 sort of has that setup at least in wheel and the 6.70 15 part. But, I think you would need a little wider tire for the rear for the look you are going for.

 

Running two sets of wheel/tires for that vintage late 50’s-early 60’s vibe on my Tri-five. 6.70x15 with Lancers. Second set is 9” Cheaters on 15x7” rims for rear and 6.70 on 15x5 on front.

 

Very cool!!


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