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I have a 55 1st series 3100 pickup .I have seen many pickup with white wall tires. Was that an option back then? And what size tires whereon 16 inch rims. Thanks for any info

Option or not, I never liked whitewalls on a truck!

Trucks with whitewalls remind me of pigs with lipstick.

Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but the only one that matters is yours. It’s your truck do as you like.

I have Ww’s on my ”˜37 and ”˜46. The former has had them for years. Some say they like them and a few have said otherwise. I had black walls on the ”˜46 for a short while and didn’t like the appearance.

Actually, from what I've read, white walls were not all that common back then except on fancier, luxury cars, despite what the old movies show you.

That being said, I put white walls on my '41 just because I like them. And like 37Blue says, your opinion is the one that matters.

Get out the white paper, some scissors, tape and see how they look from 20'. Or some masking tape and white paint since you are tossing the old tires anyway. They would certainly be "period correct" looking but this way you can test them out...

Trucks were work tools and nobody thought too much about how they looked, or thought of them as status symbols, or worried about how the panels fit, etc. IIRC the early AD trucks all came green unless you special ordered. For the most part, nobody would have bothered with appearance accessories like whitewalls on a truck. Maybe on some moviestar's ranch in California or something...

That said, whitewalls were available, and there's no reason you couldn't have had them if you wanted. If you like them, put them on!

We ran that very truck in our business until the early 1970's. Dad and me had 15 Chevy and GMC trucks. They were very tough and seldom broke down. The men who drove them were just as tough. It was a service and installation type business. All city driving. We never put white wall tires on any of them. That was reserved for our cars.

White wall tires were not on the option list for 1955 1st design trucks. Standard cabs had black wheels and Deluxe colored wheeels. Rims were 16X4.5". and tires 6,ooX16 for standard equipment.

White walls were a factory option for 1955 2nd design trucks.

I don't currently own a pickup but I think the whitewalls look good on the ones from 47 (second series?) through the 54 (first series). That run of pickup bodies were relatively nice looking.

Good topic.

Thanks and best,

Charlie

I happen to like pigs with lipstick.