VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Trucks and Vans Safe to put 6.50-16 tires on 4" rims?

I can't find any 6.00-16 truck tires. Is it okay to use 6.50-16 tires (like the ones Jim Carter sells) on the 4" wide rims?

The 1941 truck came with a 6.00 X 16 4 ply PASSENGER car tire. The first option was a 6.00 X16 6 ply pass. tire.
The 4 ply used 28 pounds in the front and 32 in the rear. That was the maximum inflation for a 4 ply tire. The rear tires for the 6 ply could be inflated up to 40 pounds. This increase the load capacity by 140 pounds per tire.
The last option was a 15" low pressure truck type tire.

In 1946 the 1/2 ton came with 6.00 X 16 6 ply pass. tires and the option was a 6.50 X 16 6 ply - and used the same 4" rim.
The 15" were the heavy duty option.

1/2 ton trucks always came with a passenger car tire as standard, not a truck tire.

A 1/2 ton that never carries a load could use the lower tire pressure in the rear also.

:vcca:

I would go ahead and mount the 650x16 inch tires, they probably will be as safe as the 850x16 inch tires that my brother mounted on the 49 ford 4" rims on his Model A Ford hotrod rear tires back in 1958. He is going to be 69 this next August 11 and he is still "safe". Safe is kinda like time, they are both relative things......... :vcca:

Always?

More like " Once upon a time" ?

Yes, always, at least up through the bias tire years.

Sorry about my faulty terminology. By "truck" I meant six ply. I think my truck originally had six ply tires because the data plate is stamped with "4600" as opposed to "4400". By "safe" I mean the tires won't blow off the wheels when I'm driving down the road at 45 mph with 1500 pounds of lumber in the back. I checked Coker, Universal, Chevs of the 40s, STA, and a few others, as well as Google for 6.00-16 6ply and the only one I came up with was a Chinese tire that was recalled. I didn't want use 4 ply because I wanted to keep the extra 200 lb capacity. If any of you can tell me where to find a 6.00-16 6-ply tire that looks anything like the original, it would be much appreciated.

More thoughts on tires.

The 1/2 ton pick-up has an actual curb weight of about 3000 pounds. About 60 percent is on the front wheels. That leaves 40 or about 1200 pounds shared by the rear wheels or 600 pounds per tire. A 1000 load would be 1100 per tire.

Tires available.
The Coker catalog has the Goodrich (passenger) tire , 6.00 X 16 4 ply with a 1400 pound load rating with 32 pounds. The 6.50 X 16 has a 1580 pound rating at 32 pounds.
The old fashioned tire (info from 1949 literature) had a 1065 pound rating for a 6.00 X 16 6 ply at 36 pounds and a 1215 pound rating for a 6.50 X 16 6 ply.
The modern 4 ply tire with the polyester cords is that much stronger and better than the old cotton cord tires from years ago.

Excellent news! Now I can have an authentic tire while still maintaining the load rating. BTW, was Goodrich the brand that my truck came with when new? It was built in Janesville in October 1940 if that makes any difference.

Thanks Chevgene

In 1941 they used Goodrich and US Royal (Uniroyal today) tires.
The Goodrich had a rather straight tread design and the tread design was completey revised after WWII. The revised tread design is what the 6.00 or 6.50 X16 tire will be today.

I have used the Goodrich tires of that design on my 1939 for years. Am on the second set right now. Have never had a problem with them.

Is this more like the old tread design or the new design? I hope its like the new because I have always liked the look.

Like the new. I sent you some info.
Where do you live in Wisconsin?

Thanks for the info. From what I can tell, it looks more like my current front tires. Will order a set after another 3 or 4 pay checks - those things are spendy!

I'm currently living in Madison because I'm studying at the UW. However I got the truck back when I was in high-school in Richland Center. The truck spent it's entire life within 15 miles of Richland Center, driven by a farmer until the 70's, at which time it was parked until I got it. By that time it had 47,000 miles and still the original paint.

I have some 6.50-16 Goodyear radials on my original 4" rims and you should see the way they corner! No tubes either. No problem on original rims as long as you don't go any wider than 6.50.