VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Radials

I'm considering putting radials on my '38. I'm planning to run them tubeless. Has anyone run tubeless tires on original '38 rims? I'd rather not run tubes unless I just have to.

That would be me!! Diamondback whitewalls tubless on stock 38 rims. Never had to add air ever. Beautiful tires.



The outside tire names and sizing is removed. Looks perfect.

Tiny.....I hope you ain't longing for the old "Death Wobble" day's ????
BTW....My 38 coupe has the "Death Wobble" sometimes, when I hit a irregular spot in the road at just the right angle and speed....ED

You don't have to add air EVER? (emphasis added) Have you ever checked them or are you just going by the way they look. I've never heard of a tire not ever needing air. It would seem to me that you have had those radials on long enough now to have added some air. That's the first I've ever heard of that for a tire, radial or not. You're just messin' with us, arn't you? Grin.
Charlie

I check them ever couple of months. It still has the same pressure it always had. I get an email on three other cars that have onstar that shows the tire pressure. Only one car has ever needed air. It dropped 2 lbs in about a year. Two of them have run flats. The one that doesn't is the one that lost 2 lbs. Changing seasons will change the PSI slightly, but generally I don't see much change.How often do you add air?


Radials should hold air for a long time. I'm not sure about tube type. The old tube type that came on the 38 when I got it leaked every month.

Good tires in perfect condition don't need air whether they are tubeless radials or bias ply with tubes. There is a deviation depending on temperature. I have tires that never need air and I have some that do, usually do to bead or valve stem leaks.

When I saw these tire pictures a while back, I was wondering if some dealers would refuse to mount them on the four inch rims. I have a local dealer that carries these tires and he told me that he has them in stock, ready to install on my 38 so I guess it seems OK by him.

Ed,
Owing to your word on the subject, I concede defeat.
Charlie

I finally got it solved by putting tube shocks on using a set of '39 straight axle shock brackets. I'm finally getting to the point of not cringing every time I approach one of the "trigger" points that always set the wobble off with the original shocks.

Tiny....So you think it was all in the shocks????...interesting. I have not devoted allot of time to it but I was thinking steering linkage and steering wheel play adjustment...I never gave the shocks a thought....Was your old shocks still good or worn out and would not hold fluid?.... how did you reach the conclusion that the shocks were the villain? Thanx Ed

I always thought it was those four steering bushings; which I still haven't replaced but plan to before it gets driven again.

Question, How hard is it to change over to the tube shocks on the front? Would it take a lot of welding different brackets on? Just a thought..

new shocks & king pins & tightened up the tie rod ends eliminated that ole death wobble . happy driver now : ) .

Ed, it was the process of elimination. New kingpins, steering box adjusted to spec., no excess play in the drag link or tie-rod ends. About the only thing left was the shocks. I had the single action lever shocks rebuilt and it helped but didn't eliminate the problem. Certain places would still cause the wobble. I call it a wobble because that's what it feels like, the steering wheel violently moves side to side and only slowing down quickly stopped it. Since the new tube shocks cured the problem I'm assuming it was more of a bounce than a wobble although it did not feel like an out-of-balance wheel hop. The lower shock brackets ('39) are bolt on but there's no provision for the uppers on the '38 frame. We had to drill holes for the bolts and weld in sleeves to prevent the frame from crushing when the bolts were tightened. Once the shocks were mounted I headed to the most notorious "wobble" causing spot. As I approached it I had great trepidation. Every fiber of my body was screaming at me to slow down because the wobble would run me off the road & shake the fillings out of my teeth. Anti-climatic, rolled over the spot with nary a problem. Since then I've made a point of driving over every spot that previously created a problem with the lever shocks and I've had NO bounce/wobble at all. I have a pair of freshly rebuilt '38 lever action shock for sale. Any takers??? Just kidding I'll keep them since they are the shocks the car was born with.

These are pictures of the shock mounts I bought, taken by the previous owner while still mounted on his '39. There is a seller on ebay who has all four pieces but he's a bit overpriced. He want's $40 for each piece. I haven't seen them listed for a while so he might have sold them or maybe grew tired of paying listing fees because they didn't sell and removed the listing.

Steve, what size were the tires you bought?

Regarding the front shock conversion, Chassis Engineering in Iowa has a direct bolt on kit for the front of the 38 that gives you modern tube shocks. I bought the kit and it was under $100. including the shocks.

Tiny.....Very interesting..Thanx for the story and information.
I am going to start playing around and see what I come up with.
It's no big deal with me because, like you, I know the "wobble" spots and watch for them... Thanx Again....ED

http://www.dbtires.com/2011_catalog/2011catalog_Hi.pdf

scroll down to page 19. It says the perfect replacement size for 600-16. You'll love them.Smooth as glass.


Note..The only drawback is the spare tire holder in the trunk will need to be raised (spacer size 1/4") in order to get the tire in the hole without scraping the whitewall.Takes 5 minutes.

The tread on those radials look like they belong on ... well, a John Deere used for logging. Surely those whine like a banshee whilst going down the road. I suppose that such an annoying sound could only be noticed in a more modern and thus quieter vehicle, say a 41.

And, as to their smoothness, how can you tell? Then again they are a little fatter and so they might straddle the smaller holes in the red-dirt, clay highways (read, rabbit trails) there in Tennessee.

I think I'll stick to the regular old 600x16s. No need to screw with the place for them in the trunk and are welcome at concours events that 41s are frequent invited to.

Comparing a 38 to a 41 is like comparing a pit bull to a French poodle . You know. Grin.
Charlie

Is the '41 the french poodle?

Tire history : This tire is made for a prototype ELECTRIC car that TOYOTO has on the drawing board. The purpose of this tire design is to be the most quiet tire on the market since the ELECTRIC car is so quiet that it actually has a noise generator that makes a small hum to warn people it is in the area (parking lots). The tire is a 80k mile tire. I won't be above ground when my old chevy has an additional 80k miles put on it.

The trunk won't require any welding,beating,heating,forming,painting,bracing,designing,or anything else BUT TWO 1/4" spacers. If you're a point junkie, it might deduct one point IF the judge even notices the spacers at all.

Everything has a downside. The price is this tires. It's overpriced but isn't everything.

If my old chevy were a dog it would look like this..

If only that dog could read, you might be a-needing the seat of your britches patched up. Oh, that's right. Tennessee. So they're probably already patched, several times. Say, what pattern does laying mash come in nowadays? He, he!
Charlie

BTW: As to the one point deduction, you could point out that modification to Mike's judges and they'd just ignore it. Yep! Would too.

Wawuzit, when you say "The outside tire names and sizing is removed." Is that an option from the factory or maybe something you did to the tires?

Do you have any pics of the tires on the car from a few feet back that show only the side view (no tread)?

Thanks in advance the tires look great!

No lettering at all on the front side from the factory ,smooth as glass,no buff marks at all. All the info is on the blackwall side.

BTW..They ship these tires like it was a Mona Lisa. It took 30 minutes to unwrap and get rid of all the protective coverings. You're not going to find a better tire,maybe a cheaper tire,but not better. And,no I don't have anything to do with Diamondback tires. If they had been bad I would be bashing them right now.