Charles Talbert Question, Tires

[Mark Foster]

Charles you were using Yokohama MT tires on your trucks but I think they were going to stop making them. Did you change to something else ? if so what do you use now? Thanks Mark

[Charles Talbert]

Yes Yokohama has stopped building the MT radials in the size we used. It is still offered in many other size options.

The next set we install will be GoodYear Duratrac.

[DrPepper]

What size tires are you using?

I couldn't find any reference to a 17.5" wheel???

[Charles Talbert]

I couldn't find any reference to a 17.5" wheel???

We have never used a 17.5" on anything. The tires we use fit the original rim.

[DrPepper]

Learn something new everyday....

My '57 TWPW has the civilian 6 x 7.25 bolt circle and an 7 x 17.5" rim. I assumed the 5 bolt wheels also were a 17.5" rim. On mine I gave up on 17.5" tires and bought 16" rims, they don't look quite the same as OEM but they hold air and I can find tires anywhere.
Thanks,
DrPepper

[Charles Talbert]

My '57 TWPW has the civilian 6 x 7.25 bolt circle and an 7 x 17.5" rim. I assumed the 5 bolt wheels also were a 17.5" rim. On mine I gave up on 17.5" tires and bought 16" rims, they don't look quite the same as OEM but they hold air and I can find tires anywhere.
Thanks,
DrPepper

Not 100%, but I believe Specialty Tires of America offers tires in the 17.5" option. I know someone does if it isn't them, they are out there.

[DrPepper]

$300+ each...made in China or ?? in the orient

I found a couple of sources for 17.5" tires but the prices were between rediculous and outrageous and the sources were ~~shakey. All these 17.5" tires were 10 or 12 ply rated truck tires (ride like a rock), then I realized the stock rims I got with the Wagon were (1) standard offset, (3) Dual wheel offset and (2) broken junk. Winter was coming and I needed it to roll, $800 and I had (5) new 16 x 8" wheels that fit my bolt pattern, look OK and I could put on 4 good tires I already had.
Attached are some pix of the wheels.
http://s182.photobucket.com/albums/x...Power%20Wagon/

I think I just hijacked a thread......sorry...!

[Mark Foster]

Nice Townie

Town Wagons have different suspensions than the Flat Fenders we were talking about Sorry for the confusion. With a smaller rim and tire your speedo is probably off as well. You can check it with a GPS . You can changed tire sizes ie; taller tire and get it back closer, Good Luck Mark

[Cheyenne Dave]

We have never used a 17.5" on anything. The tires we use fit the original rim.

Charles,

What size Duratrac do you use on the stock PW wheels?

Thanx,
CD

[Charles Talbert]

Charles,

What size Duratrac do you use on the stock PW wheels?

Thanx,
CD

The size we use is LT315-75R16

They fit the original rims quite nicely. Been running this size on all our rebuilt / restored trucks that get radial tires for over 12 years now; never any issue at all. 2 different tread designs are available from Good-Year too. The duratrac for combination on-off road driving and a much more aggressive design if your thing is mostly off road.

[Cheyenne Dave]

Thanx, Charles. Do you know how the two different tread patterns are marketed? I'd like to see some pictures, if possible

CD

[Cheyenne Dave]

Goodyear Wrangler

Charles,

On the Goodyear site, they have two offerings of the Wrangler tire in the
315-75R16 size; The DuraTrac and the MTR. Theres seems to be only one tread pattern in the DuraTrac.

Are these the two tire options you refer to?

CD

[Charles Talbert]

Charles,

On the Goodyear site, they have two offerings of the Wrangler tire in the
315-75R16 size; The DuraTrac and the MTR. Theres seems to be only one tread pattern in the DuraTrac.

Are these the two tire options you refer to?

CD

Yes the MT/R is the off road tire. It is more a lug type design. I've seen these run extensively on highway. They actually did better than I thought they would as far as on road tread wear. If I were installing for my use, I wouldn't buy it unless the vast majority of use was off the road.

The duratrac does very well in both applications, of course not as aggressive off road.

[Cheyenne Dave]

Thanks once again, Charles

CD

[Cheyenne Dave]

Tire / Wheel update

I went to my tire dealer here in Cheyenne to ask about the Goodyear MT/R's in the size recomended (315-75R 16). They are not a Goodyear dealer, but they can get them.

When I told them what wheel I wanted to used these tires on, they balked. One of their older tech guys said the bead area on the MT/R's was much too small for the locking ring used on our Budd wheels, and would not mount them.

After re-reading this thread, to verify that I had given them the correct size, I thought I better contact Goodyear directly. I talked with two seperate people on their help line and sent an e-mail as well. Below is Goodyear's reply to my e-mail.

Response from one of our engineers:

The M37 Dodge Power Wagon according to the SNL G741 has a 16x6.5 inch
wheel.

I cannot recommend the LT315/75R16 tire size for this application, but it
is not due to the molded width of the tire bead bundle itself.

The minimum Tire and Rim Association approved rim width for an LT315/75R16
is 8.0 inches.

This basically means the tire is too wide for the 16 " wheel and bead
rocking may result.
This bead rocking can cause additional wear to the lock ring with
undesirable results.

There is an interesting web reference on these wheels:

http://www.garbee.net/~cabell/riminfo.htm

When I used to drive my 5/4 ton Kaiser M715 to work, I had the same issue.

I chose to have one piece 8.0x16 wheels made to able to run modern tubeless
radial tires.

One of the techs that spoke to me on the phone added that they would not warrantee the use of this tire on our wheels. So, for the truck I am building now, we will be using the S.T.A. Super Lug bias ply tire. I have used them on my own truck as well as on several customer's trucks and, while they are not radials, they have worked very well. If the manufacturer won't back the use of the Wrangler line of radial tires, I can't use them. Goodyear had no other radial tire that they would recomend, but gave me contact info for some of the other "antique" tire makers. That search only turned up the S.T.A.'s.

I had my own wheels made in the 17" format, so I could take advantage of the wide range of tubeless tires available in that size. I am currently running Cooper STT's in the 37-12.50 R17 size.

Anyone else interested in chatting with the folks at Goodyear can reach them at:
1-800-321-2136

C.D.