Buying new wheels and tires

[Tony_Urwin]

The badly checked 7.00-15 bias ply tires on my B1C need to be replaced. This is one of the biggest expenditures I will make to make the truck roadworthy, so I would appreciate any comments.

I haven't found any 15" tires that are nearly as tall as the bias-ply tires, so I am considering replacing the stock 15" wheels with 16" wheels. The larger wheels would allow me to use 215/85R16 tires.

Where to buy the wheels? I'm guessing that 16" vintage wheels are hard to come by, and usually in rough shape when you can find them, right?

Wheel Vintiques makes 16" x 6" smoothie wheels that resemble the stock wheels. About $80 per wheel plus $15 for each baby moon. I would have balanced wheels with radial tires tall enough to make the higheway RPM's bearable.

Does this sound like a good use of my project funds? What has everyone else used?

[Guest 51plymouthod]

I went with Yokohama Radial 7.00x15 tires on original wheels on my B-1-C. Slightly over $100.00 each & I purchased them from Tire Rack. The ride & handling are unbelieveably better!

Tony, you're right about the high RPM's at highway speeds with these OE size tires. I'm certain the 85 aspect 16" radials will ease the engine speed on the highway...I just wanted the original size, since they're still available for the 3/4 ton B-1.

[greg g]

Why not consider a 225/75 R 15??? They would be 28.3 in diameter.

Hers is a line from tire racks comparrison chart. I think you could save some bucks on he wheels.

7.60-15 H 215R15 P225/75R15 235/70R15

[grey beard]

Yesterday I put four new Dayton 215x85x16's on my B1B. These ttires are 31 and a skotch tall. Anxious to put them on the road. Cost here was $112 each, out the door, and they mounted a used spare for me at no extra cost on my newly powder coated rims.

[Guest 51plymouthod]

The 7.00Rx15 Yokohama radials are 29.4" overall tire diam. It's the 'tallest' 15" tire that's easily available, I believe. To go taller, you will have to go to a 16" tire, like Greybeard's 215x85x16, which is the one most like the original tire for a 1/2 ton, outside of expensive classic tires. (except, as he points out, it is taller than the OE 16" tire). The advantage is that the 215 tire will turn FEWER RPM's than the 6.00 or 6.50-16" OE tires.

The B-1-B had 16" tires and the B-1-C had 15" tires as OE. However, the 16's were thinner than the 15'a, so the OE tires had similiar OTD's.

Why Dodge used 16" tires on a 1/2 ton & 15" tires on the 3/4 ton is a mystery to me.

[Reg Evans]

Just last week I put a set of 6 ply radials on on my 1/2 ton with 15" rims. They are 6 ply FEDERAL mud and snows 30x9 50R15 and have a rolling diameter of ~29". I got them at Less Schwab for a little over $100 each.

A much better ride than my 235 15's 4 ply's. They were too squishy side to side.

Now I can't wait to get my 1.5" wheel spacers on and paint the rims black.

[Tony_Urwin]

Reg, I'm confused about your tire size. I understand that when radial tires were introduced, the manufacturers developed a new ratings system to show tire size and load rating. For example, a bias-ply might be a 7.00-15, while a similar size radial might be 205/75R15.

I'm confused by the tires (like yours) that are listed as 30x9.50R15. Is this a new way of sizing tires, or is this kind of tire different in some way?

Does this mean that the tires are 30" tall tire x 9.5" wide, and if so, doesn't that wider tire make it difficult to turn the wheel at low speed? How could such a wide tire fit on stock rims?

[Reg Evans]

Tony,

I just measured the tire again. The tread that meets the road is 8" wide and the tire does measure 30" in diameter without any weight on it. The sidewall measurement looks to be the 9.5" The max tire rating is 1990lbs at 50 psi and I don't notice any difference is steering from my previous radials with 40 psi in them. With the 6 ply the truck doesn't wallow around as much. I'm sold !

[Dennis_MN]

Why not consider a 225/75 R 15??? They would be 28.3 in diameter.

When I bought radials, I was told the smaller size might roll off the rim while turning a corner. Why is that? The tires are designed to fit on 5 inch or wider rims and we are fitting on stock narrow rims which are 4.5 inches.

So the 215/85/16 is a compromise but it does stay on the rim when corning.

Dennis