Where to buy Radial 16" tires

[Overdrive]

Three posts in one day...Thanks for your help guys.
Final Question: Is Diamond Back tires a reputable supplier? I want to put 6:50/16 radials on my 1936 T-plane. Also, their website says that tubes are not necessary, that back when tubeless tires came out nobody changed to "tubeless rims", they just put tubeless tires on old tube-style rims, with no problems. Any suggestions? Thanks, Paul.

[Billy Clanton]

Howdy
I have always wondered about that, too, because many years ago, when I was young, and tubeless was new, we used the older rims. Now, there may be a problem with spoked wheels, as to sealing around the spoke nipples. I know this to be true with motorcycle rims with spokes. You hafta run a rim liner.
I have found that Coker is very reliable and priduct consious. I erroronously ordered 6.50x16 for my '50 Hudson and they called me and told me that wasn't the correct tire size, and sent me the correct 7.50x15 tires. I thought that was purdy good of them.
Billy

[Huddy42]

Can not help you with where to purchase your radials, BUT, there is NO WAY I would put them on your car as tubeless with the old style rim, you would be flirting with death,the old rims were not made to run as tubless I have just put a set of radials on my 1942 Hudson Brougham, with TUBES and WHAT a difference they make to the steering of the car, just magic, I purchased Coker here in Australia.

[Hudzilla]

I would highly reccomend Diamond Back tires. The people are great and their prices are not bad. Several years ago I had purchased 4 new WW radials for my Hornet and noticed that they were turning slightly brown on the whitewall and I couldn't remove that smudging. I happened to see Bill at Autofair and told him about it. He said return the tires and he would replace them free...No charge. They were having problems at the manufacturing point and this problem had been a source of trouble. They had remedied the problem but wanted to keep their customers happy. Nice decent people. Nothing beats a radial ride and it looks great too with 3 and 1/2 inches of whitewall to boot!

[SuperDave]

I recall the days when we switched over to tubeless and there were some problems. primarily from riveted rims. The rivets would leak. Not all, just some. I notice that Hudson 15" rims come in both varieties. Riveted and welded. No doubt the welded ones were later production. I would imagine a good coat of some rubberized material inside the riveted rim would be a good prevention method. Radial tires do put additional stress on the rim not felt by the bias tires. At least that's what I have read.
So far, I haven't used radials on my stepdowns. The Coker bias tubless work great for me.
Dave w.

[Uncle Josh]

I put tubeless 205-75 R15s on my original sandblasted and painted 49 Commadore rims. They work greaton the road. Have been to Pitt Nats, Springfield E. Reg and a lot of places in between.

They are a little harsh in town. I blame the gas shocks, and am going to standard shocks, and put the gas on the Hornet with bias tires.

Also painted the whitewalls on them with latex house paint.
http://groups.msn.com/HudsonEssexTerraplaneBulletinBoard/unclejoshshudsons.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2653

[PAULARGETYPE]

well i'll say some things you may not have thought about and you can ponder what to do for your self

1st off have you thought about how much harder you car is going to steer when you and parking it and not going at any speed the radial print on the ground is bigger and there for takes more arm strenth
2nd i've bought my tires from coker tire they have always come through when i had a problem

3rd you will not be buying 6.50x16 tires they will be a radial #IE R215X16

4h ''the look'' and this is what gets me I like the look of a nonradial tire

good luck in what you chooseand keep driving your hudson
Hudsonly
PAULARGETYPE

[Kevin C.]

Paul
I bought a set of tires from Diamond Back Classics for my '39 and I'm very happy with both the tires and the company. I am using the original rims and tubes were not necessary. Since I don't know if the wheels Hudson used changed between '36 and '39, I would recommend taking one of your wheels to your local tire shop and ask them if a tubeless tire would work on it. Also, ask them to measure the width of the rim. The width of the rim will determine what size tire you can use. I replaced the 6.50X16's on my '39(the car originally came with 6.00X16) with 215/70/16 because the rims are only 4" wide. Their radial equivalent of the 6.50X16 is a 225/75/16 but it requires a much wider rim. Since the 215/70/16 is not as tall as the 6.50X16 it will affect the accuracy of the speedometer(mine wasn't accurate to begin with!) and it will increase engine rpm's to maintain the same speed, but the difference in the way the car rides and handles more than makes up for those shortcomings. One other thing to consider is the replacement of the spare tire. I wouldn't use a bias ply tire as a spare if I had a flat on one of the radials. However, the 215/70/16 is a much wider tire and that will determine if you can store your radial spare in its existing location. The spare on my '39 is located in a wheelwell in the trunk and it is a very tight squeeze to get it the there(i have a thin rag between the white wall and the edge of the wheelwell to keep it from rubbing).

[SamJ]

I recently put Coker 16 x 7:00 WWW radials on my '40. They recommended their "tubes especially designed for radials," which I also purchased. I had the rims trued, media blasted and powder coated before mounting. I am VERY happy (just took a 550-mile trip in a 65-year-old all original car). Of course, the '40 has IFS and centerpoint steering, first Hudson of the modern era. BTW, Coker's tires are designed to look like they were original tires, and they do...

[dave s]

I purchased set of five 650 x R16 radial blem wide whitewall tires from Coker at Spring 2005 Carlisle for 75.00 each ($375.00 total). They are tube type and look great. I installed them on stock rims on my 46 pickup and they work fine. Coker did have more of them at Fall Carlisle at same price. When you call them, they may not know they have the blems available because of their large inventory in several warehouses. If you can wait until one of the large flea markets they attend, it may be worthwhile. These can bee seen at page 2 of MSN picture site http://groups.msn.com/HudsonEssexTerraplaneBulletinBoard/1946hudmobilepickup.msnw