What fits?

[Guest motor1]

Help me, I have a very nice 1937 Dodge D5 and I would like to replace the old 600x16 bias ply tires with some newer

style radials. Can someone tell me what cars newer wheels and tires would fit? Thanks,

[34 Dodge]

Check with Coker Tires. They now make radials for our trusty old vehicles. My friend put them on his 1940 Plymouth convertible and he swears by them!

Ken Sobel

[Guest motor1]

Thanks, but, I'm interested in changing both the wheels and

tires to some newer style wheels and tires off a slightly later model vehicle.

[Rusty_OToole]

You need to be carefull. If you get tires that are too wide they can rub on the steering, fenders, etc.

On the whole the best thing is to buy the correct tires. They will work as well as, or better than anything else you can buy for the same money.

By the time you buy a set of wheels, clean and sandblast and paint them, then buy new tires you really gain nothing.

You can buy narrow 16 inch radials now.

But if you insist, 15" wheels off a newer Plymouth or Dodge will fit. You have to be careful because your car has bolts instead of nuts. So they put a special pin on the hub to help line up the bolt holes. This means you have to have wheels with the extra pin holes in them.

Chrysler corp used this system up to 1970 so the wheels aren't that rare. They went to 15 inchers around 1949 or 50.

I recently went thru this, buying new tires for my 51 DeSoto. It turns out the secret is to buy the cheapest tires you can find. They are the narrowest for their (nominal) size. I bought Marshall 791 tires at Walmart, 215-R 75-15 they are a full 2 1/2" narrower than the same size tires in a name brand, and are the closest I could find to the correct size short of sending away for the big bucks jobs.

Also, you want to get the tallest section tires you can get. R75 is probably the tallest you will find and even they are getting scarce. They used to make 80 and 85 section but I don't think you can get them anymore except from antique tire speciallists, and now we are back to buying from them again you might as well buy the 16s.

So, a set of 49 Plymouth wheels and cheap Walmart tires would do the trick. You will need a smaller tire than I did, probably a 185 or 205 section. But it would probably be just as cheap and easier to buy the 16" tires as to buy new wheels and tires.