1936 Dodge D2 Tires

[Guest Meanhorse]

Hi Guys,

I recently got a 1936 Dodge D2. I need tires and would like some advice. I have read that radial tires put more stress on wheels and could cause older wheels that are not designed for them to fail. I like the wheels on my car and do not want to ruin them. But, I also notice that most the stuff on this car is built like a tank. Do you think I need to worry about putting radial tires on these wheels? I have 16 by 6 inch artillery wheels. What do you think is better, Bias ply or radial?

Also, what about tire size. I have read some place on this forum a fellow D2 driver liked Radial 650 on the front and 700 on the back. With 700's giving the car a little better top end speed. I like that, but not so excited about having two different size tires. Any advice on tire size or brands.

Thanks a lot. I will have more questions soon when I start working on the body of the car.

Jay

[jpage]

I would recommend staying with the original style bias belted 600/16 tires. These cars should drive very well with the standard tires and will look more original. I would not recommend varying tire sizes and I doubt you would see any noticable improvement in speed. These cars are very good cars straight from the factory with no real need for any modifications!

[ply33]

If you want it to look really original, I believe most Mopars of that era came with Goodyear "All Weather" (diamond) tread. Reproductions of that are available in your size but not, alas, in the 17" needed for my car.

[35cz8]

When I get to the point of needing tires for my 1936 Dodge, I am going to stay with the original size, 600/16 and the original style. bias belt just as it left the factory with. I don't plan to run any races with mine and it always give me a good cruising speed and fair milage - why change? It is my feelings that original is better.

[Steve9]

I agree with original. I have Firestone WWWalls on my car. It drives and rides great. We have gone on two summer tours without any trouble. I know people with the radials on their cars, and for my money the radials just don't look right.

[Guest Meanhorse]

Thanks for the advice!!! I will try out some 16 600 Bias ply tires.

[Ian_Greenlaw]

I'm afraid I'm with Ply33. The Goodyear 650-16 Deluxe all Weather 4" Whitewall on the Universal Tire website is the tyre I keep going back to. I guess it's personal choice but I do like the chunky look on the side of these tyres coupled with a 4" whitewall. I'm thinking of importing them from the states as I can't find them in Australia.

If you had 2 spares in the front guards with covers, would you buy two new ones or just use 2 good second hand ones as you really don't see them that much. What are your thoughts guys ?

[Stevemo]

The Dodge brochures all had solid black tires with heavy lugs in 1934. No white walls or white lettering.

If I was taking the car out on trips I would have 1 new spare with me. If I was within 100 km of home I'd just use carry decent spares but they should be dismounted for internal cleaning and tube replacement. The idea is that you could crawl home at slow speed with an old spare if within a 100 km radius.

That being said, delaminating a tire at speed could require a full paint job on the car to keep everything matching.

Steve

[ply33]

The Dodge brochures all had solid black tires with heavy lugs in 1934. No white walls or white lettering.

If I was taking the car out on trips I would have 1 new spare with me. If I was within 100 km of home I'd just use carry decent spares but they should be dismounted for internal cleaning and tube replacement. The idea is that you could crawl home at slow speed with an old spare if within a 100 km radius.

That being said, delaminating a tire at speed could require a full paint job on the car to keep everything matching.

Steve

I believe that only really upscale cars, called "Full Classics" nowadays, and sportier cars like open cars generally had whitewall tires back then. Typical sedan and coupe of that era would have come with black wall tires and stayed that way.

The Goodyear All Weather reproductions also come in black wall.

With the plan I have AAA will do free towing for 100 miles (160km) and I could upgrade to the 200 mile (320 km) service, but I really prefer to have a spare that I can trust as much as I trust the tires on the road and be able to change it out myself. Turns out the only flat I've had in the last 15 years was about 3 miles from home. Still changed it myself rather than call for service. I buy five at a time and include the spare in the tire rotation which I do every 2000 miles (once or twice a year depending on how many tours I do).

[Steve9]

I'm afraid I'm with Ply33. The Goodyear 650-16 Deluxe all Weather 4" Whitewall on the Universal Tire website is the tyre I keep going back to. I guess it's personal choice but I do like the chunky look on the side of these tyres coupled with a 4" whitewall. I'm thinking of importing them from the states as I can't find them in Australia.

If you had 2 spares in the front guards with covers, would you buy two new ones or just use 2 good second hand ones as you really don't see them that much. What are your thoughts guys ?

I'm going to keep a lookout for cars with those wider Goodyears. As for the spares, I didn't buy new,but my car isn't show either.

[Steve9]

I believe that only really upscale cars, called "Full Classics" nowadays, and sportier cars like open cars generally had whitewall tires back then. Typical sedan and coupe of that era would have come with black wall tires and stayed that way.

I will agree with this statement, however my the build card on my lowly Dodge sedan says "6 WWW" in the tires box.

[35cz8]

When I get my RS CP on the road, I will just buy 6 new tires and then I can travel without worry. I always like to have a spar that will let me finish my trip and be the same as the rest on the car. I will not be buying the best tires out there as my CP will most likely never go much over a couple hundred miles from home and will most likely be stored for the winters and not used much at all.

[keiser31]

I got a flat once in my '36 D2 touring sedan on the way to a photo shoot with some girls from a bar and the owner of the bar. I wished I'd had a white wall spare that day....

Edited February 6, 2014 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[1936 D2]

The 600/16 is the correct tire for the D2. Only the 7 passenger sedans used the larger/taller 650/16's. Most cars of the period were blackwalls. If the build card showed WWW then of course that would be correct. But that is rare.

There is a pretty good photo out there of Shirley Temple standing on the running board of a D2 with her hand on the distinctive Goodyear "Diamond Tread" tire in the car's sidemount well. That photo was used in Life magazine ads for Dodge. Since the "Diamond Tread" is still available, I would guide you in that direction. I have seen the D2 with radials and that just doesn't look right at all for the age of the car.

Edited February 24, 2014 by 1936 D2 (see edit history)

[Guest 1935du]

We put 600/16 on our 1935 DU They are a WWW and a pretty narrow tire. The car runs down the road very well, even for a bias tire im pleased with the ride.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I've said this before in other threads, but I repeat it again here for those '35 and '36 Dodge owners who might not have learned it yet. As well designed and built as our great '36s are, the factory Dodge wheels are very easily bent. They don't have the reinforcing gussets stamped into the wheels between the lug holes like most wheels (including Plymouth and Chrysler). If you look at yours closely, you'll see that the center of the wheel, the part which mates up against the hub, is completely flat. The metal of the wheel surrounding this flat center isn't strong enough without gussets or other reinforcement, so it can be bent relatively easily. I used to know an old gentleman who drove his '36 Dodge Sedan out to Hershey every year from here in Minnesota. When he would arrive home after his annual trip, he would remove his wheels one by one and straighten them on a home made jig he built. I don't know if radial tires would make the wheels any more likely to bend or not, but I encourage all '35 & '36 Dodge owners check your wheels from time to time to see that they are running true.

[36 D2 Coupe]

I've said this before in other threads, but I repeat it again here for those '35 and '36 Dodge owners who might not have learned it yet. As well designed and built as our great '36s are, the factory Dodge wheels are very easily bent. They don't have the reinforcing gussets stamped into the wheels between the lug holes like most wheels (including Plymouth and Chrysler). If you look at yours closely, you'll see that the center of the wheel, the part which mates up against the hub, is completely flat. The metal of the wheel surrounding this flat center isn't strong enough without gussets or other reinforcement, so it can be bent relatively easily. I used to know an old gentleman who drove his '36 Dodge Sedan out to Hershey every year from here in Minnesota. When he would arrive home after his annual trip, he would remove his wheels one by one and straighten them on a home made jig he built. I don't know if radial tires would make the wheels any more likely to bend or not, but I encourage all '35 & '36 Dodge owners check your wheels from time to time to see that they are running true.

Thanks for this bit of information. It's the first time I've heard it. Maybe I've missed it before or have just not seen the appropriate threads. It does put how I will handle the wheels on our '36 coupe in a new light.

[Guest 1930]

Dont remember reading that prior to this either.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I'll add this additional thought - I've always assumed that the reason Dodge pick ups came with Plymouth wheels is that the factory discovered far too late that the Dodge wheels were weak. I recall that Canadian built Dodges had somewhat different wheels, though I don't remember in what way. Any of you nice fellows to our north know any details?

[nearchoclatetown]

Can you post a closeup picture of one of these wheels?

[Stevemo]

There are a couple Canadian cars in this thread: http://forums.aaca.org/f143/looking-1934-dodge-special-deluxe-365858.html

Steve

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I don't want to confuse things here by talking about 17" wheels, but I thought I'd share with you guys a picture of a 17" Dodge wheel that I had posted back in April '13. It isn't relevant to this thread, but it seemed like a good chance to show you all a Dodge wheel that does have gussets around the lug holes. Pretty substantial ones, at that.

http://forums.aaca.org/f143/17-dodge-artillary-wheels-349257.html

[Hudsy Wudsy]

For anyone who can't quite remember what '36 Dodge passenger car wheels look like, here's another thread from last year that talks about wheels. If you'll go to posting #11 in this thread you'll see a quite clear picture of one. Notice the absence of the gussets that you saw on the 17"wheel thread I had just mentioned in my previous post. I forgot that this thread also talked some about Canadian wheels.

http://forums.aaca.org/showthread.php?t=346188&p=1138799#post1138799

Edited February 19, 2014 by Hudsy Wudsy (see edit history)

[36 D2 Coupe]

For anyone who can't quite remember what '36 Dodge passenger car wheels look like, here's another thread from last year that talks about wheels. If you'll go to posting #11 in this thread you'll see a quite clear picture of one. Notice the absence of the gussets that you saw on the 17"wheel thread I had just mentioned in my previous post. I forgot that this thread also talked some about Canadian wheels.

http://forums.aaca.org/showthread.php?t=346188&p=1138799#post1138799

Hi Hudsy - had forgotten the above post - thankfully the point you make about the lack of gussets does not apply to the Canadian Dodge wheels as the picture shows. I just checked mine and they have the gussets so are not at risk from bending after all. Whew:)