Morgan Wright Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Have a 1918 Buick E 49 takes tire size 34 x 4.5 The rim is 25 inch wood spoke. Anybody else make them besides Coker? They want $400 each for black, $600 for white, and don't even offer black with white walls like my car already has. Checked Diamond Back and don't see them there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Engle Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Check with Universal Vintage tire company, Hershey PA. They have universal black walls for about $300 and they have Lester white walls on sale for $260. Great company to work with. Bob Engle 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 Thanks. I just bought their last remaining Lester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 2, 2017 Author Share Posted November 2, 2017 Looks like this early system of tire size nomenclature was the first one, and lasted from the earliest days of automobiles until 1924: outside diameter of tire X tire width In 1925 the second system of tire size was devised which lasted for decades thereafter: tire width X rim diameter This chart shows it http://www.carnut.com/specs/gen/buick20.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 6 hours ago, Morgan Wright said: outside diameter of tire X tire width Well, it's not really tire "width" as in width of the rim, it's the distance from the rim to the tread, maybe we'd call it height. Thus your 34 x 4.5 has two "heights" of tire, each 4.5 inches, so 9 inches total. Subtract the 9 inches from the 34 inches to give the rims size, which is 25 inches. I've never heard that the second number is ALSO the rim width, but that would be interesting if true.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 3, 2017 Author Share Posted November 3, 2017 Thanks that makes sense, because in the 20s parts catalogue I have, there are tire ads, around the time they came out with "full balloon" tires, and they are telling people to switch to full balloon numbers and calling them "oversized tires" because the size they recommend for balloon is bigger in BOTH measurements than the older non-balloon tires on the same car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMicheletti Posted November 3, 2017 Share Posted November 3, 2017 Interesting. My 1918 E-45 has 34 X 4 tires and thus 26" rims. Strange that Buick used the smaller rim on the larger car. But it is so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 A lot of early cars used 30x3.5 tires, thus a 23 inch rim. To your comment on oversized tires, the 1910 Hudson I owned had 31x4 tires on it, same rim size but an oversized tire with a heavier load rating... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Roth Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Our 1912 Oakland used 34x4-1/2, and were replaced by 35x5" which fit on the same size rim (35-5-5=25") our 1914 Buick B-37, as well as our 1915 Hudson SIX-40 both came with 34x4 with a 26" rim, and could upgrade to a 35x4-1/2, or a 36x5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 This shows one of the ads from the mid-20's about the new oversized balloon tires. Instead of 29 x 4.4 old-style "high pressure" fiber tires (on 20 inch rims), they would sell you 32 x 6.2 "full balloon" tires on the same rims, but instead of 60 pounds pressure you only needed 35. Much softer ride. This ad only lists the smallest tires to keep the prices low for the ad. Much higher prices for bigger rims I'm sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 7, 2017 Author Share Posted November 7, 2017 Interesting that if you play around with tire size you can do the same thing as changing the rear axle ratio. Oversize tires as in the above example you can have 29 inch tires or 32, that would make a difference. It's not like a 1918 Buick is going highway speed. When I go to Coker I'm getting 35 x 5 instead of 34 x 4.5 or 33 x 4. They sell all 3 sizes in the Firestone Non-skid and the price is not much different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 18, 2017 Author Share Posted November 18, 2017 I think Universal Tire is owned by Coker. I just ordered stuff from each, and the invoices and return emails look identical, in ways that cannot be coincidental. Plus, Universal is selling Firestones at the same price as Coker. What's the story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 I think all "vintage" tire makers are subsidiaries of Coker in some way or another, except Diamondback (and Blockley). If you get any information to the contrary, please post it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted January 14, 2020 Author Share Posted January 14, 2020 Too bad you can't get oversize "balloon" tires on 25 inch rims. It would be something like 36 x 5.5 or 37 x 6. Can you imagine a 37 inch wheel? I would need to get smaller rims to get balloon tires. Then my 1917 would look like a 1929 car. Just gonna stick to the book size tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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