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1925 Seagrave tires (Fire Engine)


astroguy

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Looking for information about tires for my 1925 Seagrave.

Current tires (Original tires and also with original tubes!!) are 40x8 12 ply.  A visit to Les Swab tires provided me with the following:  the rims are 26" and they can not provide any tire in this size.

 

A look on-line shows 40x8 tires are equivalent to 900-24 which can not be correct.  

 

So, where to find tires and tubes for a 26" rim preferably will perfectly replace my  40x8 ?

 

Thank you!!

 

 

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40x8 is a measurement for high pressure tires.  900X24 is a balloon tire measurement and obviously for a 24" rim..  The conversion to balloon tires for a 26" rim would be 700x26 (7+7+26=40).

HIGH pressure tires are always measured as the outer diameter times the height of the tire.

BALLOON tire measurements are always given as tire eight times the rim diameter.

RADIAL tires are measured differently again. For example, in a size P215/65 R15 tire, the 65 means that the height is equal to 65% of the tire's width. The bigger the aspect ratio, the bigger the tire's sidewall will be.

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Have you measured the rim ? Early car rims vary a great deal, early truck rims are almost always 24" diameter. The increase or decrease in tire size depending on the weight capacity of the truck just makes the rim wider or narrower while maintaining the 24" diameter. Pneumatic tires only, early solid rubber tires vary in diameter quite a bit. Most likely 900 x 24 is correct.

 

Greg in Canada

Edited by 1912Staver (see edit history)
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Google search =

 

$859.00 - ‎In stock
BF Goodrich Silvertown bias ply tires were original equipment on many American cars and trucks that we now consider classic or collector vehicles. Coker Tire's ...
40x8 BFGoodrich Truck Tire. Bias ply, all position "Oval Block" tire. 40x8 is the old number size, today is 9.00-24 and fits on a 24" rim. Used on many older Fire ...
 
 Note, I doubt that they are less than 6 years old, as recommended by many, however I am running tires that are 25 years old on my fire engine that my tire store says they are OK because they are bias ply and I never go over 50mph for any amount of time. 
Edited by Roger Walling (see edit history)
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  • 7 months later...

 In regard to high pressure tires, I once owned a 1924 Auto car and the tire pressure recommend was over 100 lbs, so I filled them and put the truck into storage right next to my 58 restored Mercury.

 The next spring I noticed that the tire had exploded and the air pressure caused the door panel of the Mercury to cave in 4".

 Opps!

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