deaddds Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 (edited) Looking to get new tires for my 48 76. Im wanting to go stock. Product brochure shows the 4 dr sedan with ww and all the other models as bw. So is ww correct or should it be a bw tire? Also, the tires on the car are 7.6x15. The brochure says tires are 6.5x16. Could these be interchanged or how do i know if these are correct rims? Are these with or without tubes? Thanks Edited December 16, 2018 by deaddds More info found (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 (edited) Your choice, the brochures were made to sell the cars and I would bet the WW tires were a dealer option that not many opted for. Post a side photo of your car and I'll bet you will get a lot of advice. Maybe someone will even photoshop it with and without whitewalls for our comparison. Edited December 16, 2018 by JFranklin (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
61polara Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 Either black walls or WW would be correct. All the tires you will find but you should run tube in them. Many rims were riveted and not air tight. Tubeless tires were not offered by the manufacturers until around 1952. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaddds Posted December 17, 2018 Author Share Posted December 17, 2018 Can tubes be run in a radial or do i have to use bias? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaddds Posted December 17, 2018 Author Share Posted December 17, 2018 Photo of current tires. Crummy part is they are practically new but have flat spots. Been sitting about 10 years. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billorn Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 (edited) Blackwalls would of been standard but whitewalls were common so go with what you like and it will be right. You're wheels should not need tubes if they are in good condition no matter what kind of tire you use. Correct size is probably 7.00-15 the 7.60's are a little too fat. Edited December 17, 2018 by billorn (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PONTIAC1953 Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 i believe all GM cars went from 16 inch wheels to 15 inch wheels starting in 1949, and tubeless tires were introduced in 1954, as 61polara said riveted wheels, which requires a rubber liner to protect the tubes. i have 1952 oldsmobile 98 15 x 6" wheels (4) and 1952 oldsmobile 88 15 x 5.5" wheels (2) for my 1953 pontiac chieftain custom catalina restoration, i had the 6 olds wheels sand blasted and powder coated, now the wheels are airtight and my tubeless tires stay aired up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 What billorn said. I have tubeless radials on my '50 Buick. All wheels are what came on it in 1950. Did nothing special, just cleaned AND SPRAY CAN PAINTED. Still going after nine years and 15,000 miles plus. Good looker. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 (edited) If those old tires are nylon cord the flat spots will go away with a moderate drive. the nylon takes the set but should smooth out with some miles and heating up. Edited December 17, 2018 by JFranklin (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 General tip for those buying new bias ply tires. Pump them up to 45 PSI for the first week or 2. This will help eliminate flat spots and thumping in the future. Afterwards deflate to 32 PSI or whatever you prefer, you will find the problem nearly eliminated. Unfortunately this only works on new tires, if they are months or years old it does not work. If the car is left unused for weeks or months it is best to jack it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaddds Posted December 17, 2018 Author Share Posted December 17, 2018 They are the bf goodrich silvertown tires. I will try driving to see if they round out. It felt really bumpy at 30mph and i didnt want to shake something loose or blow a tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Roth Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 Back in 1959 my Dad had new tubeless tires installed on the original rims of his 1951 Chevy. There were no problems with air leaks. Your Olds could have had the optional factory-installed Whitewall tires at a minor additional cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 6 hours ago, deaddds said: They are the bf goodrich silvertown tires. I will try driving to see if they round out. It felt really bumpy at 30mph and i didnt want to shake something loose or blow a tire. Drive slow until they warm up. The flat spots should smooth out after you drive a block or 2. How much pressure? 32PSI may help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFranklin Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 31 minutes ago, Rusty_OToole said: Drive slow until they warm up. The flat spots should smooth out after you drive a block or 2. How much pressure? 32PSI may help. You will need more than a couple of blocks before they round out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaddds Posted December 18, 2018 Author Share Posted December 18, 2018 Any opinions on the Cokers that look bias but are radials? Other than stupid money for a set? Im thinking radials just dont look right but know radials ride much smoother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Diamondback radials. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaddds Posted December 24, 2018 Author Share Posted December 24, 2018 Is there a specific model or a radial made to look bias? Or just go with radial and be done with it? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 You could check with Diamondback and see if their Auburn radial is available yet in 15-inch sizes. If so, that's what I would use. C*ker has a nice-looking 15-inch bias-look radial that would appear fairly authentic on a car like yours--I reluctantly used them on my 1941 Cadillac 60 Special and was pleased with how convincing the illusion was. I didn't own the car long enough afterwards to determine if C*ker's usual quality issues were evident, but they were OK for the 100 miles or so that I used it before it was sold and the new owner has toured extensively in it without issues, so they're good tires. I believe I installed the 760R15 size which was closer to the original 700x15 these cars wore and should be a good fit for your Olds. The 800 and 820R15s seem too fat and the 710s were definitely too small. I also installed these without tubes, as I did on my 1941 Buick Limited limousine. If your wheels are in good shape and don't leak, you don't need tubes, which are just another failure point. Skip them if you can. With tires, you get what you pay for and you'll probably find that the radials are not much more expensive than bias-ply, at least in WWW. If you're on a budget, a simple 700R15 truck radial with a blackwall will look just fine, too. PS: Great looking Olds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaddds Posted December 26, 2018 Author Share Posted December 26, 2018 diamondback has 700R15 or 710R15 3.25" Auburns at 279 each. $1200 a set is crazy but I guess the repop companies got us but the nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty_OToole Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 If I had a good set of bias ply tires that were thumping I would drive slowly until they warm up, if I didn't feel like doing that I would jack the car up so the tires clear the ground, and pump them up to 45PSI while it was in storage. I would also consider making wooden ramps with the top cut to the contour of the tire and drive onto them while the car was not in use so they would stay round. You could make them out of pieces of 2X6 lumber, cut to a suitable profile and laminated together to get the right thickness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deaddds Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 I will try the drive thing and put it up till spring. If it still sucks to drive I'll suck it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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