Correct Whitewall width for 55 Buick Special

[imported_Bob Hill]

I want to replace the narrow whitewalls on my 55 Special. I called Coker this morning and they said htat a 2 1/2 inch whitewall was correct but in looking at most pictures, it appears most folks have a 3 inch.

What is the correct width for a whitewall on a 55?

Thanks

[Ron Green]

On my 55 Pontiac the correct width is 2 3/4" however some brands only carry a 2 1/2" which is really hard to tell the 1/4" difference. When searching this I looked at old photo's from the various factory GM pictures and then found the correct documentation from the Pontiac accessory/option list. Buick is probably the same.

I bought my tires (2 3/4") from Universal Tire, brand name Lester's I believe and am very happy with the looks and the ride (no wondering). I think they are now owned by Coker however they still carry different brands? I stuck with the bias as I wanted to go though the AACA judging and have no regrets or handling problems. Tires many times get the blame for other problems like worn front end parts, alignment, bad shocks. etc.

[Rick Hoover]

Air Cooled,

The size of white walls varied at times with the tire manufactures. Your Buick Special could had originally been delivered with the white walls ranging from 2 1/2 inches to 2 3/4 inches, depending on the supplier at that time. Some of the larger automobiles in 1955, could have had up to 3 inches.

Being that your car takes a 710X15 tire with a 760X15 option, there are 3 major brands available today. The BF Goodrich 2 1/2" WW from Coker Tire, the Firestone 710X15 with a 2 3/4 WW available from both Coker and Universal Tire and the Goodyear with a 2 3/4" white wall from Kelsy Tire would be most proper for your '55 Special. The 760X15 optional size will be only found in the Goodrich and the Goodyear. Of course, you will see other Buick owners running a wider white wall at times on their '55 Buicks, but that does not necessary mean they are correct.

I would recommend you stay within these white wall sizes listed.

Good luck, Rick

[imported_Bob Hill]

Thanks for the replies. I ordered the 2 1/2 from Coker and got them in one day. I have them installed and they look great on the car.

Thanks again

BOB

[Dynaflash8]

Unquestionably, the correct whitewall width in 1955, not just for Buick was 3 inches or something very close to that. Besides memory (I was 16 at the time)I used a special ruler to determine the width of the white walls on new cars pictured in my high school year book. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Restorer32]

Kids in your school had NEW cars ???? La Di Da...I had a 6 year old Corvair 4 door automatic with bench seats. Was I cool or what?

[R W Burgess]

Restorer, I think old DynaFlash went to a school in the big city. I'm really not sure that he had a new car though. By the way, I'll bet that wooden bench sure was hard on the rear end--of the derriere, I mean! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Wayne

[Dynaflash8]

No kid at the high school in Arlington, VA had a new car in 1955 or 1956.

Concerning the 3-inch white walls, our school yearbook sold ads to all of the local car dealers. Two classmates, always a boy and a girl, would have their photo taken with a new car. This was done in both '55 and '56. In the '80s I had a 55 Ford and supplimented my memory by using a fine ruler to measure the white walls in those pictures, and deduced they were about 3-inches wide. I did this at a time when I had a '55 Ford in the 1980s. It wasn't all that scientific but I was satisfied those tires had 3-inch whitewalls. New Buicks at the time were about the same.

[Rick Hoover]

Dynaflash,

It really isn't all that cut and dry to assume that all 1955 automobiles had 3 inch white walls. It just wasn't that way in 1955, or was it in many other years to say that all vehicle makes and models had one size white wall only.

Again, white wall widths varied at times between the tire manufactures during a production year and at times also in the different versions of molds used by one company of that given year. In most all cases, the width of white walls were in proportion to the tire size or section height of the tire. Sticking with the year 1955 and using your 1955 Ford as an example, that car came through from the factory with a 670X15 tire, usually in a Firestone or Goodyear brand. It had a 2 11/16" white wall. This same tire was used on the 1955 Thunderbirds, full size Chevrolets and Corvettes, Plymouths and Dodges to name a few. Moving up a tire size, the 1955 Buick Special, as originally questioned here and that of Ron Green's Pontiac, those vehicles took a 710X15 tire and the white wall sizes increased up to a 2 3/4" white wall. As a last example, lets use a '55 Buick Roadmaster. It came with 800X15 tires and now you would had seen white wall widths up to 3". If there were any white walls larger than 3" used on a 1955 Roadmaster or other larger makes and models, I'm certainly not aware of them.

Another thing to remember, is that not all the old bias tire molds are in production today. Usually, we'll find the higher quality model mold being offered for our antique vehicles. Again, using Firestone as a example with their Deluxe Champion or Goodyear with their Deluxe Super Cushion version.

Seeing how AirCooled here, had already talked to the sales staff at Coker Tire about his tire size and white wall width, I assumed he was set on buying the B.F. Goodrich brand which has a 2 1/2" white. It also comes in a 3" as well, but I felt that large of a white wall would be more fitting to a 1952 to 1954 model year vehicle.

I hope some of this may have helped with white wall useage.

Rick

[Guest SalG (Sal Grenci)]

The man knows his tires! Rick, we miss you, come back a little more often and talk about things other than tires. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

[Jack Harlin]

Rick:

Very through information, from one that knows. If I can remember back that far I believe the dia. vaired from one make to another, also. Was always the policy to match brands or by pairs.

PeterG: Might be my fault Rick doesnt post much. Ive been sending him a lot of e-mails of late. I knew Rick before he knew tires were rubber. Jack

[Jack Harlin]

SORRY Should been SalG Jack

[Rick Hoover]

Jack,

You're correct about the tire diameter variations in one given size. Not only did they vary in diameter, but in tread width and cross section width as well. It's still that way today.

And by the way Jack. You would had been safe in saying you knew me before I could even pronouce the word tire! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Rick

[R W Burgess]

Hey Jack Harlin, I think Rick is trying to say you're old without hurting your feelings. <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Wayne Burgess

[Jack Harlin]

WAYNE

You are correct about Rick. Hes upset because I knew his Dad before he chose the Lady to be his Mother. Im very carefull though in what I say about Rick, he knows a lot of my friends in the area. Never know what he may tell them. I guess every body now can figure it out Im a Grandad to most. HA Jack

[Jeffrey1344]

JEFFREY

I have "Coker Classics" on my '55 Buick Special - Radials - 2.5" white walls w/Wire wheels. They look great. After doing some research, I found that the Coker Brand (as written on the Black wall) is supposedly manufactured in Mexico and is frowned upon by numerous competitors. Doesn't mean they aren't correct. Supposedly, Diamondback Classics 4753 SC-90, Conway, SC 29526, United States is about the best. They have a pie crust finish to make them look like bias ply but they are radials. They vulcanize whatever size whitewall you want. They run about $309.00 with shipping. No tax for out of state customers. For those of us who don't drive thousands of miles a year, it might not matter whether you buy Coker Brand or not IF it is only allegedly a slightly "inferior" product. 

[61polara]

In AACA judging, there is a 2 point deduction for radial tires where bias ply tires were only offered.  Doesn't matter if they are Coker or Diamondback.  Nice car! If they are original KH wires, they are correct for 1955, but were not designed for radial tires stress on turns.

Edited November 10 by 61polara (see edit history)

[Century Eight]

There are a lot of good points on this forum however one if the easiest ways to verify, is to check the spare tire in the trunk.  You will find that many cars that lived an easy life still have their original unused spare in the trunk.  My 1950 Buick was fortunate to have ALL of its original tires on it when I bought it, but the spare had never been on the ground and still has the mold marks on it. (Tits).  So I can show you the brand, the size, and the width of the whitewall with certainty.  

 

Of course the manufacturer would have used more than one brand on the assembly line, but you could get on this forum and ask who has their original tires and then have a pretty good idea of what modern tire to go to.