Hello again. Some time ago, i researched and asked about tire size. It was recommended to me by several on here, that they were all happy with the LT215/85/r16 for the 1/2 ton. (previously stated as 29.5" but correct is about 30.4" tall and I did want the tallest tire for looks/speed/mpg) So I found a good deal on 5 and bought them. The guy working on my truck was concerned these were too tall/big and I assured him I had consulted the experts. Well I think he is finally convenced that they won't rub when I turn and if they do, they won't be too bad. However, we have moved onto the 5th wheel spare that will be mounted on the side. I have an original mount and short bed fender with the tire dimple/indentation. (I admit I did not take this resticted space into account when I asked about the tallest road tires) We held up a tire and the fender and i can see for myself that this will not fit. At least it will be rubbing against the fender AND the cab and at most, well, it just simply won't reach the mount. Here is my question. Assuming I can still keep the 16" rim on the spare to match all the others, what size tire do I need that will give proper clearance to fender and cab? AND (maybe a stupid question, but I want to make sure) can I still drive with this smaller spare tire if I do happen to get a flat and need the spare? I assume so, since there are 'donut' tires on most cars today that are smaller - as long as my rims are the same size, I am ok for short distances? Lastly, I thought maybe I could simply ADD SOME SPACERS to fit between the mount and the rim causing the entire spare tire to stick out further away from the truck body and give it more clearance. If so, wonder how much it would need to stick out and that may not even be an option. We have the mount bolted on the bed as far forward as it will go. I figured what I would do would be to go ahead and wait until it is all finished and assembled with the mount, fender, bed and cab in place, then take 1 road tire and just see how much clearance i am lacking, and then buy one smaller/shorter tire. Any thoughts or suggestions? I also included a rim to show the color I finally picked out. I was going for what I call a steel-blue and this appears to be darker/deeper, but at this point, I will not be the cause of any further delays. I never would have thought GM would have gone in and out of bankrupcy by the time I get to drive my new/old truck! ha!
Your work is really looking good! Dont put a small tire on the back with posi-traction. If one tire is smaller on the front, it will pull to that side. I really like the side mount and would not worry abont flats; I am fairley old and have only had 3 flats while on the road and all were close to home. Would be nice if you find one that is smaller and have same tread as the others.
This may help a little. Find the center point of the triangle formed by the three lug bolts that the spare wheel mounts to. I'd hold a bare wheel onto the lugs and eyeball the marked spot to double check that is is the center. From that center mark you can measure to the dimple in the fender and that will give you the RADIUS of a tire that will fit. If is 13 1/2" it would accomidate a 27" tire, 14" a 28" tire, etc. An allowance for a bit of clearence would probably be good. Be sure to know the INFLATED diameter of the potential spare tire. I'm so paranoid on the fit of things I usually end up cutting a dummy out of stiff cardboard or paneling. Some of my dummy PVC steering columns and paneling steering wheels look like they could be driven. I wish I could be satisfied with the old axiom of measure twice, cut once.
Great idea from the Pro! Use a compass with high school geomerty and you can find dead center of the triangle by bisecting the angles. At least I think thats what they called it 45-yrs ago.
LT215/85/r16 is what I bought LT215/85/r16 is what I bought and I still plan on using these for the 4 on the road.
If your flat is in the rear, put the spare on the front, move the front tire to the rear. More work but, different size tires on the rear will strain the diff. severely, even if it is not a posi. Steering will be effected but you can be slow and careful, get the flat fixed and replaced right away-you'll want to do that anyway. Glenn
spare tire I have p235/70/16 and it does not hit the cab. You do want it to touch you fender or it will tare the bed. Have you replaced you cab mounts? Because if you have not the cab can be rolled backwards a bit.
Yokohama or Nakawhatever? I am not with the truck now and I can't seem to locate any email with that info on it. It was over a year ago and all I remember is it was some off brand name. I think they were some Japanese brand name if i recall correctly. I wish they were the Diamondback whitewalls, but not with my budget. I found them on ebay from a tire retailer. he had about 40 for sale, so he just pro-rated me out a 5th tire and even with the shipping, they were much cheaper than what I could buy locally - even when I had to pay less than $100 for tubes, mount and balancing. Now I have a 5th that I guess I will just save as a replacement down the road since it won;t fit as the sidemount. I figured with as little as I will drive, they should be fine.
Found it - Nankang I found some correspondence to the seller and the brand of tire is Nankang (an off-brand probably made by someone else). I pd $460 for a set of 5 tires and that included the shipping. I see he has more on ebay now selling sets of 2 (same tires) for $140 plus shipping out of Knox, PA and his ebay id = jtbdj5. I suppose I now have one of these tires available for same price if anyone is interested.
Ebay - but I found a way you can make it yourself! Hey Robert - I found it on ebay from a body shop in the LA, Cali area over a year ago. I searched for some time as they don't come along very often. Shipped via Greyhound was the cheapest way I found. It needed a little work so I got it for a good price, but I got a great body guy, so it all worked out as a good deal for my situation. Before that, I researched and found a guy that had documented the placement and measured oval cut to make on your existing rear fender. Then you flip the cut out over, and weld it back into place making the proper DIMPLE in your own fender to receive the side mount spare tire on a short bed. Of course this has to be precise so neither your road nor spare tire will rub the fender. Here is a link to that research found on the Stovebolt.com authored by Ray Stanley. I did not try this, but it seems brilliant to me. http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/sparetire/fender_modification.html As of the time I write this, I checked out the link above and found one of the critical links is now missing unfortunately (in step#2). However, I think one can still figure it all out with the remaining instructions and photos that remain. (I posted a document here that is my interpretation as to what might be missing) Also, when reviewing my notes, I did discover one error in the TEMPLATE. At the 6" mark, the width measurement is LESS than the measurement provided above it and it should fall between the 5" and 7" marks - but again, one could figure out what this correct measurement should be based on the continuing curve being created by the other measurements provided for in the template. If someone has followed these instructions, I would hope they would post their detailed experiences to benefit others that will follow. I personally think the side mount tire feature on a short bed classic truck really adds to that classic look.
"Dimple" fenders These are a lot harder to find than regular rear fenders for AD trucks. Chevy offered this option starting in 1953, so the field is rather limited. It's kinda funny that they wouldn't have offered them from the git go. They were available pre-47 and post-52. I guess that's why they called newly redesigned or better yet Advance Design. I've always been a fan of side mounted spares, especially when I ran good ol' bias ply tires all of the time! Thanks for the tech tip! Don't know why it wouldn't work! Ken
Tires , ' Dimpled ' Fenders Etc. Found it in L.A. eh ? that's funny ~ mine came from Ohio and involved quite a bit of outside help , it's _still_ not on the truck THANX for the tire info , FWIW , I don't belive tires can be " too tall " ~ only too WIDE that's usually the cause of rubbing , the first number being too large , indicating a wider tire.... Like 235 ~ that's just about the widest one , I'd not use it . The _taller_ the tire , the higher road speed you'll get out if it .
215/60/r16 - but could go bigger i think Thought i'd let you all know what i ended up doing - for now at least. I found a single wide whitewall (ebay) and after i got it mounted up, decided that i could probably even go a little bigger as you can see in the pic. I am not crazy about the width of the white either. I WANT BIGGER! but this will have to do until i run across something better in my price range. I ran some mounting bolts from the backside of the bracket triangle and after putting locking and flat washers on both sides and then a nut on the front side to hold the mounting bolts in place while i get the tire on, i found that the tire was set out even further away from the body, which is a good thing. I did not spend as much time figuring out the gap still remaining on my last visit. From what I can gather, there are 3 sizes between the 215/60/r16 i have on there now for the spare and the 215/85/r16 (too big for spare) i have on the 4 on the ground: 215/65/r16 215/70/r16 215/75/r16 but still not sure how big i can go. We'll just have to wait and see - unless anyone else out there has a shortbed with a side mount and 16's. I thought with at least just the one spare with wide whites, it would give a hint or a suggestion at least of that "look" i am going for - certainly not the same as if all 5 tires had the really wide whites - but "good enough for who it's for" - for now anyway. I sure as hell hope my body man got that bracket on dead center!
Did you buy the wheels, or have already? Did you buy new wheels? If so, where, and could I have details about the part # and pricing?
Charles - i did not, but those dimple fenders are still out there. Some like the look and others don't so they tend to come off and get swapped out. I am not aware of who is selling the 'tripod' mounts as new, although i am not surprised as there is really not that much to them and they are desired. Where have you seen them for sale new?
