| ford1941 | -- 11-25-2011 @ 8:19 AM |
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I am restoring a 47 Ford Woodie and am getting ready to purchase tires. I was thinking about purchasing some Firestone 600-16 4 ply single wide whitewall tubed tires from Coker (or a similar retailer), but noticed in the 41-48 Ford book that station wagons were supposed to be equipped with 6 ply tires. The only 6 ply tires I have come across in any of my searches are the very different looking military tires of the period. Does anyone know where 6 ply tires can be found, or are the 4 ply tires the best route to go as replacements? Thanks, Scott
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| alanwoodieman | -- 11-25-2011 @ 8:59 AM |
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I have a 40 wagon with Firestone 4 ply tires and have driven over 15,000 miles with no problems with the tires at all. If you drive a wagon on a windy day you will discover that they are top heavy and blow around very easily. Since I drive mine more than show it I put tube shocks on to help this out. Also if you will be driving it a lot you may want to consider an extra set of rims with radial tires-one for show, one for go. I am going to do this when I find a couple more rims
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| alanwoodieman | -- 11-25-2011 @ 9:00 AM |
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I also meant to say that 6:50 tires maybe even better for the weight of the wagons
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| supereal | -- 11-25-2011 @ 9:50 AM |
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Ford considered the wagons to be trucks, and fitted them with 6 plys accordingly. The 4 plys are adequate, unless you plan to haul very heavy loads, and will ride better. It is likely that today's 4 ply tires are stronger than the early 6 plys due to improved construction and materials.
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| Stroker | -- 11-25-2011 @ 9:56 AM |
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I'd like to add that todays 4 ply tires have much stronger cords in the plies than they did in the 40's, and while a fully loaded woodie with say, 7 souls on board is heavier than any other like vintage Ford Passenger vehicle, quality 6:50 4-plies work just fine on my 38 wagon.
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| TomO | -- 11-26-2011 @ 8:58 AM |
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Scott, The 4 ply tires will give you a better ride than 6 ply tires. I don't know of any supplier of standard 6 ply tires, but all of the dealers in antique tires have 800 numbers. I thought that the 6.50 x 16 4 ply was an optional tire for the station wagon. Check with Mike Nickels, the Station wagon adviser. Tom
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| kubes40 | -- 11-26-2011 @ 3:50 PM |
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Scott, I'd recently completed a very exhaustive and extremely high point restoration of a 39 wagon. During that process I found NO suppliers of the tires you seek. That is, 6 - ply 'passenger car' tires. In 1939, 6:50 x 16", 6-ply tires were standard equipment on all wagons. NEVER 6:00's. I am only guessing the same would hold true on your '47. Regards, Mike Kubarth This message was edited by kubes40 on 11-27-11 @ 6:34 AM
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| 42wagon | -- 11-27-2011 @ 4:35 AM |
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According to the 41-48 Ford Book 600-16 6 ply tires were standard on the 41-48 station wagons. 650-16 6 ply tires were a factory installed option.
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| bigvince | -- 11-28-2011 @ 7:47 AM |
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I have to agree with alanwoodieman on driving a woodie on a windy day. I drove my 48 Woodie on a windy day at 60 mph on the freeway. What a handful. Spend the extra nickel on radials. The 16x6 Firestone four plys were a handful. The wind simply blew the wagon all over.
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| ford1941 | -- 11-28-2011 @ 12:36 PM |
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Thanks for all the advice. I have given up on looking for 6-plys and now must just decide on 6.00 vs 6.50s. I am leaning toward 6.00s, as I am not sure my spare tire cover will even fit a 6.50. It's pretty tight even on a 6.00. Thanks, Scott
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