Re: tire tube help needed

Posted by su8overdrive On 2012/5/11 15:49:47

All the above give good advice. Avoid tubes. They increase tire temperature, add to unsprung weight, and are wholly unnecessary so long as you sand- or beadblast the wheels, make sure the rivets are tight, then paint or powdercoat the smooth wheels. Powercoating's nice merely as it's tough and holds up especially well.

Both Bridgestone and Yokohama still make LT radials in the bias ply sizes of 7.00/15 and 7.50/16, the former being what i use on my '47 Super. The only hitch is that your '47 junior takes slightly smaller tires than the senior Clipper, so you may have to settle with one of the "close enough" metric-sized radials.

BTW, all Diamond Back does is buy Yokohamas in the case of the two bias-sized radials mentioned above, or metric-sized radials for owners of other old cars that don't use 7.00/15 or 7.50/16, and vulcanize a whitewall on the side, for considerable cost.

Since your car's a '47, and NO 1946-47 cars regardless of make, model, price range, were delivered with whitewalls, for the sake of historical authenticity, leave the whitewalls to the suburban concours d'nonelegance crowd. A very, very few '47s were delivered during the last month or so of the model year with whitewalls, but 1941-47 Packard Clippers are one of those rare cars that look internationally, timelessly bespoke off the factory line, so why bugger them with whitewalls? You'll "see" the car better without them. Less is more.

If you're forced to buy one of the metric-size radials, because of their wider profile, talk with other 1942-47 junior Clipper drivers to make sure you get a size that doesn't interfere with lock-to-lock turning, or chafes against the inner rear fender, etc.

And, when you mount the tires, don't use or let the tire shop use soapy water to help them slip over the rims. Use talc. Why introduce more moisture into that environment than already exists in the air?