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Lind Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000 Posts: 9915 Location: idaho
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 8:17 am Post subject: 185-16 radial tires |
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Is anyone out there running 16" radial tires on their barndoor?
I see these Michelin X 185SR16 tires, which look pretty good in overall diameter, but they recommend a wider rim than the stock barndoor rims. They are also kind of expensive.
https://www.lucasclassictires.com/185SR16-Michelin-X-66250L.htm
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djfordmanjack Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2009 Posts: 2179 Location: Graz, Austria, Europe
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 8:59 am Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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unfortunately not a direct answer to your question, but when I picked up these barndoor wheels they had 185/75 R16 tires used on a farmers stake wagon.
The width looks quite ok, even though the 3.50 rims are quite narrow.
if you want I can take measurement of the OD of these tires, since they are still mounted.
_________________ Hotrods, Fords, Veedubs and Triumph Twins !
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djfordmanjack Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2009 Posts: 2179 Location: Graz, Austria, Europe
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EmpiGT Samba Member
Joined: January 27, 2005 Posts: 2597
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 10:20 am Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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What's the difference in the 185sr16 and a 185r16, is it a load rating? |
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djfordmanjack Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2009 Posts: 2179 Location: Graz, Austria, Europe
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Lind Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000 Posts: 9915 Location: idaho
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Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 10:11 pm Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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Thanks for the info. The diameter should be pretty close. I am more interested in how they fit such a narrow rim. It looks ok in the photos. I'll probably get them and if they seem wonky I'll just get the rims widened. I should be well under their speed rating. The load rating looks good at 1389 pounds. The price is kind of tough, they are more than 3 times as much as 15" LT bus sized tires, I thought barndoor was just twice as expensive as normal bus stuff. _________________ .
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djfordmanjack Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2009 Posts: 2179 Location: Graz, Austria, Europe
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 4:11 am Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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You are welcome. Please keep in mind that these tires are 185/75 R16.
the 185/SR or R16 will have 80 percent height ratio and probably have a little more OD.
Maybe this pic helps. it shows how obviously the tire tread is wider than the rim, but it's not that bad imho.
If you are thinking to put these on your smoothgate, unless you want to drive it crosscountry, I personally would NEVER chose Radials. no matter what brand and tread or width, they will allways look awkward in comparison to og bias ply tires. Radials will seriously take away from the looks of your truck. I have had great results in improving the ride and roadholding on bias plies simply by adjusting the tire pressure and toe in. You surely have enough experience of your own. In my 25 years of driving bias ply tires, I've gone as low as 1.2 bar (18psi) on some cars. JMHO.
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52 Barndoor DLX Coachbuild project
55 Wolfsburg panel project, og paint Taubenblau L31
62 Dickholmer, custom color Seeblau L360
63 1500 Notch, og paint Rubin Rot L456
67 1500 Käfer, og paint Lotus weiß L282 w/red interior |
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Lind Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000 Posts: 9915 Location: idaho
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 7:05 am Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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djfordmanjack wrote: |
You are welcome. Please keep in mind that these tires are 185/75 R16.
the 185/SR or R16 will have 80 percent height ratio and probably have a little more OD.
Maybe this pic helps. it shows how obviously the tire tread is wider than the rim, but it's not that bad imho.
If you are thinking to put these on your smoothgate, unless you want to drive it crosscountry, I personally would NEVER chose Radials. no matter what brand and tread or width, they will allways look awkward in comparison to og bias ply tires. Radials will seriously take away from the looks of your truck. I have had great results in improving the ride and roadholding on bias plies simply by adjusting the tire pressure and toe in. You surely have enough experience of your own. In my 25 years of driving bias ply tires, I've gone as low as 1.2 bar (18psi) on some cars. JMHO.
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I don't have a smoothgate, its a '50 panelvan that they will be going onto, not that it makes much of a difference. I have driven hundreds of miles in a number of different barndoors with 16" bias ply tires, and they all handled fine, but what I am after here is the best handling possible with a generally stock appearance. I run light truck rated radial tires on all of my other buses, and I like their feel better than bias ply tires. I agree that tire pressure is critical to handling, although I notice the adverse effects of higher pressure more on lighter VWs like beetles and ghias. I don't plan on driving it faster than 65mph in most situations, and never more than 75mph. _________________ .
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sled Samba Member
Joined: February 16, 2005 Posts: 6179
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 8:26 am Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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radials will always handle/perform better than a comparable bias ply....when mounted on their intended rim width and recommended tire pressures that is. The issue with running a radial on a too-narrow rim is that it causes the tread to deform and the tire will roll side to side considerably when cornering or when affected by a side wind (semi truck passing). Now, I know you're not going to be rallying your panel like crazy around mountain roads, but a 185 will roll a LOT on a 3.5" wheel, and negate a lot of the better handling characteristics of a radial.
for a 3.5' I'd personally stick with a narrow bias ply, but if you're willing to widen the wheels then I'd go to a 5" and the 185's would handle amazing. _________________ drive your split. |
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djfordmanjack Samba Member
Joined: June 15, 2009 Posts: 2179 Location: Graz, Austria, Europe
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 10:49 am Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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my bad, I mixed up the Südfunk with the smoothgate.
Funny, I can rather imagine using those radials on the panel. I have no clue why. Maybe the Südfunk has so much partina, it shows as a real work horse and will work with the radials.
Lind wrote: |
I don't have a smoothgate, its a '50 panelvan that they will be going onto, not that it makes much of a difference. |
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Lind Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000 Posts: 9915 Location: idaho
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 11:35 am Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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sled wrote: |
radials will always handle/perform better than a comparable bias ply....when mounted on their intended rim width and recommended tire pressures that is. The issue with running a radial on a too-narrow rim is that it causes the tread to deform and the tire will roll side to side considerably when cornering or when affected by a side wind (semi truck passing). Now, I know you're not going to be rallying your panel like crazy around mountain roads, but a 185 will roll a LOT on a 3.5" wheel, and negate a lot of the better handling characteristics of a radial.
for a 3.5' I'd personally stick with a narrow bias ply, but if you're willing to widen the wheels then I'd go to a 5" and the 185's would handle amazing. |
I'm more likely to widen the rims. I have a spare set of rims, and the bus had bias plus on it, so I can see how they both feel. _________________ .
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Lind Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2000 Posts: 9915 Location: idaho
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Posted: Sat May 02, 2020 11:38 am Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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djfordmanjack wrote: |
my bad, I mixed up the Südfunk with the smoothgate.
Funny, I can rather imagine using those radials on the panel. I have no clue why. Maybe the Südfunk has so much partina, it shows as a real work horse and will work with the radials.
Lind wrote: |
I don't have a smoothgate, its a '50 panelvan that they will be going onto, not that it makes much of a difference. |
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I have driven that smooth gate hundreds of miles on bias ply tires. It felt just fine. There weren't any heavy loads, and I wasn't pushing it, but I did drive it at 60-65 mph on California freeways. _________________ .
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Mr. OGPaint Samba Member
Joined: September 24, 2010 Posts: 823 Location: Oregon
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:01 am Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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I just ordered 5 of these. Michelin X TT 5.50R16. Reproduction of the earliest Radials offered since 1949 by Michelin. Offered by OEM manufacturer Michelin
https://classic.michelin.com/en/Classic-Tyre-range/X
https://www.ebay.com/itm/402858559193?hash=item5dcc3dc6d9:g:NjUAAOSw6V5gyHic
I got them from jegs off ebay, $222 each w/ free shipping. Also, most bias plies are no longer in stock because of the everything shortage.
I prefer the factory sized 5.50 tires to the 6.00's most are running. These have "the look" in IMO, though the pie crust is not as obvious as a firestone. Load index 88, so they are 1235#, higher than any 5.50 bias ply and about 50% more than the equivalent firestone
I'm excited to try them out.
From the michelin website.
"The radial tyre was the first major innovation from Michelin and was initially marketed as the “X” tyre in 1949.
Lancia was the first car manufacturer to fit the X tyre as original equipment on the Aurelia model.
From 1955 onwards, radial technology became increasingly popular and the majority of European car manufacturers opted for this solution.
The X could be fitted to cars of very different categories, from the original and popular 2CV or Beetle to the fascinating Mercedes 190SL or Facel Vega
Radial technology
The benefits of the radial tyre compared with the standard tyre were visible in all areas:
- greater safety: clearly improved road-holding, grip, braking.
- economical to use: double the mileage, significantly reduced fuel consumption.
- increased comfort thanks to sidewall flexibility.
In the 1950s, the superiority of the X tyre was such that a number of racing drivers adopted it, although Michelin was not officially involved in car racing." _________________ https://instagram.com/mr.ogpaint
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FritzCP Samba Member
Joined: October 23, 2005 Posts: 463 Location: Wisconsin
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Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 1:00 pm Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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Diamond Back Tires has their Auburn Radial now. This tire is a pie crust bias look radial tire. They offer a 5.50 16 and a 6.00 16 and run about $250 each in a black side wall.
https://dbtires.com/product/auburn-deluxe-radial-15-16-sizes/
best of both worlds. _________________ Fritz Custom Products
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Fritz 124 - Crank Pulley Puller
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mandraks Samba Member
Joined: November 28, 2004 Posts: 7050 Location: Lawrenceville, Ga
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Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:19 pm Post subject: Re: 185-16 radial tires |
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Mr. OGPaint wrote: |
....
Radial technology
The benefits of the radial tyre compared with the standard tyre were visible in all areas:
- greater safety: clearly improved road-holding, grip, braking.
- economical to use: double the mileage, significantly reduced fuel consumption.
- increased comfort thanks to sidewall flexibility. |
no doubt that radials are a much better tire, but i have not been able to see ANY appreciable difference one way or the other on fuel mileage.....
maybe, since radials are typically smaller in diameter they "appear" to get better gas mileage because you end up going slower and shorter distance when you follow the same speedometer/odometer reading?
like 10% _________________ regards
Uli
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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel |
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