Thread: 32 3 window highboy

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what is the best tire size set up for this highboy

Welcome aboard.. what's the rest of the story? Just a 33 highboy? How about a pic? Ford? Chevy? Dodge? Packard?

Some of the "old-timers" will tell you what you need to know regarding tire stagger / setup / profiles / etc... they'll be along..

Now I gotta go duck and cover before they read this!

That's a very subjective question, and one that only you can answer as to what looks "right" to you. It makes a big difference what "look" you're going for, "traditional" old school skinny tires, '60's style bad boy hot rod, cheater slick drag car clone or something else? Brizio says that a six to eight inch rubber rake is "right". I spent a year going to shows looking at nothing but wheel & tire size on cars that had the right "look" for me.

I like the look of the 17 -- to 20 inch rims but I don't know the size of the tire .new at all this so sorry , maybe dumb question

Not a dumb question.. it's just very subjective. What you like, I may not.. That's why you should go to a couple cars shows and find "The LOOK" that appeals to you. Then get the tire sizes and maybe ask the owner for the rim offset, things like that.

For me the 25 & 30 series rubber band tires simply don't work on a street rod, and in fact for my taste they simply don't work on anything. I want to see sidewall in the right proportion to overall diameter & wheel size, nothing less than around a 65 series profile is going to work for me. Likewise, for a '30's coupe I probably wouldn't look at wheel sizes bigger than 17's in the rear, an likely 15's or maybe 16's max in the front. When I see a muscle car from the mid & late '60's running 20's or 22's I gag. It just doesn't appeal to my eye, but to each his own. You only have to satisfy yourself, and have thick skin to ignore comments.

If you're in to Conestoga wagons and the "pimp" look, go for it.

Truthfully, going to places where street rods are gathered and finding what you like and want to replicate is the road to happiness in this area. Another is to pore through the magazines and read through their captions, hoping that they give actual sidewall info, which is usually there because it's such a key to the "look" of the car. In addition to selecting the "rubber rake" that you want, pick the tire OD that best fills the rear wheel arch for your eye, then look for the right wheel to sidewall ratio. One of the guys posted this link some time back, and I've looked at it several times but just because you see a tire size listed doesn't mean it's still made and on the market - Tire Sizes

Hey!! The front tires are E78-14,25 Inches tall with 5.5 thread width and the backs are L78-15,29 Inches tall with a 6.5 thread width. Pete

Originally Posted by prpmmp

Hey!! The front tires are E78-14,25 Inches tall with 5.5 thread width and the backs are L78-15,29 Inches tall with a 6.5 thread width. Pete

So to be sure you have the terms down, Pete has 4" of "rubber rake" or "drop" from back to front, 29-25= 4". This is my '33 Hiboy, with 30.75" rear, 24.25" rear for a 6.5" drop. BFG P285R7015's rear, Firestone F560 145R15's front - the problem is that Coker bought the molds for both of these sizes, and he's the only source for them. Also 15" wheels in the rear don't have much room for disc brake calipers. The '32 I'm working on now I shifted to 16's for more tire selection, and more room inside.

IMG_1296 (1024x683).jpg

Todays choices for tire/wheel combo also need to address wheel backside clearance for braking systems---big disc brake calipers need lots of space---and also with 4 wheel discs and big and little tire wheel combos with tinies on the front of front wheel lock up and loss of control on panic stops (whoops, my damn hat just blew off!) brake balance isn't too complicated but it is necessary to consider and accumplish

I run P195X70R 15 inch tires on the front and P285X70R 15 inch tires on the rear. But since BFG quit making those rear tires which are now only available from Coker at an exorbitant price, I will probably switch to P275X60 17 inch tires and wheels to keep the 30 inch tire diameter in the rear. Click on the link below if you want to see the combination.

6 inch difference on my 32. 275-60 x17 on rear and 195-60x15 on front. Goodyear tires. 17" rear wheels added to the cost but saved from having to buy a tall Coker made tire plus side wall of rear tire is less dimension which I like over a 15" rear wheel to get the 30" total tire height. 30" rear and 24" front height.

This is for comparison of wheels and tires on my 3-window. I prefer the traditional look to my cars.

The first picture shows 450/475-16 inch front & 750-16 inch rears. These are bias ply tires.

Second picture is 165/80-15 inch front & 285/70-15 inch rears. These are radial tires.

Mick