Sidemount question

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Hey everyone,

I know this question has probably been asked a hundred times before, but here goes.

My car has 700-18 tires and the sidemount tires will not fit in the wheel wells. I am currently in the process of stripping the rims and repainting them to put them back together, but, unless I find smaller tires, I cannot use the tires I have because they won’t fit in the wells.     The original tires in the wells were 700-18 but were so petrified for being in the wells so long I had to cut them out with a saws all.  My question is: What size tires can I use to fit in the wells (with covers) and be able to use on the car in case I need one?..any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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I had a similar problem.  When I bought my 1933 1236 EDL, it was equipped with a set of 17.5×17 tires.  Since the tires were about forty years old, I opted for a new set of BF Goodrich tires.  When I pulled the metal tire covers off of the spares, I was surprised to see that the spares were 17.0×17 tires.  I swapped two of the new tires out for the smaller size, and they fit tightly in the wheel wells, and I had to deflate them quite a bit to get the metal covers on.  I had a discussion last year with several people on line here about this, and they explained that the profiles of the tires have changed over the years.  Several sources indicate that all 1933 Twelves had 17.5×17  but the Maurice Hendry book indicates that the 1236s had 17.0×17, while the 1242 and 1247s had 17.5×17.  So, I’m using the 17.0×17 just as spares and not in normal tire rotation.  Still waiting for the wheels to come back from Stutzman, so I won’t make the PAS National, but I hope to be at Gilmore in August.

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Kenneth,

I am having the same problem. if I re-install the rims and tubes, I cannot inflate the tires at all, and I cannot install the covers either. The photo shows how the current tire fits in the well, and I cannot put the cover over it even without the rims and tubes as it is.

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It is more complicated, as the actual dimensions for any given size were not standardized. I found that Lester 700:17’s were small enough to fit in my Packard sidemounts, Denmans definitely not. I assume that the Lesters conformed to the original size put on the cars at the factory, perhaps less expensive. Coker used to publish the actual dimensions of each tire in their booklet, but I haven’t seen one in years. The diameter of the Lester was something like 1″ smaller and the width of the tread was about 1″ smaller than Denman. The narrower tread of the Lesters also behaved better on my Packard with less rut following but probably didn’t last as long. I think many of the tires are no longet produced. Perhaps a call to Coker could get dimensions of currently available tires.

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