Building my 54 series 1 chevy truck. Debating on what tire size and rim combo to run. The motor will be good for around 500hp. Need some meats for the back. Thinking about running 17x10, 16x10, 15x10 rim size. What size would be better for traction? Plan to run a 15x8 in front. Bigger rim = more weight. Plan on running steelies. What tires are good for street use and driveability. Not running white walls either. Thanks.
Whatever shoes you run, I always preffer laces. I dont think slip ons or velcro would hold up and dont get me started on flip-flops.
What is a '54 series 1? Its either a '54 or it isn't. '55 was a split model year but '54 was not. Seems to me they are all 10 inch wide wheels which limits width to what fits those wheels. The rest of the choice is composition and aspect ratio. You are also dealing with sprung versus un-sprung weight and your suspension type. This question is far more complicated than the information you've given allows answering. I have a stock factory rated 250 horse car that will shred 10 inch tires (255/50-16) all day long. If you are really putting 500 horse on the ground your tires aren't going to be big enough. If your tires are big enough you're building a pro street truck.
The truck is leaning towards pro/street rod. The 54 and 55 chevy 3100's are known as 1st series, 55 was also the year the 1st series was out as well as the introduction of the new body. Maybe it was too much information supplied on my end. Should have just wrote 1954 chevy pickup. The question of the bigger rim size despite it being a 10" wide rim is leaning towards a lower profile/bigger sidewall tire giving more of a solid foot print. Agreed that 500 hp with not get traction no matter what, but every little bit helps.
8" wide wheels are fine, you have a trade-off with wet and dry traction the wider you go. If you really need it to hook, put some drag radials on it, or sticky street bias tires made for drag racing. Learn to drive careful.
Hurst cheaters - blackwalls. They look great on the back of these trucks - especially on steelies imho. They're flat and square so maximize footprint, and on my truck they drive really nice in all weather so far - yes, even in hard rain. Quiet, smooth, too. On the other hand, my 305 puts out alot less horsepower than you're planning to accommodate, but then again I'm running thinner ones than you'll be mounting. You can run a variety of front wheels with this set up and have the truck look great. I went with 54 car ****** caps on thin matching steelies.
For me, wider street tires like 10-12" wide with a high treadwear rating have less grip than a good 8" tire on the street unless running a soft compound. on the track where your heating them up and all that it's a different story. That's where bigger is better. These wide radials on my 71 bird have no more traction for me than a good set of performance all seasons on 8" rims. I'm running a 454 and t-10 I can break traction with any street tire I put on at about the same throttle and acceleration. let out the clutch at idle and step into it more than 25% throttle on the primaries and they roast. I'm running only about 350 hp and 450 ft-lb with 2:73 gears. These tires fit the fenders but are actually too wide for the rims because the tread width exceeds the bead width of these rims. They hurt the handling because this suspension is balanced to have 4 closely matched tires. They were on a car I bought for parts. They're just on there holding it up until I get a set of new 15x8 pontiac ralleys with some 235 60r15's if they fit the fronts. I like running the same size front and back. That way I can rotate the spare in with them and sooner or later my spare ends up replacing one of them permanently. hope my experiences with em can give you some ideas.
Generally speaking the 15 rim will have better traction than a larger diameter. The taller sidewall is softer and better able to absorb driveline shock & conform to the pavement. Note that drag cars only increase rim diameter when getting up into drag tires as tall as mudders. You've left out what's equally important. Durability. How many miles do they have to last? If the budget is unlimited, M&H all the way. When looking at what width will work best, think about how your suspension is going to work. True drag vehicles that work the suspension properly can utilize wider tires. Many street suspensions don't load the tire well, and wider tires can reduce traction as available weight is spread on a bigger area. Seems backward but is how it works. good luck
on a truck tires alone will not hook. you need some srious suspenion work. like good rear springs and shocks. i would also say ladder bars from the rear to the transmission mount. you need to transfure some of that weight from the front to the rear.
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