Hot Rods HIBOYS -TALL & SKINNY or FAT and WIDE TIRES

I like them both ways

 

Short and plump, taller and plump. Radials make it drive like a new car, whether anyone dislikes the modern profile or not. I'll take drivability and function over museum correct tires on a car I'm going to actually use.

 

That sedan belongs to @mctim64, I shot that pic at the GNRS this year

 

My daily driver .... "Judge not, least ye be judged."

 

I’m ok with being judged. Making a car fit a certain style is fun for me, and I guess I’m looking to be judged by those in the know.

And all you guys who have to have radials should know that they make them in proper proportions for our cars now.

 

That's cool, but not a highboy

 

Gateway car show 8-26-23. Concord, NC. Three hot rods showed up. The rest late models. A 33 three window, black. You've seen plenty of those before. Same with the 32 five window. The 28 I built for my BFF Malcom. I built it too low. I wanted to re-arch the rear spring. His solution was to put truck tires on the back and a non reverse eye front spring. Still too low in back. He likes it. That's all that counts.

 

Tall and skinny, whitewalls or black walls provides the O/G 40's 50's Hot Rod look. That other fat tire look is just an very ugly Street Rod look that has "No Business" on the HAMB

 

I can accept ugly but this ain't no street rod!

 

KK

 

I prefer crossplys in the traditional combination with the right wheels .

 

Changed to a narrower wheel/tire combo. Saved 10 lbs. on each, ride improved!

 

Denny
Love the Stones on the rear. What are they? I mean other than Firestones

 

Fat tires may have no place on the hamb, but that doesn't make them ugly, and that most certainly doesn't make them a street rod. A hot rod is supposed to, you know, do hot rod things. It is fairly easy in today's world to achieve 400hp in any one of the OHV engines of the hamb era, and it is kinda..... you know, sad let's say, to have your 4" wide fusible links let all the smoke out with 48hp....

From a photograph perspective, and from a preservation of a place in time, sure; there is a lot of romance to a set of big n' little tall n' skinny bias ply tires. But sitting in that car at a stop light next to ANY car outside of a 50s era or earlier build... good luck.... As was stated earlier in the thread, the tires evolved with the horsepower. I'm saying this as a younger guy who wasn't there, and as someone who has the big n' little tall n' skinny bias ply look, but in my opinion, the tires need to match the performance of the engine, like Dana was saying awhile back. I'll be changing what I have mocked up, because to me it makes sense to upgrade the performance of the tires rather than de-tune an OHV to flathead level hp. In this case performance overrules aesthetics, in my opinion anyway, for the style of car(s) I'm building.

The McMullen roadster and the McGee roadster are good examples of tire technology following horsepower.

McMullen:







McGee:

 

Tall & Skinny

 

Who are you and what did you do with Tim
That might fly over on the Traditional side of the HAMB, here, WE GET IT!

 

I was trying to be as non-confrontational as possible lol. Can't be responsible for starting internet riots....

 

I was there and I always tried to do the best I could to get tires that would give me the most traction! I like the looks of tall and somewhat wide tires and was known to run slicks on the streetback then especially when I might be tempted to engage in some street racing.

 

12.00/30-15 two-ply real sprint car tires.

 

Just out of interest, I did a few image searches in an effort to put a timeline to the changes in tyre proportions. In circuit racing there was a rapid shift from skinny to fat in the years 1962-64, pretty much all over the world. But the same thing seems to have happened in drag racing about 6 or 7 years earlier.

So there is definite precedent for fat tyres well within the HAMB era. Even it that was only in the form of an idea, it was surely an idea familiar to every hot rodder in 1960.

 

Quite like this myself

 

Not my car, not my picture-credit to those responsible- this one works for me.

 

And I like this one too.

 

And again, not my car, not my picture, but this one really works.

 

I know this is an old thread but it's a topic that comes up often. I struggled with the traditional big and little skinny look or the fat tire look on my 32 build. I eventually settled with some aluminum mags and wide rear tires with skinny tires up front. I do want to get a set of 40 style wheels and tires so I can switch it up from time to time. I'm building a 31 coupe for my son and he was given the same options before I purchased his wheels. He went with steel wheels and hubcaps with 7.50 and 5.00 tires. Either way it is an expensive decision. Tire prices are outrageous weather it's a Hoosier or Coker.

 

I’ve really leaned towards skinny tires since the eighties as running N50s over those f’in steel grate bridge decks at speed was white knuckle flyin at its best. Only thing as much fun as that was cheater slicks in the rain. Too old now for either as my cardiac event risk is substantially higher.
Must also admit that I’ve migrated to the new ‘skinny’ radials for the ride quality.
This is just so much more peaceful.

 

Nice car.

 

Tall & Skinny here.