Tire size

[Neshkoro]

I'm in the market for new front wheels and tires. Years ago the big craze was to have very skinny tires on the front. Now it seems there are more and more buckets with wider tires on the front.
Everyone has an opinion. Would you mind sharing your pros and cons to each.
Many of our buckets have wandering issues. I don't know if the wider or narrower tire contributes to that more or less.
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Bill

 

[Spanky]

I am not a fan of the skinny front tire idea, even though it captures that '70's vibe. For me, it is a safety issue; the front tires do the steering and most of the braking, so I want a larger contact patch than the skinny tires offer. Having said that, I DO like the traditional hot rod 'big 'n littles' look, so my front wheels are 14" and the rears are 15". Tire sizes: 185/60-14 front; 305/50-15 rear.



PS - My bucket tracks straight and true, with no wobble. I have cross-steering.

 

[Neshkoro]

Thanks Spanky. Let's do who else has an opinion.

 

[old round fart]

I’m putting wire wheels on mine for “the look”. I don’t plan on testing the limits on handling. This is a cruiser and will be driven very conservatively so max performance is not the goal.

 

[Gerry]

Its a T Bucket; but of course everyone's entitled to their interpretation of the end result. Skinny fronts and wide rears (big n littles) define one
of the most basic Bucket features. Couldn't give a stuff about handling, or going around corners like a production car. Its all in the aesthetics for me but that is JMHO.

Kinda finding the newer Ts are looking for a production car type set up, which kinda defeats the basis of the original concept. Go your own way, but don't bleat about it when you find that throttle application in the middle of a corner gives you loads of under-steer and in the worst case snow ploughing.

 

[409T]

I'm with @Gerry. Motorcycle tires in the front for me, they handle like power steering and look like an old school T-bucket.

 

[Indycars]

With a smaller and lighter tire/wheel combination, there is less weight for the shocks to
control and less chance of a stability problem with the front end. I'm running a 5.7 inch tread
width similar to the one shown below.

 

[Gerry]

there is less weight for the shocks to
control
View attachment 14893

Then change the shocks to work with your set up....

 

[Neshkoro]

Seems that there are more fans of skinny than wide. Maybe something in the middle. I'll keep watching this thread and see how it goes.

 

[Indycars]

Then change the shocks to work with your set up....

The fact remains that there is less weight to control, no matter which shock you pick.

 

[2old2fast]

185/70-14 in my eyes satisfies the "little" of big& little + still has enough contact patch & sidewall to drive on our ( Illinois) ... potholes/ roads...but then , again , I do DRIVE mine..

 

[Neshkoro]

It seems that my bucket has a mind of its own about driving straight down the road. Since I'm the market for tires, that's what brought up the question of tire width. I thought wider or skinnier would help resolve the issue.

 

[rodder25]

I have monster mickeys on 15" wide rims on the rear and have little ones up front on 4" wide rims . They work for me and look good as to my own taste.





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[Gerry]

Weird how a top fuel car can run 300+ on front tyres that are only a few inches wide... no cornering, I will admit, but all that lack of weight!!!!

Remember this is JMHO...

 

[Dezolde]

Keep in mind that top fuel car has long wheelbase, a lot of caster and substantial downforce from both front and rear wings.

 

[2old2fast]

It was my impression that you didn't steer a top fuel car , you pointed it ...

 

[fletcherson]

It seems that my bucket has a mind of its own about driving straight down the road. Since I'm the market for tires, that's what brought up the question of tire width. I thought wider or skinnier would help resolve the issue.

If you have handling issues, I don’t know that tire width will resolve it. (?) I’m not trying to be negative, but if it wanders with any size tire, it’s likely to do it no matter the size. Choose the type tire that you like and suits your style of car and driving, then spend the time to dial it in to handle to your taste. Are the current tires wearing even? Was it always like this with the wandering or did it progress as tires wore? Just some thoughts.

 

[Neshkoro]

It's kind of like some issues seem to gradually appear. They don't always go from good to bad overnight. The wandering seems to have gotten worse over the past couple of years. I've done everything that I can think of. I've adjusted the caster, toe in, installed a steering damper, panhard rod, new king pins and bushings. The rod ends are tight, the steering box seems OK, no slop in the wheel. The camber on the axle is not correct but that has been that way since the car was built 30+ years ago. The tires still have plenty of tread and are not warn uneven. They are kind of old and I thought that maybe the cords are weakening or coming apart. If you try to push the tire sideways everything seems solid. That's why I started the thread about tire size.

 

[lincolnuT]

Old Hard Tires cause all kinds of things......I bet your tires are the problem due to their age......

 

[Neshkoro]

Now that the brakes are under control the tires will be the next thing on the agenda.
Bill