Big 'n' Littles

[Johnny]

New guy question. What are the wheel and tire sizes when ya here someone is running big 'n 'littles ? Is it where ya have 14" on front and 15" on back? Or, same size wheels but wider on back?

Thanks

 

[T-Odd]

This isn't very easy to answer as there are very many possibilites.

Let's say you have motorcycle tires on the front and big@$$ Hoosiers in the rear.

This would be big and little as in diameter of the front vs rear and at the same time big and little as in width of the front vs the rear.

I don't believe I've seen too many buckets with tires the same diameter on front and rear so that wouln't necessarily be the determination for a generic Big and Littles type of comment. Almost all T Buckets have larger diameter tires on the rear... but then again almost all T Buckets are running Big and Littles.

It's more of a tire width type of thing, you got some little tires on the front and some BIG ones on the back.

Clear as Mud right?

 

[EX JUNK]

A picture is worth a thousand words. Here is a shot of my ride. In the rear I'm running 285/70x15's on 15"x10" rims. The fronts are 165/80x15's on 15"x4" rims. The OD of the rear tires is 30.7" and the OD of the front tires is 25.39", hence, "big and littles". Big and littles help give it a "rake", which is a very desirable look on a hot rod. ( A "rake" is when the front of the car is lower than the rear as opposed to a "tail dragger" where the rear is lower than the front. Tail draggers were usually custom cars not hot rods.)

Jim

 

[Lee_in_KC]

I agree with T-odd. Typically when someone uses the term "bigs & littles" they're talking about tire size. I have however, seen some nicely executed hot rods with rear wheels a little bigger than the fronts, like maybe 15s in front and 16s on the rear. As with every other aspect of our hot rods, it's all a matter of taste. Here are my "bigs & littles"...

(Sorry T-odd, photobucket!)

 

[Rick]

And here is my big and littles.

 

[Youngster]

In the late '50's when i first heard this big and lil it refered to tire dia. and width. At that time it was a way to lower the front of your car and raise the rear .. know as "the rubber rake" We were tying to get a compition look to our daily rides, smaller tires on the front 6.00 x 15's (less rolling resistance) and wider on the back 8.20 x 15's for more traction (scoffs).

Ron

 

[putz]

Here are mine front view.

 

[T-Odd]

Ok here's mine, the front rims are 15x4 and rears are 15x10. Front tires are shorter (about 25" D) vs the Rear (31" D) and also a lot more narrow.

I'd call this big and littles but not extreme.

Now here's a boatload of non-big-n-little pics, just because.

Scooter's Model A

Flathead Jack's Deuce

Meeks' 32 Sedan

Lee's old Model A sedan

Scooter's 32... the tires on the front are shorter but not very narrow. Big- n -Littles?

Lee's Model A - I'd say this qualifies as big-n-little

Don's truck, I'd call this big-n-little

Parker's old bug, hella rake on it.

Parker's bug has the same size tires as my bucket. The rake is more visible on the VW.

 

[Youngster]

This is a good example of what was thought to be run in the pre-war days. Chances are there was only a size or 2 difference between the front and rear. Most of the guys that where looking for more speed would chamge tire size (dia) as a way of changing gear ratios. Larger tires would give quicker times. Still looks good today in my book!

Ron

 

[donsrods]

I'm stuck in the '50's, so my big and littles generally consist of something like these:

Don

Here are the tires and wheels on my 23..5:00 x 15 front and 10:00 x 15 rear

And here are the ones I just got mounted for my 27. 5:60 x 15 front and 8:20 x 15 rear.

 

[benT]

Here's my take on "Big and Littles" I'm running 215/55/15's on the front and 275/60/17's on the rear. I wanted the rake without the overly fat side wall. I love them and the ride is smooth. The back rims (17x9.5) are custom backspaced so there isn't an excessive gap between the body and tire (without rubbing)

 

[one finger john]

Jeez, what an all-star line up of cars. All of them street driven, all of them tastefully understated. Where's Rooster's Roadster?

John

 

[Youngster]

ahhhhh wow sweet it is Don. Like the cherry on top of a ice cream sunday!!!

Ron

 

[VegasBruce]

31 15.50 15's on 10" rims back 165 15's on 6" rims front.

 

[Johnny]

I'm stuck in the '50's, so my big and littles generally consist of something like these:

Don

Here are the tires and wheels on my 23..5:00 x 15 front and 10:00 x 15 rear

And here are the ones I just got mounted for my 27. 5:60 x 15 front and 8:20 x 15 rear.

I appreciate all the info fellas. But, of all the looks y'all gave me, these are the ones I like. Are these Coker tires and wheels??

 

[donsrods]

Welcome to the lost in the '50's club. Yep, they came from Coker, but not sure if they are Coker Classics or what. (I forget what I ordered exactly) So far I have the front end up on wheels and the rear end should be up this weekend too. The rear wheels are Wheel Vintiques from Coker, but the fronts are 46 Mercury 15 inchers.

Here is how far I've gotten on the rebuild of my 27.

I guess I'm kind of a creature of habit. I pretty much run the same combo on my other cars too.

Now my Son Don has caught it too, and has the same combo on his T..

We have Coker Tire on speed dial.

Don

 

[T-Odd]

I'm too poor for Coker, I have to settle for hand me downs from Al... whom I expect to someday pay back.

 

[EX JUNK]

Al is one of the best, if not the best, guy to share and help a fellow builder. It would be great if we all tried to follow his example.

Jim

 

[T-Odd]

I owe Al like twenty beers and burgers by now.

Colorado Springs?

 

[chopper tom]

Here's my version of bigs-n-littles,got to love em!