Willys Stock Pickup Truck Radial Tire Size?

BeachNut

Gear Grinder
Jan 28, 2018
9
NC
First Name
Rick
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1960
I bought this truck less than a year ago. It is a 1960 and is pretty much all stock. My truck does not have a lift. I need to replace the 25+ year old dry rotted 7.50 16 farm tires. My off road driving will primarily be on the beach so I would like to get All Terrain radials, not the Mud and Snow tires. From research and reading articles in this forum, appears that a 235/85 R16 is the largest tire that will fit on the stock rims. I would appreciate any advice on this prior to buying 5 tires; Pros/Cons, Tire Brand reccomendations, etc.?

Is anyone else running this size tire on stock rims and do you have any problems with them?
Also, will this size tire fit on the spare tire mount?
TIA
IMG_7638.JPG
 

cwdtmmrs

Well Oiled
Jul 19, 2012
2,992
First Name
Tim
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1952
BeachNut said:
I bought this truck less than a year ago. It is a 1960 and is pretty much all stock. My truck does not have a lift. I need to replace the 25+ year old dry rotted 7.50 16 farm tires. My off road driving will primarily be on the beach so I would like to get All Terrain radials, not the Mud and Snow tires. From research and reading articles in this forum, appears that a 235/85 R16 is the largest tire that will fit on the stock rims. I would appreciate any advice on this prior to buying 5 tires; Pros/Cons, Tire Brand reccomendations, etc.?

Is anyone else running this size tire on stock rims and do you have any problems with them?
Also, will this size tire fit on the spare tire mount?
TIA
View attachment 56369
Click to expand...

Nice truck. I ran the 235/85R16 tires without issues on a 5" rim. I can't tell by your photo if you has 4 1/2" rims or 5" rims. The HD 5" rims will have a 1/8" hole next to one of the lug holes.
 

Herk

Precision Fit
Dec 24, 2011
703
Boise, ID
First Name
Nate
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1960
235/85 R16 may not fit on the factory spare mount if that bothers you. Otherwise they work fine. 215/85 R 16 are closer to 7.50-16 bias plies.
 
Blindmelon

Blindmelon

Well Oiled
Aug 10, 2014
2,150
Agua Dulce, CA
First Name
Larry
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1950
A 235/85R16 will not fit on the spare tire carrier.. It hits the fender and cab.. I ran 235/70R15's for a while.. When I
upgraded to the 16's with the 235/85 tires I was amazed how much smoother the truck was on the highway.. They
are huge compared to the original tires.. A stock rim is not advised for this tire.. You need a little bit more offset
than the stock rims provide... Just my opinion......
 
Big Dog Frank

Big Dog Frank

Well Oiled
Feb 12, 2016
2,077
North Lawrence,Ohio
First Name
Frank
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1959
That's a really nice looking truck. I run the 235/85R16 on the stock wheels with no issues. You will be surprised what a difference the radials will make.
 

cwdtmmrs

Well Oiled
Jul 19, 2012
2,992
First Name
Tim
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1952
Big Dog Frank said:
That's a really nice looking truck. I run the 235/85R16 on the stock wheels with no issues. You will be surprised what a difference the radials will make.
Click to expand...

Frank, when you refer to "stock rims" do you ,mean the HD 5" rims or the 4.5" rims? I ran the 235/85r16's on the 5" rims ok, but the recommended rim wheel width is 6"- 7.5". A lot of shops will not mount and balance them on a smaller rim. Even the 215 is designed to mound a min rim width of 5.5"'
 
captainlance

captainlance

Well Oiled
Jul 22, 2017
1,100
Long Island, New York
First Name
Lance
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1955
Rule of thumb for tire sizes, the width of the rim should match the width of the tread. There are NO radial tires made that will safely fit a 4.5" rim. upgrade to 6" rims, available from Wheel Vintique under the "62" series. Then, you can safely run modern radials up to a 235.
additionally, The older rims are not made for tubeless tires of today, they can run off the rim under hard cornering.
 
Big Dog Frank

Big Dog Frank

Well Oiled
Feb 12, 2016
2,077
North Lawrence,Ohio
First Name
Frank
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1959
cwdtmmrs said:
Frank, when you refer to "stock rims" do you ,mean the HD 5" rims or the 4.5" rims? I ran the 235/85r16's on the 5" rims ok, but the recommended rim wheel width is 6"- 7.5". A lot of shops will not mount and balance them on a smaller rim. Even the 215 is designed to mound a min rim width of 5.5"'
Click to expand...

I mounted the radials on the rims that the 750-16 tires were on. I am assuming the wheels were original to the truck. The wheels were in good shape inside and we mounted the radials tubeless. I understand about the wheels having only one lip for the tires to mount on but I don't plan on any high speed maneuvers that would roll the tires off of the rim.

Sorry if I misstated any thing here.IMG_1755.JPGIMG_1757.JPG
 

cwdtmmrs

Well Oiled
Jul 19, 2012
2,992
First Name
Tim
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1952
Frank, Do the rims have a 1/8" hole next to one of the lug holes? If yes it is a 5" rim. The parts book also list a 6" rim for the 7.50-16 tires, but I have never seen one. I ran 7.50R-16 tires mounted on stock 4 1/2" rims on a little camp trailer, but wouldn't do that on my wagon. I have 5" rims on the Wagon and used 7.50R-16 tires for years and 125k+ miles without any problems at all. A lot of time at freeway speeds and quite a bit off road and never lost a bead or even leaked air. I've had 235/85R/16 on the same rims for the last 10 years without any problems because I couldn't find 7.50R16's. They are the same diameter but a little wider than the 7.50's and I never liked them as much. I now have new BFG 7.50R-16's ready to install as soon as my rims come back from the powder coater.
 
tnestell

tnestell

Precision Fit
Jun 13, 2010
719
Saginaw, Michigan
First Name
Ted
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1954
Not all 5" wide rims have that hole or were made by Kelsie-Hayes. I have 5 steel rims that have a 5" inside width that are welded and not riveted, and do not have the hole that 4 Kelsie-Hayes rims do that I have.
 

cwdtmmrs

Well Oiled
Jul 19, 2012
2,992
First Name
Tim
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1952
tnestell said:
Not all 5" wide rims have that hole or were made by Kelsie-Hayes. I have 5 steel rims that have a 5" inside width that are welded and not riveted, and do not have the hole that 4 Kelsie-Hayes rims do that I have.
Click to expand...

Did it originally come from a Willys pickup though? I have a 5" rime that is welded and not riveted, but still has the 1/8" rim. It is the consensus among some of my more seasoned Willys friends that the 1/8" hole was put there so than a mechanic could identify the rim as a HD 5" without taking off the tire. Makes sense, but not 100% sure it is true. My parts manual only lists 2) 16" rims. A 16"x 5" and a 16"x 6" type "L" for use with 7.50-16 8ply tires. We know that isn't Gospel since there are so many 16"x 4 1/2" rims around. I even have a 16'x 4 1/2" rim with the 1/8" hole. I was told that the MB's used those. I've been around this stuff over 40 years and knew/know most of the guys that have been in the industry before that and still don't know for sure.
 

Sprint 6

Sharpest Tool
Oct 30, 2017
238
Indiana
First Name
Chris
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1950
Frank, I just put those same tires on my truck, in 215/85/R16. They are mounted on the stock 5" wheels. My truck is a stock F134 model with 5.38 gears, so my top speed is limited to about 45. If it were capable of higher speeds, I'd be worried about the wheels, but not at those speeds.
 

BeachNut

Gear Grinder
Jan 28, 2018
9
NC
First Name
Rick
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1960
My wheels have the 1/8" hole by the lug nut so I do have the 5" rims. Tomorrow, I will measure the amount of room between the cab and fender for the spare tire.
IMG_0917.jpg
 

BeachNut

Gear Grinder
Jan 28, 2018
9
NC
First Name
Rick
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1960
Big Dog Frank said:
That's a really nice looking truck. I run the 235/85R16 on the stock wheels with no issues. You will be surprised what a difference the radials will make.
Click to expand...
Thanks, What size spare tire do you have?
 

BeachNut

Gear Grinder
Jan 28, 2018
9
NC
First Name
Rick
Willys Model
  1. Pickup
Willys Year:
  1. 1960
Attached photos are tire size comparisons. My current spare tire is a worn 7.00R16 and it measures ~30 1/2". I have ~1/2" of clearance to the fender and ~1 1/2; to the cab. Unfortunately the 235/85R16 tire wont fit unless I modify the tire mount. I am planning on starting with 4-235/85R16 tires. I'll deal with teh spare tire later.

There is a limited selection of 235/85R16 A/T tires. I have found:
HANKOOK DYNAPRO ATM (RF10)
Cooper Adventurer A/T
Falken Wildpeak AT3W All Terrain
Is anyone running these tires? Pros/Cons?

7_5_16.jpg2158516.jpg
2358516.jpgTire Comparison.jpg
 
Seabee

Seabee

Precision Fit
Dec 23, 2014
914
Mulkeytown, IL
First Name
Joe
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1952
I run 235/85R16 Super Swamper radials on my FC-170 with stock rims. That thing really rides nice on the highway and they are surprisingly quiet!
 

cwdtmmrs

Well Oiled
Jul 19, 2012
2,992
First Name
Tim
Willys Model
  1. Wagon
Willys Year:
  1. 1952
Make double sure you have 5" rims. Not all rims with the 1/8" hole are 5". Usually, but not Gospel. I have some 4 1/2" rims with the 1/8" hole. I just got my rims back from the powder coater today. I will have my 7.506-16 BFG Mud terrains mounted tomorrow and post photos. This has been a 2-3 year process looking for a set of 7.50R-16 tires I could live with. BFG just came out with these in August. I ran 235/85/R16 for the last 7-8 years but didn't like the extra width. Also I had to go through 9 rims to find 4 that were even close to true.
 
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