Hi everyone,
I am from India and have found a ford Model T. I am from India and I need some help regarding buying tyres for my ford Model T. Not the car was found in an old house and didn't have any tyres on it. I have attached a pic of a chassis with similar rims like my car has got.
When i measured the diameter from edge to edge, it was 24inchs and when i measure inside the rim, basically spoke to spoke it was coming 23inchs. Please advice on the correct size of the tyres that would fit on these rims.
Thank you in anticipation.
I got your e mail, you need to post better pictures of the wheels, are these split rims? they do not look like standard T wheels, Bob
Hi,
No this is not a split rim. These rims are standard to most Model T fords we have here in India.
Sorry that was a wrong attachment.
This is the correct one -
Some more pics
Cast aluminum centers and felloes?
Indrojit,
Most likely your car was made at the Windsor, Ontario, factory of Ford Canada. This just across the Detroit River from Detroit.
The practice seems to have been to install 30 by 3-1/2" tires on all four wheels for the export market. One way to tell is to see how many parts have "Made in Canada" on them. Look at the hub caps, radiator, for example.
If you can post pictures of your car, and any information such as engine number of body number (usually not the same), that will assist our large staff of Model T experts.
Indrojit--I`m scheduled for New Delhi May 22 to 26th--Maybe we could meet and discuss Model Ts during my visit--E-mail me at pdgriesse@prodigy.net Thanks, Paul
These wheels appear to be English "Sankey" and may be Metric size.
There is a Model T club in India, as the photo's you have posted have the wheels the same as yours maybe you can find a member there who can help you.
There is mention in the English Model T Ford book of these wheels when i find the reference I will post the information here unless someone beats me too it.
Indrojit,
The wheels you have are English Sankey Wheels.
If you google " English Sankey Wheels " you will find some information. Regards, John
Notice the rear of the frame and possibly a TT. RH drive also.
I like those wheels! KB
Right hand drive pass car chassis. My guess late, 26/27 beefier rear cross member, typical front axle, and body brackets are also late.
Definately Sankey wheels
Just eyeballing the original pics posted above, they look like 30 x 3-1/2's to me. But if they're metric, all bets are off.
Their website has an old ad on it showing a picture of those wheels, with the note: Made in 30 x 3-1/2 and 30 x 3" sizes for American tires. Suitable for Fords and other cars.
From the first picture it appears to be a Model T chassis, not a TT.
Most export models, including those assembled in Canada and the UK used 30x3.5 tires. The 3 inch were only used in the USA. The wheels on my cars are all 30x3.5 and the is 24" inches at the edge of the rim and about 23" inches across the flat area. I just went down to the barn and measured.
In answer to the questioner, if the rim is 24", then they need 30x3.5 tires. If the rims are not 24", then we don't know.
Thank you everyone for being kind with me regarding the car.
So from the above posts I can safely say that I need 30x3.5CL tyres for my car as it is 24inch from the beaded portion and about 23inchs in the flat area.
Regards
Indrojit
Indrojit, here's a thread where rim dimensions was discussed: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/80257/109798.html?1255311482
Your dimensions 23" and 24" indicates you need 30x3.5" clincher tires (beaded tyres in british english)
Here's a couple of pictures showing rim measurements for 30x3.5 tires:
(Pictures by Hap Tucker)
Just wondering…
I’ve been puzzled for a long time with reading about the difficulty some folks have in mounting clincher tires…..and some folks slip them on using just their hands.
The above pictures by Hap as posted by Roger again brings to mind the puzzle….
Is it possible that some folks try to mount a 30 X 3 ½ tire on a rim meant for a 30 X 3 tire? Seems that would contribute to uttering some colorful language!
Just wondering…???
It's all about the weather. When it's nice and warm the rubber of the tire is stretchy and can be slipped on by hand. I watched a clincher get changed this last weekend and it was somewhere in the 50's. A couple of big guys struggled and fought with tire irons and made little progress until they warmed the tire up - then presto! it slipped right on.
Hi,
My tires have come in today from the U.S and they fit perfectly fine. They are 30 x 3 1/2 Firestone tyres. Please find the attached picture.
I thank each one of you who have contributed to this thread. Really appreciate your assistance.
Regards
Indrojit Sircar
Nice looking wheels, are they wood or cast metal of some kind. Did they have a Ford assemble plant in India?
Bob
How is that for service ?
Indrojit asks a question on the 6th May and 8 days later he has new tires shipped from the USA -mounted.
The Indian Model T's came from Ford Canada
Here is a picture of a delivery to the Indian Ford distributors in 1914. They appear to be packed the same way as they were to Australia and New Zealand.
It would be interesting to know why Model T's there are fitted with Sankey wheels. Though it appear that this happened in the 1920's.
Hi Bob,
These rims are full cast steel rims with hollow spokes. The Ford Model T's that came to India were either from Canada or U.K.
Hi Peter,
Bob has been very helpful regarding the tires. I was going completely on what he said and trusted him and got the right tires. The tires were shipped last Thursday from the U.S came to India via France on Sunday. On Monday the customs clearance was processed. I went to the customs on Tuesday with one rim, paid the 200% customs duty on the tires, went straight to a tire shop got one tire fitted even before i did anything to see if they were fine or they needed to be replaced. And they fit perfectly well. The pictures speak for them selves.
I am glad they were the right ones I am glad we could send him the right ones, shipping was not that bad either, Bob
That's an interesting wheel, but how heavy is it???
Charley
Here are two ads for Sankey wheels, The first one is the one Mike Walker mentioned saying 30 x 3 1/2" now available for Fords and other cars.
Sankey obviously saw that nearly half the cars on the road were Fords and it would be worth while producing a wheel that Ford owners could attach to their cars with little effort.
The second ad mentions that the wheels were ideal for hot dry countries as they were not affected by the heat. India was a British colony during the Model T Ford era so Sankey wheels would have been easily obtained maybe even marketed there by the company. It would appear that owners of the Model T changed the wheels on their cars when they found the original wood ones caused troubles. Remember Constantine had trouble with his wheels in this part of the world.
Charley, the second ad probably answers your question. The two sides of the wheels are made stamped out from a piece of steel the thickness of a beaded edge rim. They are welded together around the center, you will notice the rim is part of the wheel making it very strong. These wheels were often called Artillery Wheels.
In the case of the Ford wheel with a hole to match the hub size and bolt holes which line up with the bolts used to fix the wood spokes in place. Although they may be heavy they would probably be less weight that a disc wheel.
Gent's
While we are on the subject of Wheels for T fords, does anyone know what wheel this is. I presume it is English as it's the same style as an Alvis but on a smaller scale. I used to have an add for them that I'm sure came from an English magazine but cant find it. A friend is looking for 2 more to restore his original Aussie Rajo Racer that originally had them in the 1925-27 era. They are 30 x 3 1/2 inch
Any help appreciated
Thanks
Mark
Another advertisement for Sankey wheels showing hub, driving bolts etc in picture on LHS at:
Forum 2010: Dual wheels - if anyone interested