47' tear tire size

[mandymurrin]

Does anyone know what size tires would have been originally put on the old 47. And would it originally have had a torsion axle on it?? Starting the search for rims and tires and would love to have the snap on baby moons but the style of axle that's on it seems like it would not accept a rim that you can snap a moon on.

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[mandymurrin]

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[alaska teardrop]

Vintage Trailer Supply has 15" - 5 lug wheels & caps that work well with a Dexter torsion axle, either the #8 or #9 axle. They also have 16" - 6 lug wheels, but am not sure if you can get those axles with 6 lugs.

http://www.vintagetrailersupply.com/15- ... ts-090.htm

This is a 14" wheel on a Dexter #8.






Fred

[GuitarPhotog]

My 1948 teardrop has 15" rims on a leaf spring axle. I don't think torsion axles were common in those days. But you never can know what happened to your trailer in the 60+ years since it was built. A previous owner might have changed almost anything.

<Chas>

[sid]

I restored a 1947 Modernistic Cub just like yours. It did have the original torsion axle. Sorry, but I cant remember tire sizes....

There are pictures in my gallery

Mark

[mandymurrin]

Thank you guys so much. We're pretty sure the ones on the vintage trailer supply Web site will work for us.

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[gudmund]

the wheels and tires for this era of trailer would have been in the 16/17 inch "tube" type size - not the 16 + inch sizes we are seeing today which are much wider and tubeless. In the fifty's on, everything went tubeless in the smaller 13 to 15 inch size range than in the later sixty's much wider which is where we are today but now the last few (10 years or so) years everything has transitioned back to the larger 16 inch +++ sizes on just about everything being built today. It is even getting harder and harder now finding sizes even for the vehicles in the 13 to 15 inch range being no new vehicle built today even uses wheels in this size range from the factory today.

[dguff]

Many of those early Modernistics had 16" Ford wheels that use a 6:00 by 16 bias ply tire. One key thing to consider is the lug nut spacing. Those early Ford were a 5 lug wheel with 5 1/2 " lug pattern. Most modern wheels have 4 1/2 or 4 3/4 lug spacing.

[mary and bob]

Our '46 Modernistic has an original torsion axle. It uses 5 lug wheels that are the bolt circle of old Ford cars from the 30's on up (I forget what that is). My 70's Ford pickups use that same bolt pattern . I suspect, but don't know for sure, that these trailers originally had rims from 40's era Fords and were 16". I know a couple owners of these trailers that are using old Ford wire wheels. The problem I had was finding narrow rims and tires in 15", they had to be narrow to prevent rubbing on the body. A previous owner had put on adapters and some wide rims from a GM car that just didn't work. I have some early Ford wire wheels but didn't want to have to go to a vintage tire company like Coker for 16" narrow tires, so instead kept the adapters and used 15" rims from a 50's Chevy (about 1955). They work great, look OK under the fenders, and have enough clearance between the tire and the body. My axle has significant wear in it and eventually I'll replace it, and get hubs that the Chevy wheels will fit. Maybe even add a little extra width. Another thought that was mentioned to me was, if the axle fails, such as the torsion part breaks, the wheel is going up into the fender and damage it. To prevent that, I made up an axle stop, to limit upward travel of the pivot arm

[mary and bob]

Jerome was posting as I was typing my response, so he verifies my opinion of the Ford 16" wheels. Question for Jerome, were they the early wire wheels or '39 and up solid rim. Todd, founder of Tearjerkers has wire wheels on his Modernistic, you can find a picture of it on any post of his. That is Mary standing by it, photo taken at Ross Hill campground in 2008.

[dguff]

I also had Ford wire wheels on the Modernistic that I had. They were 1935 which was the only year that the wire wheels were 16". Since the trailer was a '47 they were obviously used wheels when mounted. I later replaced them with steelies, also in 16" with 4" rim width.

[Vedette]

Hi Mindy
Jerome is correct!
What you need is a pair of 1940 to 1948 Ford steel wheels if your bolt pattern is 5 on 5 1/2".
But if your bolt pattern is 5 on 4 1/2" you can use Chrysler, Plymouth, Dodge wheels 1941 to 1948, they are also 16".
Made for 600 x 16 tires......and have the correct look for the era of your trailer.
If you want new wheels you can get any size you want from either Wheels Vintiques or Early Wheel Co. and they are very cheap.
I had them make them for Miss Piggy (with my specific offset) for $60.00 ea.
Personally I like Artillery Wheels (which I purchased from Wheels Vintiques) 15" and purchase White Wall radials.
This, with my Dexter allows me to tow at any speed I want!
Please feel free to contact me if you need help with this, as I have some cool stuff in stock?
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[mandymurrin]

Thank you all for so much good info. We have a fellow that lives near by that may have just what we need. We're going to have a look as soon as we can. I appreciate all the help.

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[mandymurrin]

Thanks for all the help guys she finally got her new shoes.

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