Modern Tire Size

[k8icu]

Hey guys,

The M37 had 900 x 16 tires. If one was to buy a modern equivalent what would that be? 255 R ? 16? Tried searching but keep getting conflicting numbers.

Thanks
Joe

[sturmtyger380]

The 900 - 16 is the old style tire size. The 900 or 9.00 is the nominal (approximate) cross section in inches. 16 is the rim size.

Most if not all new tires are metric. So converting the 9 inches to mm gives you - 228.6 Okay so how tall a tire do you want? a 60, 70, 75 or 85 series?

Now it gets more confusing. a tire that might be close lets say a 225/75 R16, the 75 is the Aspect Ratio. Is it really taller than a 70 series?

The Section Width of a tire is the distance from the inboard bulge of the tire to the outboard bulge of the tire when mounted on the rim. So if you had a really square cross section tire the tread cross section would be close to the section width. A tire that really squats and has the side wall that bulges out will have a larger section width. (confused yet?)

The Section Height is the distance from the bead seat to the tread once the tire is mounted.

So the Aspect Ratio = Section Height / Section Width X 100%

Bottom line, find a 16 inch tire close to 225 that looks good and has a really square side wall to tread shape. Be it a 70, 75 or 85 series. (Personally I think the 75 and 85 series look better on the trucks.)

[sturmtyger380]

A 235 / 85 R16 tire is a little larger but might look good. I like this one. http://www.bfgoodrichtires.com/tire-sel ... 5/16/tires

[Black Ops]

I think the modern equivalent is 255/100/16. A 225 or 235/85/16 is a lot smaller.

[Cal_Gary]

Dave Ahl ran 305/85r16 Denman's on his truck, for what it's worth. I know those tires are no longer made-just adding the post for the size consideration.
Gary

[isaac_alaska]

I'm going to try to put 325/85R16 on my truck this summer. I'll post pics when I finish the install

[k8icu]

Good info. I have switch axles and can run any size I want but I was wondering what the original tire would be in modern size.

I was going to run HMMWV rims but 16.5 I think in the long run is not a good tire/rim size so I may go back to 16 inch or up to 17 since that seems to be a more popular size. I'm just thinking down the road when tires wear out and need to be replaced. 16.5s may not be available where as a 16 or 17 would be.