Big wheels keep on turnin’

A friend of mine, who owns a small garage, had a 51 (2?) 4 door show up a while ago. I happened to be driving by while it was still on the trailer being estimated. The ca. registration claims it is a 52 but it has the wings up Cormorant. After 62 years, who knows? I was somewhat surprised to see vary Packard looking 16 inch wheels warring F 70 16 wide whitewall tires. My 52 bodied, 53 Henny Jr, #8, has the standard 15” wheels that look very much like the 16’s on this one. I posted this on the Packard forum along with the ID numbers and received a reply from Don 37 in Guntersville, AL He owned Henny Jr #13 and one up in the 250’s both with 16’s. I’m wondering if I should offer a trade, my 15’s for his 16’s? Does anyone know which of the commercial chasses used 16’s and were they standard or optional? There was a set of Packard hubcaps on the wheels the first time I saw it. They clip on from the center so I don’t know that size makes a difference.
Thanks, Tom
 
Henney cars, both junior and
senior, used that same 16-by-5 1/2 wheel all the way through 1954; I've
interchanged bathtub 48-50 and contour 51-54 wheels all the time. The 15-inch wheels would
not work with the bolt pattern on that particular drum.

I checked the parts book to see if I might be missing some nuance, and it lists
the same wheel part number 22nd-54th for all Henneys.

The bolts are the same, if that eases your mind. Clippers got
DIFFERENT BOLTS FOR 1954, These wheels 54 to 56 clipper are the same as MOPARS of the time they have a smaller bolt circle than the senior Packards.
 
Does your speedometer seem accurate when driving the car? The slightest change in tire size away from what the car was originally supplied with will throw off your speedometer reading vs. actual speed. For example if a car that was built for 890-15 tires is fit with 235-75-15 radials, a speed that reads 60 mph will actually be around 55.
 
Tom is quite right changing tire size throws the speedo off. The 8:90X15s were the original size on most all coaches and ambulances through the 70s. The poor folks who could not afford them went to 8:20s or even 8:00s thus throwing their speedos off to being fast due to smaller size. With modern radials the same is true and then you get into aspect 75,70 ,60 etc. each step down also affecting the diameter and thus the speedo. I am running 235X70 15 Vogues on my 96 S&S six door and there was a slight speed up on the speedo and yes their load carrying is less than the 275X75 15s no carrying three rows of obese mourners.Another interesting point is my alignment shop insists the alignment specs are different for radial tires vs. bias tires. Several years ago when I changed an ambulance to radials he insisted I get the rig realigned for radials. He said the radials would wear funny and the handling would be better if the realignment done. Best thing was changing to radials improved the ride. I changed a 56 Packard to radials and with the torsion bar suspention the ride (the best got better). Also when messing with wheels you can run into problems with wide wheels the inner wheel rubbing on the tie rod end due to the wheel width. This can be overcome with commercially sold spacers. Also wide wheels change the loading on the wheel bearings and can lead to early bearing failure.
 
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