tire diameter

[mike gaines]

Can anybody tell me the outside diameter of the original tires used on a 58 silverhawk

[StudeRich]

Mike; would that be a 6 cyl. or a 8 cyl. Hawk? 14 inch or 15 inch wheels? Was it built for export or domestic U.S. use?

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[John Kirchhoff]

I once read in "Collectible Automobile" magaazine that in '58 the Hawks had 14 inch wheels. I'm assuming that was for domestic use since a number of manufactures used 14's in the late '50s and early '60s. According to my sources the other 15" Hawks used 6.70 width tires, so if the 14" were the same width, the overall diameter would be 27.4 inches give or take a bit. Remember this was before the days of belted tires, so the tires would "grow" taller but narrower at higher speeds. If by chance they used the next width size up, that would probably have been a 7.10 which would be 28.2 inches. If they had, that would have put the tire within .2 inches of the same height as the 6.70X15. If you're wanting to find a comparable modern tire, divide the tire width in mm by 25 to get the inch value and take that times the aspect ratio, 65,70,75 ect, double that and add it to the wheel diameter. Keep in mind that not all tires are created equal and it seems the cheap tires tend to be a little smaller than the more expensive tires.