1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

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Basement Paul
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by Basement Paul »

I'd find out what size tire that guy has, cuz they look sweet.

-BP
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by GMJohnny »

I looked further into the post. The burgundy truck has 245/75/16's on the front on 8" wide
rims. The backs are 285/75/16's on 10" wide rims. I'm not wanting different size rims & tires.
I'm thinking that one size for the whole truck is good. I have to research the size rims that
won't hit the steering components and what offset they should have to look correct. The info
on the burgundy truck helps me get closer to the final purchase.

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by GMJohnny »

Over the weekend, I was able to fix two things that were annoying me to death about the truck.
The windshield wipers that came with the truck were winter blades. I have hated the way they look
since I got the truck and I found suitable replacements that look correct on the internet. While at
Carlisle, BP and I went to an old truck specialist with intentions of purchasing them there, but the
kid who took care of us said "they sell out pretty quickly." Grrrr! So I "hinted" to Fred that I might
want a set of the new ones for my birthday. The second I put the new ones on, I knew it was a good
move. They look awesome!! The second "upgrade" was going to new floor mats. The ones that came
with the truck were crappy old rubber ones that someone used vinyl paint on to make them the correct
color. The most horrible thing about them was that the fit around the accelerator pedal was wrong,
and they were constantly sliding all over the place, mostly under the pedal and in the way. Well,
Fred hooked me up with a set that belong in there. The color match isn't perfect, as my carpet is
ancient and the mats are new, but I don't care. The underside of the mats have a deep rubber traction
that keeps them in the place you put them in. After installing them in the truck, I backed it in its
spot in the garage and the stupid issue of sliding mats was gone. It's amazing how something so stupid
makes such a huge difference in the way the truck feels! OH!..... and I added a super cool antique store
find to the truck as well. Check out the phone number on the key fob!

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by GMJohnny »

Good news and bad news...... Good news first. I found a set of Ford steel 16" x 7" eight lug rims locally.
I bought the set and got the rims for less than $50 / rim, which was a pretty decent price, as they are
in pretty nice shape. They are black and will need to be painted white before going for tires. Now the bad
news. Only three of the four rims will take a hubcap! The guy who I bought them from helped me load
them and it wasn't until I got them home that I realized that one didn't have the "bumps" to hold on the
hubcap. I'm toying with the idea of welding on some bumps, but I can get another rim on Ebay for about
$50 - $65 dollars. So the rim decision has been made. On the way home from buying the rims, I stopped
at a local tire store. The guy at the counter was nice and showed me the different tire sizes next to the
truck in the lot. I felt that a 265/75-16 was the best option. He was a bit skeptical that that size would
clear the fenders on the front when the truck turns. He tried to talk me into getting a 245/75-16. I came
home and searched out pics of both sizes on the trucks just like mine. The red truck has the 265's on it and
the blue truck has the 245's on it.... I'm leaning toward the 265's still. Both of these guys are running Ford
16" x 7" rims on their trucks, so it gives a nice depiction of what they should look like on the truck.

GM
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AKROVER
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by AKROVER »

I have always been a fan of putting on the biggest that will fit. In the old days, we had our choice of big truck tires, 31's, 32's, or 33''s. It seems to me that almost any truck could handle 31's without any cutting or lifting so that was what I had on my 82. If my math is correct, the 245's are more like 30.5's which makes them seem like a no-brainer fit. The 265's calculate out to about 31.6's, but that really is only a little more than a quarter inch bigger than 31 since it is the distance from center that matters for clearance, not total diameter. Width matters, too, but I think you were buying rims that pushed the tires outboard more so I don't think you will have any internal clearance issues, just an issue of catching the sheetmetal when turning, and probably only when hitting a bump while turning. I personally would love to see those 265's on there, but it seems like a mild risk of problems as those are nice big tires. If I remember right, my '82 Ford could hit a tire if I really bottomed out the suspension on a sharp turn, but that only rarely happened and never did any real damage, just a small mark in the tire (it also seems like it only ever happened on one side, but I could be remembering that wrong). Someone out there must know what fits, but I couldn't find anything quickly. If someone else is using them without any apparent lift, I would suspect that means only minor problems, at worst. Either tire should also help your gearing situation a little, although I am not clear as to what size tire is on there right now. The OEM size was pretty small (according to tirerack) so I think you are already bigger than that. Can't wait to see how this upgrade works out. The windshield wipers seem like a minor thing, but I really do hate those old-school snow-blades so I think that was a positive effect. The floor mats are more of a functional upgrade, but it all sounds like you had a happy birthday.
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by GMJohnny »

Ak... The tires that are on the truck now are 7.50 - 16's. Aside from the fact that the ride is horrible
with them because they are bias ply's, they are just to skinny and the back spacing on the rims is
4.5". They set way to far in. One dude on a forum said that tire combo looks like a fat guy on a
bicycle! HA!! Anyhow, both tire combo's are working for other guys, and I'm leaning heavily toward the
265's because they will fill up the wheel wells best. I've seen at least 5 posts of guys with that tire
set up on their C20's, so I feel I'm pretty safe. It's difficult to find a tire that is not really aggressive
with its tread pattern. I'm hoping to find a more mild road tire. Many of the options I saw on TireRack
are SUV tires and have heavy lugs on them. More research needs to be done........ and I just purchased
the last wheel on Ebay. It has the hubcap bump on it, and I should have it in about a week or so.

GM
AKROVER
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by AKROVER »

I have been watching older trucks while driving around the country and really noticing how far under they tucked the tires. That was a really strange design and it does look pretty silly. I think your old tires are 29.8 in diameter so the 245's are only 2% bigger. The 265's are 6% bigger which will be quite a bit more noticeable (6% should also be the speedometer effect). Of course either tire will be significantly wider than what you currently have which will affect the visual impact from any angle except when sitting on the ground and looking directly toward the axle. Since it looks like they fit without any problems, you can mark my vote for the 265's (I get a vote, right?). Good luck finding a tread pattern you like, particularly if you want to keep the price reasonable. The noise on the all-season or all-terrain options shouldn't actually be that bad. The Nissan has very aggressive all-terrains so drive that with the windows open for a data point. I never really hated truck tires until I tried off-road treads once (luckily they wore out in about 20,000). I'll be back in about a week so get this done so I can see it before I go to Buffalo.
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by GMJohnny »

Well AK.......... I'm going to lose some time here at the ranch. I just blew a belt on the finish
mower last night and that's going to suck up some of my time to repair. Having to paint the
wheels and order tires might make you seeing it completed impossible, but I'm working on it!

Also, the tires on it now are 7.50 x 16's, which according the boys on the internet equates to a
235/85/16. If you plug that in the to the tire size calculator I've been using, it shows the 235's
at 31.73" tall and the 265's at 31.65" tall. I'm interested in how you were getting your calculations.
I've never put a tape measure to the tall & skinny's on the truck now, but they are TALL!! I don't
want anything taller, but wider is good. I need to fill the fender wells up.

GM
AKROVER
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by AKROVER »

Alright, I'll drive down from Buffalo on a Wednesday to see the finished product. It does sound like you made up this blown belt excuse, though.

I am not sure I found a good source for tire sizing for those 7.50 X 16's. What I found says that if they include a zero at the end of the number, the section height is 92% of the width. If they don't include the zero, it is supposedly 82%. 7.5 is supposedly the section width which is about 190 mm. According to my questionable information then, the existing tires are supposedly more like 190/92/16, which doesn't exist. I can see why someone would choose an 85 series as the closest replacement, but 235 seems like the wrong number. I don't fully trust the source of the information. I will try to find a better confirmation on diameter calculations. Of course diameter is somewhat false as the tire is not round when in use. This means you can't even think about trying to measure it. I think diameter is supposed to be only a rough estimate for getting to circumference which is how far you theoretically should move in one tire rotation. Even that is imprecise. There might even be some adjustments due to tire design that make the comparison more complicated. Add in tire pressure and these really are just rough numbers, but moving up a couple inches in diameter would make your truck an inch taller and that could matter to you. I'll let you know if I find confirmation on sizing.
AKROVER
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by AKROVER »

I can't seem to find any clear information in going from bias ply to radial. I did find another reference to this 92% aspect ratio for numbers ending in zero (and I checked my math which still says 29.8 diameter), but I also found a chart that indicates an effective (they called it highway) diameter on a 7.50 X 16 as 31.8 which appears to match what you have found. I think there is a difference in how the different tire designs compress when sitting still and how they expand centrifugally at highway speeds so likely the cross reference you are finding is the practical one. In the end, we seem to be talking about relatively minor potential in the physical changes of ride height and gearing and other people have used the tires you are looking at so I think you are good to go. Visually, the width impact combined with getting the tires pushed outboard more will be significant and ride and handling should be noticeably better. I am probably confusing this decision with too much math about diameter, a vague notion for a flexible circular object that will sometimes be spun at high RPM while always being compressed under heavy load.
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by Basement Paul »

Here's a couple with some streetish tread:

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.js ... mpare1=yes

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.js ... mpare1=yes

Those TransForce would keep your weight capacity too and they roll forever.

-BP

PS- GM, this is the post I lost. It was still stored in my computer...
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by GMJohnny »

Those TransForce tires come on many of the trailers and trucks we have at work.
I'm not certain what the guy at Middlefield Tire carries... They may be "Joe's Tires"
brand. I'm not really too concerned about going with an off-brand tire, as they
will never see 20,000 miles in the next 6 years. Any tire I put on it should last for
infinity. .... And I'm going to take a measurement of the tires that are on the truck
to help out with the discussion. More to come!

GM
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ttamrettus
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by ttamrettus »

How about that snorkel air cleaner ?
Matt Sutter
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by GMJohnny »

Matt.... The dual snorkel air cleaner assembly project is under way. I've pressure washed
the thing, degreased it, sanded it and primed it. I've found an air filter that fits and purchased
the threaded rod to make a stud to hold it to the carb. I have to modify the riser between the
carb and the air cleaner so that it will sit with a snorkel on either side of the motor uniformly.
I'm hoping to paint it on Wednesday or next Sunday. It depends on how long it takes me to
fix my mower and order the tires on Wednesday. I'm working on it!! ... and my accountant
brought over a clutch fan ( Thanks, Tiresmoker!!! ) that needs to be cleaned up a bit and
put on as well. So much to do. I'm jealous of the retired guys on this forum!

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1969 Chevrolet C20 Custom Camper Truck

Post by GMJohnny »

I FINALLY got the dual snorkel air cleaner assembly on the truck today. I had about twenty
minutes of fab work to do to get it correct. The spacer between the carb and the air cleaner
wouldn't allow the snorkels to be centered up on the motor. A bit of trimming with the whizzer
wheel and that was fixed. I had to install a longer stud as well, but that took about a minute
to cut to the correct length. Once it was on the motor, I took the truck for a spin to the car
wash rack. It sounds GREAT! Just like a QuadraJet is supposed to sound like. You can actually
hear the carb over the fan now. I degreased and painted the fan today, and purchased the stud
kit to install it. That'llbe next week's project. I also "fixed" the directional signals that had stopped
working. When I went to check the fuse in the fuse panel, the directional signal relay thing was
not pushed in the correct way in the fuse panel. I must've kicked it with my boot while my feet
were sliding around on the old floor mats. I also put the final coat of paint on the new wheels
today. I still haven't ordered tires, but that'll happen here pretty soon. Today was good!

GM
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