[Flipper_1938]

Does anybody on this board have any experience/connections with big truck tires?

I am building a hot rod firetruck and want to run 445/50/22.5 tires on the rear. Where can I get a good deal on these tires? I checked at the local truck stop/ repair shop and he had one in stock but it was $976.00 .......for just the tire, no labor.....ouch!

What are the odds of finding them in a salvage yard? and what would be a fair price?

[propaniac]

22.5 is a common rim size. I would suggest going down to the truck tire place and take measurements and see what will fit under the fire truck. You might be able to find a size that is close to what you are looking for that is alot cheaper. The last set I bought for one of my propane trucks ran around $250.00 a piece. I run 22.5's also. The wider ones like on the front of cement trucks would be kinda what you are looking for. Most trucking outfits save the good tires off of the wrecked trucks so used ones in good shape are hard to come by at the salvage yards around here.

Hope this helps

[jalopy45]

Stay away from the truckstops unless you have lots of money. Talk to your local independant truck drivers using these tires, (log trucks, gravel trucks, etc) and see where they buy them. Usually the smaller truck tire shops have the best deals. The rims may be more of a problem for you as most of the super single rims are 10 bolt and have a hub piloted mounting system.

[propaniac]

Hey I am an Idiot.. I didnt know what a super single was untill now. I just talked to my tire guy and he says the size you are looking for is fairly new. He dosent even list it yet. He did say that you are going to be looking at around $900 bucks. The only tire he had that was close to the size you wanted was in the 65 series range and those run around $650. If it was me I would get rid of the dayton wheels and convert to the bud wheels and run the low profile duals in the back with the super singles for the front. The super singles are pretty heavy though.

By the way what engine are you going to use? Sorry for the dumb reply earlier.

[Flipper_1938]

I haven't completely given up on the super singles yet, but going to dual 22.5s with low profiles makes more sense. ....but when in the hell did making more sense have anything to do with building a hot rod?

By the way, the motor is a 906 cubic inch V12. It is a gas motor with real low compression...only 5.5:1 due to the funny valvetrain layout on these motors.