Is this an original tire? Pics...

[Keith Seymore]

Hmm - leather strap is not ringing a bell with me, and the first pit job (underneath) in my area was the spare tire install. I'm wondering if it was just to help protect the tire from rubbing on the frame or the carrier.

Chevy trucks did come with Uniroyal brand tires. Truth be told, there was motivation to supply trucks with the cheapest tire possible, because any savings on one tire was multiplied by 5 (four on the ground + the spare, if it got one; spare was optional).

Here's the link to the info kit for a '78 Chevy pickup from the GM Heritage Center archive. This indicates a G78-15B tire as standard (bias ply).

http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-h...olet-Truck.pdf

K

[KMK454]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Hmm - leather strap is not ringing a bell with me, and the first pit job (underneath) in my area was the spare tire install. I'm wondering if it was just to help protect the tire from rubbing on the frame or the carrier.

Chevy trucks did come with Uniroyal brand tires. Truth be told, there was motivation to supply trucks with the cheapest tire possible, because any savings on one tire was multiplied by 5 (four on the ground + the spare, if it got one; spare was optional).

Here's the link to the info kit for a '78 Chevy pickup from the GM Heritage Center archive. This indicates a G78-15B tire as standard (bias ply).

http://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-h...olet-Truck.pdf

K

The leather strap theory makes sense since the two points it was stuck to the frame at were where the tire would have been making contact with the metal. The strap also wasn't long enough to go all the way around the tire, so maybe the original owner put it in there.

As for the tire, it appears to be original based on that document you supplied. Also, I have a 78 Chevy Trucks binder from a now defunct dealership that has all the information on these; I'll check that since it shows specs on everything. I can't believe I didn't think of that earlier...

[Low84]

That looks VERY similar to the stock spare that I have in my 68 Cadillac!