Hey! Old guys....

[Slammed70]

I was looking at wheel/tire options today for my truck. And with the motor I got slowly coming to life in the garage my dad said I should get some tire called an "M50"....apparently Im to young to know what this old tired linguo is.

Can any of you old(knowledgable)people shed some light on this for me?

Thanks,
Mitch-

[GREASEMONKEY72]

young whipper snapper

[retodd7711]

Who you calling old? Let me take my geritol and pump up my wheelchair tires and I'll show you some..... I need a nap.

[Gray Ghost]

M50 refers to the aspect ratio and width of the tire. They no longer go by letters like that...now you look for 255, 275, 295 etc. I think M would be a 295 or up [the bigger the #, the wider the tread].

[Rokcrln]

Well back in the day we used to rate tires a little more sinmple than they do now. We did not have the need for all these big 17" and 18" tires like you kids do. Their were 14's for most cars and 15"s for high performance and 16" for the heavy duty trucks. So what you would do when you needed tires was head down to the service station (now called gas station) for a new set of rubbers (no not the same thing you horny kids call rubbers) or as you would say tires.

When you got their and pulled in and ran over a black hose the little bell would go off. This would let the sevice man know that we needed gas or tires and they would come out and provide a service to the customer (that is why they were called sevice men). I remember once when I came in to get my radiator cap tested because the car was running a little bit hot and we were headding out the next day for a family camping trip. The service man tested it and found it was bad (only held 12lbs not the 16 it should have) so he put on a new one for me. That set me back 2 bitz but it was ok because he installed it for me as well because you see back then they would work on your car at the service station kind of were the name came from. The men working their were called service men because they provided a service. After he shut my hood the car would not start so he pushed it into one of the service bays and found out that my flex plate was missing a few teeth and that it why it would not start. Were did I set my teeth, I know I had them at 3pm for dinner down in the hall. I must have pulled them out after the bread pudding I had before my nap. I bet I left them on my night stand next to my bed. Wel I beter get going but tell the kids we love them and hope you can make it by the home this week to say hi.

Love Grampa!

[Mudder]

50's were very wide...................................................

[chevyboy55]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

Well back in the day we used to rate tires a little more sinmple than they do now. We did not have the need for all these big 17" and 18" tires like you kids do. Their were 14's for most cars and 15"s for high performance and 16" for the heavy duty trucks. So what you would do when you needed tires was head down to the service station (now called gas station) for a new set of rubbers (no not the same thing you horny kids call rubbers) or as you would say tires.

When you got their and pulled in and ran over a black hose the little bell would go off. This would let the sevice man know that we needed gas or tires and they would come out and provide a service to the customer (that is why they were called sevice men). I remember once when I came in to get my radiator cap tested because the car was running a little bit hot and we were headding out the next day for a family camping trip. The service man tested it and found it was bad (only held 12lbs not the 16 it should have) so he put on a new one for me. That set me back 2 bitz but it was ok because he installed it for me as well because you see back then they would work on your car at the service station kind of were the name came from. The men working their were called service men because they provided a service. After he shut my hood the car would not start so he pushed it into one of the service bays and found out that my flex plate was missing a few teeth and that it why it would not start. Were did I set my teeth, I know I had them at 3pm for dinner down in the hall. I must have pulled them out after the bread pudding I had before my nap. I bet I left them on my night stand next to my bed. Wel I beter get going but tell the kids we love them and hope you can make it by the home this week to say hi.

Love Grampa!

Ya know I seem to recall something about customer service.It's been to long ago to remember though.

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by Buffalo Elk

M50 refers to the aspect ratio and width of the tire. They no longer go by letters like that...now you look for 255, 275, 295 etc. I think M would be a 295 or up [the bigger the #, the wider the tread].

Yup, this is it. I can't recall ever seeing an M50 (heck, at my age, there's a lot of things I can't recall ). My new '69 El Camino (SS 396/375) had G70-14s on 14x8 chromes up front, with L70-15 Pos-A-Tractions (anyone remember those?) on 15x10 chromes out back. Took at least 100# in the air shocks to keep the rears from rubbing.

[68w/sbc406]

Originally Posted by GREASEMONKEY72

young whipper snapper

the funniest thing is you are only 19 yourself

[mvfd70]

Originally Posted by chevyboy55

Ya know I seem to recall something about customer service.It's been to long ago to remember though.

Geez, I'm only 25 and I remember that thing called customer service. Granted, I was pretty young (as in pre-teenage years) when that thing still existed. But I am from a small town in rural America. Things like that seem to stick around a bit longer. Now i have a whole list of stores that I don't go to just because their customer service sucks. The local Auto Zone is the worst. I'll rant about that later

[19673ontree]

I'm pretty sure you missunderstood your dad , he said N50's they were all the rage back in the day , protrac made the most popular one's , N50 protrac's looked cool on the back of 74 trans am with highjacker air shock's and front bumper dragging the ground , and you had to paint underneath your car orange ,,,,,,,, not really sure why but you had to !!!!
some cal custom valve pan's and chrome foot shaped gas and brake pedal's also , them was the day's !!! that's what happen's to custom mod's they go out of style ,

[19673ontree]

ohh yea ! I almost forgot to tell you that those tire's go on a set of alluminum slot's ,,that's very important (LOL)

[lowdowndirtyshame67]

Actually, there are still a few companies that still make the N50. Try Coker Tire's website, or if you need anything, let me know...I got the 411 on tires. But yeah, a 295/50/15 is the metric equivalent to the N50...And some 78-15's would look great in the front to go with them ol' fashioned N50 tars...

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

68 to 72 Vettes had very wide tires back in the day. The tire size was F70x15 as well I recall G70x15 (referred to as a wide oval tire.) 53 to 62 Vettes were 670x15. M50 I do not recall a tire profile with this letter/number identification.

esll.

Even if there was such a thing it would be unavailabe today. I went through my new Coker Tire Catolouge and no code such as M50 or N50 exists.

[CG]

Oh yeah...N 50 15 Mickey Thompson Indy Profile...those were the ones to have in this area.

[Slammed70]

Originally Posted by lowdowndirtyshame67

a 295/50/15 is the metric equivalent to the N50...

Damn, the tires I have on the rear now are bigger than that, Lol

Anywho...thank you for all that.

And Im having trouble trying to find some good looking wheels, according to the people at Wheel Vintiques the wheels I have now are their 42 series. Anyone know if they make this wheel, or one similar to it in a 15x14?

Thanks again,
Mitch-

[3/4tonterror]

i have n50 on the rear of my 70 camaro,wide and low. love um.i remember the first time i saw n50 on a 70 nova, way back in early 70s. this doesnt mean im old. it just means i was there when real cars were being produced.

[Slammed70]

Originally Posted by 3/4tonterror

when real cars were being produced.

Real cars eh.....the 66-67 Chevy II is number 1 on the "Real car" list!

[454_72_4X4]

Your ol man was probably talkin about N50's like a couple "old guys" stated above.
But then again, there were M50's too. They were 14's though.

Originally Posted by Stocker

Yup, this is it. I can't recall ever seeing an M50 (heck, at my age, there's a lot of things I can't recall ). My new '69 El Camino (SS 396/375) had G70-14s on 14x8 chromes up front, with L70-15 Pos-A-Tractions (anyone remember those?) on 15x10 chromes out back. Took at least 100# in the air shocks to keep the rears from rubbing.

I remember Pos-A-Tractions, but I'd guess those were L60's on the back instead of L70's. 70's would be hard to stretch on a 10 inch wide rim. L60's fit good!
I had a set of G50-15 Pro Trac's once. (Shorter and slightly narrower than
N50's). I loved those tires. I could slide the "S" curves in my home town at 80-85mph like my Chevelle was a sprint car!

[GREASEMONKEY72]

Originally Posted by 68w/sbc406

the funniest thing is you are only 19 yourself

thats the point, but im old at heart, if that makes any sense

[va_tlc]

n-50s..... yup back in the days when you would look at a set on the rear and see cut marks on the side walls from the weekend after having some friends sit in the back seat lol... that extra weight always took its toll on the side walls if your air shocks wasnt pumped ...

[larry may]

L-60s for me back earlier on, i think it was earlier on, well could have been back there somewhere , but then again mabe. they were just fat tires

[Stocker]

Originally Posted by 454_72_4X4

I remember Pos-A-Tractions, but I'd guess those were L60's on the back instead of L70's. 70's would be hard to stretch on a 10 inch wide rim. L60's fit good!

L60s may have been a better fit, but I actually did have L70s on those 15x10s, and they seemed to fit pretty well. Remember, the 'L' referred to the nominal section width, which would have been about the same on either tire. 70-series just had a taller sidewall, at ~70% of the section width vs ~60%.

Interesting thread. That MT Indy Profile pic reminded me of a buddy's '69 El Camino with similar tires all around. Sure looked great, but with a BB and no power steering, he had a b*tch of a time trying to park it...

[timcos]

Originally Posted by Rokcrln

head down to the service station
Love Grampa!

I was one of those "service man" and I am only 46. I guess I caught the rear end of the "service station" phase in 78 and 79. I responded to the bell because we were shopped and rated by how fast we would respond, oil checked, wipers checked, air pressure checked, transmission fluid checked, windshield wiper fluid checked, credit card slip generated and presented...etc.

The letter designation was the height of the tires and the number (90, 80, 78, 75, 70, 60, 50) were the widths. The lower the number, the wider the tire. The lack of an R meant bias ply, the R meant steel belted radial. Radials, when they first came out and became a consumer item was a real selling point for a bout two years in selling cars.

M50 was a good size tire that was very wide. Most likely it was a M50-15

Then they went to the metric tire size designation, more concerned with height to width ratios.

I cannot find a letter designation converter.

Here is a tire calculator that I did find...http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Cheers,

Tim "Old Service Man"