While not Kelsey wheels, a friend of mine ran aftermarket wires on his 56 Bird .  Radial tires and tubes and a liner so I think.  He made three trips from the east coast to the west coast and back that I am aware of (I drove  with him on two of those and rode with him on the third) and never had a problem with the wheels or tires.   These trips included highway speeds over 65. He had the wires for ten years or more.

In fact, he is redoing his Bird and went for a different look and I bought the wires and will be using them on my 56 Bird.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

I had KH wire wheels on my 57 Conv when I bought it. (I was going to take them off as wire wheels never came from the factory on a 57 Ford or Thunderbird.) but my wife liked them so I kept them on for one summer. I will never have them on another car again. Balancing was not a problem as long as you have stickon weights and have bubble balancer  and how to use it (I do to all 3) Leaks were never a problem as i ran tubes in mine. What was the problem was keeping them clean, I spent more time cleaning them than the rest of the car and the car was black.

FYI --- don't try to spin balance them

I ran the 15" wires with Coker radials for years and never had a problem. Way longer than I should have used those tires. I didn't go long distances and heat isn't much of of problem up here. Those wires are on a lot of cars, mostly with tubes and radials, and I've never heard a complaint.


Coker lists pages of tubes, some for radials, and some liners. I'd give them a call at least.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Not sure but the ones I just put on this bird they guy could not find 14" liners anywhere, they told him do the same thing, duct tape for the liners, tubes and tires, there must be several running this way! would like to know thoughts also!

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

I have a question...Recently purchased 5 x 14" original KH wire wheel s with spinners for my 57 bird restoration. I am now beginning to worry about my choice as the car will be a driver we plan to take on longer travels up to 400 miles from home. I live in a hot climate , central CA. My concern is running radial tubes and boots/tape along with radial wide whitewall tires and the problems that may or may not arrive with this set up. I hate to invest the money in the tires only to find a constant balance/flat problem. Someone recently also told me tire shops will not work on radial tube type applications. Anyone out there have 1st hand experience running this setup?
Gary