OT price of tires back in the 60's

swellwelder · Oct 23, 2010

This query is only to settle an argument, what other reason could there be! Anyway, here is my question. Does anyone have a swag, or just a wag on what 7.50X17 LT tires would have cost in the early 60's? I am of the opinion they were relatively expensive, say 60-80$ a piece, my friend thinks they were around 10-20$ a piece. The ones I am thinking of would be the heavy duty 8 ply, extra grippy traction rear tires.

Dale Nelson

SIP6A · Oct 23, 2010

I remember my dad paying around a Hundred dollars for a set of four tires for the pick-up.

gwilson · Oct 23, 2010

I recall a set of very crappy catalog tires(Aldin?) a salesman put on a large Pontiac I had just bought. They were $25.00 each,and so out of round I had to have their tread shaved,and all kinds of counterweights put on. These were LOW cost tires,and not what had been promised.

mobile_bob · Oct 23, 2010

60-80bucks each for 17" 8 ply tires from a decent manufacture seems about right to me

by the mid 70's a set of mccreary (sp) raised white letter bias ply nylon, g70 front, g60 rear
was near 500 bucks, mounted and balanced, they were 15" tires for my 55 chevy.

g60 mohawk bias ply raised white letter tires were about 50 bucks each, and lasted maybe 15k miles if you were lucky.

a cheap recap was still nearly 40 bucks for an F78 series bias ply

so relatively speaking tires were very expensive back in the mid 70's

surely they were somewhat cheaper in the 60's, dad and i were just talking about this
the other day

in about '64 he bought a set of 6.50 x 15 4ply bias, from montgomery wards mail order
for about 110 bucks as he recalls, he remembers because they shorted him one tire, lost in the mail, you could get tires mailed through the US postal service back then.

knowing dad and the fact that he was young, married and had 3 kids with another on the way, those tires were likely the cheapest tires he could find at the time.

so i would imagine a 17" 8ply tire from a decent manufacture probably was north of 60 bucks each

sure as hell would not have been 10-20 bucks each

i am not sure there was ever a time you could buy such a tire for 10-20 bucks

bob g

Jim Caudill · Oct 23, 2010

I used to install tires for Sears back in the late 60's. I can't tell you about the heavy-duty load rated tires you are referring to, but Sears Guardsman tires (about the cheapest) were like $19 each and Michelin radials were about $45 each.

I would guess $60 to $70 each for truck tires sounds about right.

surplusjohn · Oct 24, 2010

a bit off, but I remember buying 4 blems for 12 bucks each in 75 or so. I remember that clearly because about 2 minutes after I left the tire store I turned a corner and ran over a piece of sheet metal angle that ripped my two front tires open!, back to the tire store for 2 more?
so blems would be the equivalent of maybe 36 bucks. I can go to walmart and get lower end name brand tires that I am sure are 4 times as good as those blems were for maybe 80 bucks

Gary E · Oct 24, 2010

swellwelder said:
This query is only to settle an argument, what other reason could there be! Anyway, here is my question. Does anyone have a swag, or just a wag on what 7.50X17 LT tires would have cost in the early 60's? I am of the opinion they were relatively expensive, say 60-80$ a piece, my friend thinks they were around 10-20$ a piece. The ones I am thinking of would be the heavy duty 8 ply, extra grippy traction rear tires.

Dale Nelson

That size would have been just a little larger than the 6.70 x 15 that my Ford used... and in the early '60's those only cost about $20 maybe $25 new from Firestone or Goodyear. But remember what you were earning in thoose days.... THAT was a lot of money.

So even if your 7.50 was a little larger and heavier for what was probably a truck, then I'd say it cost no more than $40 or $45....

I wonder if SEARS has put a '60's catalog on line... In those days you could buy everythng for the car and the house from SEARS including the HOUSE to put all the stuff in.

Norman Atkinson · Oct 24, 2010

Price of tires

It's inflation

jackal · Oct 24, 2010

Not trying to side track things, but :rolleyes5:

by the mid 70's a set of mccreary (sp) raised white letter bias ply nylon, g70 front, g60 rear
was near 500 bucks, mounted and balanced, they were 15" tires for my 55 chevy.

mobile bob,
Do you have any pics of that '55 Chevy? :drool5:

Thanks,
JAckal :cheers:

USMCPOP · Oct 24, 2010

Here are some 1959 list/street prices for 6.70 x 15 passenger car tires.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance - Google Books

niemi24s · Oct 24, 2010

I distinctly remember the local newspaper ads for Firestone 6.70 - 15 recaps at US$8.88 per tire in the late 1950's. We called 'em "maypops"!

Regards

projectnut · Oct 24, 2010

swellwelder said:
This query is only to settle an argument, what other reason could there be! Anyway, here is my question. Does anyone have a swag, or just a wag on what 7.50X17 LT tires would have cost in the early 60's? I am of the opinion they were relatively expensive, say 60-80$ a piece, my friend thinks they were around 10-20$ a piece. The ones I am thinking of would be the heavy duty 8 ply, extra grippy traction rear tires.

Dale Nelson

In the late 60's I bought a set for my 1951 Chevy 1 ton pickup. The Traction (snow) tires were about $60.00 per tire (plus mounting and balancing) and the steering tires (straight tread) were about $50.00 per tire plus mounting and balancing.

My next door neighbor owned a Standard Oil station at the time. The cheapest tires he sold were 13" Atlas Multi-Mile tires @ $12.95 plus mounting and balancing. They were made of recycled rubber and rode hard as a rock. If you were lucky you could get 10,000 miles on a set. If you weren't so lucky you might only get 5,000 miles.

Gary E · Oct 24, 2010

I know this has nothing to do with the price of your tires, but do you remember what gas cost back then? I remember 19 cents/gal.... and fill it up and get a icetea glass...
How about cigaretts?... 25 cents in the vending machines with 3 pennies in the cellophane wrapper for change.... and less than $2.00 a carton in the stores, I noticed a carton in the store the other day,,,, $60.00 for a carton...
Remember the Drive Ins ? a Frisches Big Boy, like Mickie D's... lowest cost hamburger 15 cents... highest price double patty, with the works... 45 cents...

Ran the car all week long on $3.00 of gas.. and didnt care at all how much gas the boat burned up

gmatov · Oct 24, 2010

GaryE,

I gotta ask just how old you are? Late '50's-early'60's, smokes took 30 cents and 3 pennies in the cellophane pkg.

Gas was usually 25.9-27.9 all the way up to the end of the '60's. Went past 32 cents about '72. Bought a new LT and filled up. Took near 21 gallons and told my riders "That's damned near a sin. 6 bucks to fill the tank. An hour's pay!"

'73, I think it was, the first gas "shortage", and it went to near 50 cents, AND rationing.

Tires, I had 7.50-15's for my GMC pickup capped for about 30 bucks, and I replaced them every year. Could NOT get more than 10,000 miles out of them. I started buying new tires probably in the '80's. Damn. I still don't get anywhere near what they say you get for mileage. I know all of you will tell me that you get 40-50 thou per set of four.

Maybe my problem is that the same tire dealer I buy my tires from also aligns the car when I get them, and in between. Oh, BTW, rotation every oil change with the tire warranty, so not that for the excessive wear.

100+ buck Pirellis got less than 8 thou before I complained and got adjustment. Coopers, this time. We'll see.

Cheers,

George

dp · Oct 24, 2010

I bought two new tires for my '49 Chevy at Monkey Wards in East Oakland, CA in 1963. I paid $45 each. I was in High School and didn't have enough to pay for balancing.

They were both bald by the end of the school year

swellwelder · Oct 25, 2010

Thanks for all the replies, and for the info you provided me. I don't know how many of you grew up in farm country, but what got me thinking about the cost of these tires was this: Back before there was a farm program, there was a lot less cash money in the country. So most farms had a few milk cows and some chickens. And would sell the cream and eggs to local grocery stores. So in order to buy these 7.50x17 tires, most farmers would have to dig into the "egg and cream money" to buy them. Which at (my guess) 60-80$ a piece, would be a lot of cash money to come up with!

Of course this would not always have been the case. If the farmer used the pickup as a grain truck and livestock hauler, he would have justified the cost of tires that way. Anyway, this has been an interesting walk through the past!

Dale Nelson

Gary E · Oct 25, 2010

gmatov said:
GaryE,

I gotta ask just how old you are? Late '50's-early'60's, smokes took 30 cents and 3 pennies in the cellophane pkg.

Gas was usually 25.9-27.9 all the way up to the end of the '60's. Went past 32 cents about '72. Bought a new LT and filled up. Took near 21 gallons and told my riders "That's damned near a sin. 6 bucks to fill the tank. An hour's pay!"

'73, I think it was, the first gas "shortage", and it went to near 50 cents, AND rationing.

Tires, I had 7.50-15's for my GMC pickup capped for about 30 bucks, and I replaced them every year. Could NOT get more than 10,000 miles out of them. I started buying new tires probably in the '80's. Damn. I still don't get anywhere near what they say you get for mileage. I know all of you will tell me that you get 40-50 thou per set of four.

Maybe my problem is that the same tire dealer I buy my tires from also aligns the car when I get them, and in between. Oh, BTW, rotation every oil change with the tire warranty, so not that for the excessive wear.

100+ buck Pirellis got less than 8 thou before I complained and got adjustment. Coopers, this time. We'll see.

Cheers,

George

George
I'll be 69 next week... and yes, pack of cigs 25 cents with 3 pennies in the wraper as change.
A carton was less than $2
Not long after that they went to 30 cents and a lot of guys said THAT's IT...I QUIT... yeah right
Maybe it had somethint to do with state taxes... that was oHIo, and right across the river in Kentucky it was less...

Check cigs today?... $60 a Carton.... cant imagine that... but thats the price...

North Carolina always had low or no taxes... that's another item the bootlegers ran up into NYC where the taxes are sky high...

gravydavy · Oct 25, 2010

17 inch?

Maybe I'm too young for this crowd at 55, but I don't recall EVER seeing a 17 inch tire.

Edumacate me?

paul39 · Oct 25, 2010

17 inch tires:

17 inch Tires - Buy Online 17 inch Tires

Tire Rack has tires in the following inch sizes:

10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 16.5, 17, 17.5, 18, 19, 19.5, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30

Highway All-Season Tires

Paul

Garwood · Oct 25, 2010

gravydavy said:
Maybe I'm too young for this crowd at 55, but I don't recall EVER seeing a 17 inch tire.

Edumacate me?

I've restored a number of pre-72 4x4 trucks, several fleet trucks from Weyerhouser, Pacific Power, etc. The typical wheel I have found used on a heavier duty 3/4 ton 4x4 of the 60's and early 70's was a 17" center split.

I have a set of 5 "truck mud and snow" 7.50X17's here from the mid 1960's. I've had them for 15 years, never needed to add air to them and there is no weather checking on any of the tires. They stand 34.5" tall with 6" of actual tread width. They've been a great tire for hauling heavy weight and rain/snow/ice.

OT price of tires back in the 60's

Stainless

Titanium

Diamond

Stainless

Stainless

Diamond

Diamond

Titanium

Titanium

Titanium

Aluminum

Stainless

Diamond

Diamond

Banned

Stainless

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Titanium

Diamond

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