BIGGER SHOES

I want to put bigger tires on my M35A2, Do you have any suggestions on what sizes I could use? Would using bigger tires give me a higher top speed?

—William Minton

You didn’t mention what size tires you now have on your truck. As I’m sure you know, most M35s had 9.00 x 20 tires when equipped with dual wheels, and 11.00 x 20 tires when equipped with singles. As far as I know, the 11.00 x 20 tires are about as large as you can go without getting different wheels. If you switch from 9.00 x 20 to 11.00 x 20 tires you will gain a bit of highway speed, but not much.

M35A3 trucks were usually fitted with 14.5R 20 tires as singles all around. These would probably require changing to the newer style of wheel, which would mean buying at least six new wheels as well as new tires. But, again, there wouldn’t be a tremendous increase in road speed.

Assuming your truck has 9.00 x 20 inch tires now, the least expensive way to go would probably be 11.00 x 20 singles. Unless you can find a very good deal on both wheels and tires, I don’t think it would be worth trying to go any larger. In fact, it might be more cost-effective to shop for and/or trade up to an M35A3 already equipped with 14.5R20 tires and wheels.