Oh,,,It's,,,tire time again,,,I gotta buy some

[Reg Evans]

I need to get a new set for the 40 Plymouth. I don't want to spend the extra bucks for radials so I wondered if any of you have had good luck with these brands of bias plys? 16"

Lester....Firestone....Goodyear.

Or is there another brand you recommend?

[JIPJOBXX]

Check out Les Swab tire stores-they seem to have the best price on the market that I know of. I think around 70 or 80 dollars per tire. Jon

[JIPJOBXX]

Reg I have a question to ask you? Do you live up near Plasserville or near Campo Saco? I have a friend who owns the above home in Campo Saco and is in to hot rods. He is a very nice guys and if your in that general area he just loves company and has some very interesting old cars. Also some real nice hot rods. Jon

[Reg Evans]

Jon,

According to MapQuest I live about 2 hours north of him up hwy 49 in Grass Valley. Sounds like a great guy.

[blueskies]

I need to get a new set for the 40 Plymouth. I don't want to spend the extra bucks for radials so I wondered if any of you have had good luck with these brands of bias plys? 16"

Lester....Firestone....Goodyear.

Or is there another brand you recommend?

Wide whites or blackwalls?

I have Coker G78 WWW on my '50 and haven't had any issues with them in the six years and 6000 miles I've had them on the car.

I'm also thinking of getting new tires for my trip to Tulsa. My www's have like new tread, but not sure about the shelf life of them for "real" driving. The whitewalls are getting surface checks, not sure if I want to trust them on a 3000 mile trip at freeway speeds...

Pete

[Reg Evans]

There seems to be a wider more affordable selection of tires for 15" rims.

Darn.

[BobT-47P15]

I bought Firestone bias wide white reproductions from Coker ... 6.70 x 15". They have been good for that type of tire so far.

I first bought their house brand Coker whites, which began turning brown before even being installed on the rims. The Firestones are not the real wide whites, but more like the wide whites of the early to mid 60s....2 3/4inch wide or so. Cost a bit over $100 each.

[RobertKB]

I've got Firestone 650-16's on my '38 Chrysler that came from Coker and have had no problems with them except the usual issue of keeping them whiter than white. Anyone got suggestions on how to keep them pearly white. I've done the SOS pad thing and it keeps them pretty good but you gotta work at them.

[anthonyb]

Robert,

I use Bleche-Wite and a scrub brush to clean mine. Just spray it on and run the scrub brush over it. Then it rinses with water.

Very nice white finish.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I have more cars with white raised lettering and smaller whitewalls though the 54 with the WWW's this worked fine also..they were dingy and stained with red Georgia clay (that stuff is nasty) when I got it, this cleaned them up good. The stuff I use is trade name B52..it is a brown soap and I just spray it on...aggitate it with a paint brush and the road grime, brake residue and stuff just rolls right off...my local Ace hardware carries it..don't look for all Ace stores to have it as this is the only one that carries it in my area...they stock Ace line but not limited to just Ace products..that is the owner's choice.

[JIPJOBXX]

Reg Evens here is a site that a friend of mine put out for Doug Harty party in Campo Saco. Like I said befor Doug is one hell of a nice guy and has been putting on this party for about five years now or more. If you want to meet some nice people who love old cars this is the place to be. I hope to attend this year again but will haft to make a special trip down from Washington to make it. If you do go, don't feel like you intruding as Doug loves everyone!!!

Here is the site:http://www.ma58.org/

[JIPJOBXX]

Reg Evens send me your e-mail address and I can send you more info.

jipjob@yahoo.com on this fun event. That web site didn't say to much about the cars and people that will be there but last year they probably had about 50 different old hot rod to rat rods. I even spied across the street a1948 Dodge four door for sale. Jon

[JIPJOBXX]

Here is one of Dougs neat old car it a 31 Model A with a model C engine in it. Really a nice little old hot rod! Notice the carberation! He has had this car for probably 50 years.

[JIPJOBXX]

Just another one of his many neat old cars and this one is a real steel body 32 Roadster and the engine next to it well that is in place now!

[Reg Evans]

Hey John, I have checked with my local Less Schwab store here in grass valley and every time they come up with nothing and suggest I call Coker.

Could you check your store again and see what they have now. Thanks for the link to the doins in Rancho Seco. I might just attend. You can PM me or direct email at regoevans@sbcglobal.net

signed...your fellow 42 Dodge owner buddy....Reg

Check out Les Swab tire stores-they seem to have the best price on the market that I know of. I think around 70 or 80 dollars per tire. Jon

[grey beard]

Reg,

Here in Pennsyltucky radials are just as cheap as rag casings - 'er, bias ply tires. I sure wouldn't consider using bias tires on anything I was going to drive very much today - a step backwards IMHO. The only good reason to use bias ply tires is if you already have 'em on hand.

There's not much you can spend money on that gives more improvement to ride AND handling than radial tires on an old ride. I also have to beleive that at highway speeds you are safer using radials. When we went from rags to radials on the school bus fleet I used to work with, our fuel mileage went up more than 10 percent, and our rate of flat tires dropped more than 90 percent. This was a fleet that put many miles on dirt and gravel roads. They were a little noisier on highway driving but all other concerns showed a measurable improvement.

[Reg Evans]

"Reg,

Here in Pennsyltucky radials are just as cheap as rag casings - 'er, bias ply tires. I sure wouldn't consider using bias tires on anything I was going to drive very much today - a step backwards IMHO. The only good reason to use bias ply tires is if you already have 'em on hand."

I wish that was the case here in CA. I prefer radials too but for this particular low mileage car I won't be racking up more than 500 to 1000 miles per year.

[De Soto Frank]

Reg,

Speaking as a "dumb kid who's rapidly approaching middle-age" ;-)

I have put nearly 25,000 miles on my '41 De Soto S-8 over the last nine years.

Still running 6.50 x 16" bias tires.

I won't debate the improved qualities of radials... but for folks that that aren't ready to "upgrade" to radials, the "rag tires" can still give adequate service.

My first new set of tires were Goodyear "All-Weather" diamond -treads, with the ribbed WWW; gorgeous, and exactly what was on the car when it left the factory. They were also kind of noisy running down the road. And expensive ($140 /each); I won't buy those again unless I'm going for an AACA trophy.

Next set were Lester highway treads... about the cheapest 6.50 x 16 tire I could find ($105 ea.). Universal and Coker have a cheaper tire, but only in a 6.00 x 16.

Last year, I put a pair of Firestones on the rear end of the car, and I believe they are a better tire than the Lesters; will put Firestones up front too once I get the front-end overhauled ( been talking about that for four years; still haven't gotten around to it).

Most guys who do a lot of touring on bias tires seem to prefer Firestone or Goodrich over Lesters.

I have found that I can expect about 10,000 miles of tread-life out of "antique tires", based on my experiences with my De Soto and my '48 New Yorker ( 8.00 x 15 skins).

Universal is two hours south from me (Hershey), and if I order tires on-line, I have them in one business day... so that's usually my first stop for tires...

For what all that's worth...

Good Luck !

Frank McMullen