tires

[lyndon sharpton]

I can not find a tire that I like in the 215/70/15 all are most of the side walls have thick ribs on them an the white letters are to big, I guess I will just get a new set of goodyear repos no more than I will drive it I can live with the ride of the nylon cord ties.

[Patrick H.]

Re: tires

Which ones have you looked at?

[lyndon sharpton]

Re: tires

goodyear an firestone

[Ralph A.]

Re: tires

What year car and do you want riginal looking?
RA

[Scott Marzahl]

Re: tires

Lyndon,
Do a search of Duke's tire info. He and others highly recommend the Pirelli P4000's.

[Duke W.]

Re: tires

What do you want - blackwalls, whitewalls, RWLs, purple poka-dots?

What's important to you - sports car handling or cosmetics?

Duke

[lyndon sharpton]

Re: tires

what would be nice is a radial tire with the look of a oem period tire for the 68-72 cars. one that would drive good an look stock, for me I could live with a speed rating of S, it has been years since I ran 155 in my old LS-5 so that is not high on my wish list. that an a new R89-W battery that is manantce free would be great,its good to dream.

[Duke W.]

Re: tires

I don't think you will ever find a modern radial tire that "looks like" the OE F70-15s. The section contour and sidewall styling are just too different.

For those who wish to go through judging and also drive their cars, my recommendation is to have two sets of wheels and tires - one specifically for judging and one for driving. Repro Ralley wheels in all sizes are not that expensive, and they will accept the OE wheel covers or hub caps and trim rings.

I always recommend at least H-rated tires regardless of how fast you plan on driving. It's a basic safety issue. Virtually all H and above-rated radial tires have a spiral wouund nylon cap belt that will prevent the tire from failing catastrophically if there is an internal structural failure.

Unfortunately, minimum government prolumgated tire standards are over 35 years old, and any quality lapses in low end tire manufacturing can result in tires that may be inherently unsafe. Higher speed ratings give you more safety margin.

In my own case, I will never install a tire with less than a "H" speed rating on any car I own regardless of how fast I plan on driving it.

Duke

[lyndon sharpton]

Re: tires

I wanted to stay with goodyear are firestone tires, firestone has a 215/70/15 called the LH-30 rated at H goodyear has a eagle ga in the same size, with a nice side wall design close to the old tires, an it is also a H rated tire none come in RWL, I like the look of RWl on that year car 70-72, if I went with a tire could you paint the letters using a tire paint, do you thnink that would look like crap? I realy dont wont to get into wheels an tire swaps all the time. also the goodyear nylon cord tires from Kelsey, how well do you think they are made? are they round blance ect..? are do you know much on the repo tires?

[Tom S.]

Re: tires

Lyndon
I needed 2 goodyear GA'S for mine and G/Y said they were discotinued. I got 2 real nice ones of E-BAY for 75.00.
Tom

[Duke W.]

Re: tires

Years ago there was "tire paint" in both black and white, but I haven't seen it for a long time. In the sixties I painted my 6.70-15 Michelin X radials with black and then used the white paint to fill in the "Michelin" lettering.

I am somewhat suspicious of repro tire quality. There is considerably anecdotal evidence of problems, but it doesn't apply to all of them by any means, so your best bet is to find those with experience with the particular repro tire you car considering.

Personally I find wheel swaps easy. I have at least two sets of wheels and tires for all my cars. It's maybe a 30 minute job.

If you like Firestone, consider the V-rated PV41 police pursuit tire in size 225/70R-15. The following link should get you close. Select "specialty" from the category list.

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tireselector/index_bs.asp?pagesource=searchbycategory

Goodyear and General also offer V-rated 225/70R-15 police pursuit tires, the Eagle RSA and XP2000V4, respectively. You can check them out at the respective web sites. I think General still offers a narrow whitewall.

Duke

[KEN BUTCHER]

Re: tires

Hey Lyndon, how about the new Firestone FIREHAWK "INDY 500" tire. They have it in the size you want,nice side walls with RWL, S speed rated, good tread design, and 90,000km warranty. Check it out on the BRIDGESTONE web(nice picture).I know it's hard to find a tire with stock looking sidewalls as well as the right size sinse everything seems to be 16,17,18,etc...
Ken.

[lyndon sharpton]

Re: tires

the problem those tires is the letters are just to big an then if you want WS they are to big also, I would not have a problem with those tires if the MFG would make the letters small like in the 70s, I am sure it has to do with brand you know someone said hell make em BIG so you know what kind of tire it is. I have seen the lettering an I dont care for it as size goes I could live with it at a small size. an I dont want a black wall tire. I am just going to get some new wide tread F-70-15 from Kelsey with RWL

[lyndon sharpton]

Re: tires

to go with my new repo R89-W battery. hell when I get in I will think it is 1971, well untill I pull up to the pump, then it seams like Hell

[Patrick H.]

Re: tires

Realize those repros are going to NOT be nice to drive on.

I have the aforementioned Firestone Indy 500's on my minivan (believe it or not, 215/70 is OEM size on GM minivans) and love them. I'm considering them in 225/70 for my Dad's 72 Corvette once the weather warms up. Firestone has them on sale in mid May to correspond with the Indy 500, so we will likely purchase some then.

I run the BFG Radial T/A's on my 72 for driving purposes as they "look" right (see pic below), and have low mile original tires for NCRS Flight events.

Patrick