Before I hit the Road...... Tires?

Airsho93

Airsho93

Member
I have a 30 A Coupe that I have had for 10 years. I didn't put the tires on but the have great tread with small little cracks on the side walls. No speration or anything like that. I have kept it up on jacks all around and just haven't driven it much at all. I am thinking about replacing the tires. Would I be throwing my money away or is it time to replace? I will drive it maybe 100 miles around town this summer. I am stunned at the prices of the middle of the road tires. What would you do????
 
100 miles all summer, around town with good tread-if the inner tubes hold air, I wouldn't buy new tires. If using the car whets your appetite for touring, then get new tires.
 
Airshow93,
I have Firestone Deluxe 6:00 X 16's on my Avatar '29, put on in 1987 with only 100 miles on them. Cracking sidewalls sound like yours. No cracking down in tread grooves. I'm putting new tubes and going to run them. Not suggesting you do that, but DO check for cracks in tread grooves, if CRACKED, I would definately say DON'T RUN THEM! Bill W.
 
Wow... Those 19 inch Goodyear tires look really great. I love the tread design. Whitewall $215 each. If I had the money I would have these.

Lucas tires... $99 dollars. Black wall. Just for drivers are these worth $99 dollars or would one be sorry? I wander if white wall could be painted on?
 
Airsho, I have a set of new Lucas tires & a set of used Good year whitewalls that I got as part of the deal when I bought my 29 Tudor. The Lcas's look good and Sidewalls seem to be similar in stiffness to the goodyears. I plan to put them on but I suspect the Lucas's will thump a bit until warmed up as they are nylon vs polyester cord. IMO they should be just fine for your 100 miles a year. Do something else with that $460 unless you really want whitewalls. Then again for $20 you could buy a quart of white latex & a cheap brush and you'd have whitewalls.(just kidding,.....I think) Tim
 
Polyester tires with cracks may be more of a problem than nylon with cracks, but from your description of how and where you plan to drive, I would keep the tires you have for now. My brother has sears tires on my father's car, and i doubt if sears has made model A tires in 30 years. They are nylon, and have small cracks, but have never gotten worse in the past 10 years. Keeping them inflated to 35 pounds will help them last, as flexing from under inflation will ruin them in a hurry.
 
Another thing you may consider. If they are nylon, when you drive cold you may find that old "bump" problem you had with nylon tires when you first started. I find this with my coupe which has nylon tires while my huckster has new Firestone and do not have the "bump". Otherwise if this is a problem, just make sure you have a spare, jack and tire iron.
 
Model A's don't need white walls... for $99 i say replace.. safety issue, if not for you, then for passengers... then you know where you stand... one less thing to keep track of....
 
My concerns would not be to address the 100 miles / year statistic as much as a concern about the speeds being driven where hard sidewalls might get hotter with use at higher speeds on a hot day and contribute to a blow-out, even at its twentieth mile.
 
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