Tires

J

Jakneedler

Junior Member
Getting ready to buy tires for the 30 closed cab pickup.
Want to go with black walls. Who makes the best tire? Goodyear\Firestone?
Also who's the best to purchase from?
Thanks,
James :confused:
 
I bought Goodyear that were made in the USA in Camden, Mo. That was 3 years ago and never have regretted it. I had Deming's are something like that on my rpu and I couldn't believe I was driving the same vehicle after mounting the Goodyears.
 
+1 on the Goodyears. They are spendy but they ride nice, look correct, and wear as well or better than other model A tires out there.
 
I ordered model T tires from Lucas in Long Beach Ca. Easy going folks. Charged me $10 a tire to ship and stuffed the inner tubes in the tire.
Lucas classic tire. Goodyears!
19" Lesters $136, Goodyear all weather $185
 
I bought mine 2 years ago from Coker Tire. Univeral tire. The dealer owed me a favor so mounted/balanced price was his cost. Less than $90 each. I really like the look of them, and so far have worn very well. Tires for modern vehicles have went up just crazy in the last years so I imagine it would be more now.
 
I also bought Goodyears about a year ago, and really like them. Had BF Goodrich before, and these both ride and handle better. They track really well, and tar strips don't grab the front wheels at all......highly recommend them!
 
heres some nice wheels on an A pickup
 

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I purchased Firestone for both of my cars. I think when I was ready to buy tires a few years ago, I don't think Goodyear had their 21 inch out yet so I went with Firestone.

I think you can buy these standard brands from any of the vendors and get about the same price. So depends on where you live vs where the vendor is that would determine the shipping costs.
 
Don't have Goodyears but that is what I'll buy when the time comes.

Have seen Universals on cars and I have to admit they don't look half bad. Would buy a set of the original Riverside pattern if available I liked the looks of them plus they wore good too back then.
 
Looks like lots of love for the Goodyear tires, no love for Firestone.

I just purchased a set of tires for the 31 Tudor a couple weeks ago, and went with Firestone. The primary reason is the Firestones are a little wider than the Goodyears, and that means more contact surface area with the road. They were also slightly cheaper than the Goodyears and available from my local Les Schwab tire store.

The funny thing is, they both seem to be made by the same place for Coker Tire, so I suspect the material will be the same and wear the same. They obviously are different molds. The Firestone tires will be the closest you can get to a modern width tire without having to resort to using those lame looking V8 wheels on your Model A.
 
Here's my limited experience with tires on my current Model A:

1930 Model A coupe purchased in February 1977 with five (5) 4.75/5.00/5.25/5.50 x 19 Bedford 4-ply Nylon tires with tubes. In the interim, I have put 15,700 miles on them in Idaho, Washington and California, garaged and non-garaged, driving in everything from snow (with chains on the rear tires) to dirt, including freeway driving, daily driving and a several-year period of non-use punctuated by a 9-month period when our son drove the car daily to high school. How many miles were on the tires when I purchased the coupe I can not say (nor can I remember exactly what they looked like in 1977) although judging by the attached photo, it probably wasn't many.

ss01.jpg

These tires were probably rotated 3 or 4 times in the 36 years I ran them, spin balanced twice and had no flats. I ran them at 35 psig.

After the car was purchased in 1977 as a (more or less) basket case, I installed new king pins, tie-rod ends, pitman arm/drag link connectors and after-market reproduction shock absorbers. Last time I measured, the caster was 5 degrees (+/-), camber was +3-1/2 degrees and the toe-in (which I periodically adjust as needed predicated principally on the amount of "wander" on what passes for paved roads in this neck of the woods) is about 1/16". The tires wore more or less evenly (there was about a 1/32" difference in the center-to-outer tread depth when I replaced them) and there was no sidewall damage other than minor crazing (certainly no cracks).

Last year I replaced the Bedfords with a set of 4.75/5.00-19 "Made in Vietnam" Lucas tires (blackwall for you purists) using new tubes on a different set of 19" rims. So far so good, especially with regard to the new tubes that haven't leaked air or otherwise been a problem. A couple of weekends ago we drove the A up to Middletown for their 1930's days (about 100 miles round-trip by the time we got done) and stayed on the back roads (which definitely had a 1930's flavor, that is, they didn't appear to have been maintained since 1930). As bumpy and pot-hole ridden as this road was, the tires held up well and we experienced no problems, coming or going.

Now we'll see whether the Lucas tires - or I - last another 36 years or 16,000 +/- miles, whichever comes first...
 
I run Firestones on all three of my A's. No reason except I like the tread pattern. My '30 peekup has dual sides, and, yes, they are a tight fit.
 
I've just completely worn out a pair of Lucas 21" tires in just 3000 miles on the rear. Can't believe it. Front are fine and show little wear.
 
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