Tires - 37 -- 40

[Guest tin knocker]

It has come time to replace the tires on my 37 Special. The tires are 650-16. There are also 650-16 light truck tires, 6 ply rating, available. I would like to know if anyone has used the light truck tires on thier car and how they worked out?

Rollie

[Mark Shaw]

My 38 Special has The same size Goodyear all weather four ply tires. They have 4" wide ribbed white walls with an agressive tread. They look very unusual in comparison to other modern reproductions.

This car rides and handle like a late 30s car should. It feels like it is just floating down the road. Actually, I would like to find a source for the same tires when these get replaced.

[Guest papaw D]

Mark, Does this look like your tires??? This is what I have on my 40 Coupe and they are awesome! Neil

[Mark Shaw]

Neil,

Yes, those are the ones....!

Where can we get some new ones?

[Guest papaw D]

Mark, I am trying to track down where they came from as I would like a set for my 36. I know the widow of the former owner and we are going through stuff yet. I have all records of every service 1940-1987. I know the former owner bought these as the last set on the car was in the 60's. He never drove the car in the 22 years he had it. It sat in a private collection till his death so they were new when I got them and I fell in love with the way they handled. I will let you know if we come up with anything more on them as she believes she can trace down where he bought them. Neil

[Mark Shaw]

Neil,

Please send me a PM when you find something.

Thanks,

[egor]

lucasclassictires.com has them. Goodyear repro's, 475-19, 600-16, 6.50-16. I saw their ad in the newest Hemmings Classic Car. Can't tell if the sidewalls are ridged (terraced?).

[Guest papaw D]

suchan, Thanks I sent them an e-mail with a picture to see if they are what we are looking for. Neil

[1937-44]

Hi Rollie, I had 6ply 6.50x16 truck tires on my car for about 30 years. I never did wear them out but the cracks in the sidewalls finally bothered me so much I broke down and replaced them. I bought my car with the 6plys and I would never put them on a car again. It makes your Buick ride like a truck. Carl

[Guest papaw D]

Mark, Good news as Lucas Classic Tires do carry these tires in stock. They wrote me back this morning and they are the correct ones. They also do shipping on their tires. The cost on these tires are 175.00 per tire and 13.00 on tubes if you need them. They have 2 locations. The one closes to you would pro bally be the Long Beach store (1-800-952-4333) and they also have an eastern store which is closer for me in Springfield, OH (1-800-735-0166)I sent them a picture to make sure these were the same tire and they confirmed. Neil

Thanks suchan for the lead

[Mark Shaw]

I just talked to Maytag in Long Beach and learned that I can either pick them up in California and pay over 9% tax;....or have them shipped to Washington state for about the same % in freight but no tax.

Paying the freight makes more sense than arranging for one of my buddies to transport them for me after they attend the Bakersfield Swap Meet.

[Terry Stock]

I have Bridgestone 650x16 8 ply light truck tyres on our 39 Special.

On our first trip on them back in 2003, Marie was worried about the engine noise. It wasn't a noisier engine, it was the quieter tyres that allowed the engine to be heard better.

The profile of these tyres is not out of place compared with cross plys (bias ply?). The ride is far superior to the old ones. Pity about loosing the old white walls but the price for them here is outrageous now. I console myself with the knowledge that white walls were not typical in earlier years.

As an aside, the previous white walls were manufactured by Firestone in Christchurch, New Zealand, and exported around the world. I believe the dyes are now in USA - and exported around the world from there!

Terry

[Marty Roth]

Mark,

I will be replacing the tires on our '37 Roadmaster 80C Convertible Sedan, and would like to know the brand and style name of the tires you found from maytag -- also, who else handles them??

What size do you think is standard for my 80C? What would be the correct oversize?

What is the correct whitewall width??

4-ply, or 6-ply?

Any thoughts on radials? Coker tells me that their radials for 16" require inner-tubes, and when I used the inner-tubes Diamondback furnished with the radials for their tires on my '54 Caddy, 3 of them went flat in the 1st hundred miles from tube abraision against the paper tags inside the tire -- they only replaced two, even though I had warranty, which they didn't show on their invoice ---- now they have a warning to remove paper tags, but mine were impossible to remove, having been vulcanized to the tire when the white was vulcanized to the tire.

Sorry I missed Colorado Springs -- Ed and Sandi said it was memorable,