Tires, wide whitewalls, radial tires

[Tommy in Tampa]

Hi there, I have always used Choker tires on the Amphis cuz of the look of the wide whitewalls.
At first they look fine but they are real hard to keep clean, they get dirty so easy. Then they are a real pain to clean the dirt off of.
Now a set I have that are about three years old are covered with 10,000 cracks. The white walls look forty years old. They drive fine and I would think they are safe but the dadgum whitewalls have started to deteriorate bad.

Anyhow Ron Green swears by the brand of tire he uses. They don't get dirty as bad and are easier to clean. He has them on his car and they look good. They are radial and have a good wider white wall.
Ron would you please post the contact info for your tire vendor?
I want to give them a try and the info will be in the archives for later searches.

Anyone with any tire suggestions PLEASE post them.

Thanks in advance, Tommy in Tampa

 

[mike_israel]

Tommy,

http://www.widewhitewalltires.com/

I got my wide whitewall radials from these guys way back when. They are probably almost 10 years old now and still look great. About all I do is clean up the whitewalls with Wesley's bleach white once a year. No cracking or other issues.


Mike I.

 

[Ron Green]

Tommy,

There are several of us in the club who use this tire (including Mike I), Diamondback Classics. You can reach them at Classic White Wall Tires - Vintage Tires - Redline & Redline Radial Tires for Antique and Classic Cars or phone 888-922-1642. They are familiar with amphi tires. The size is P185/80R13. The whitewall size is correct. I now have almost 5 years on mine with no problems. I also run tubes in mine, which they also have. PS: they are expensive.

You are correct the Coker or Universal tires (same as Coker) have a tendency to yellow and crack. I have Universal’s on my 55 and they turn yellow within a week of cleaning no matter what you use to clean them with.

 

[SplitPersonality]

Regarding tires, radials, wide whites, and especially those that last and
don't yellow: Though I don't personally know of any Amphicar owners who have
used them, I expect someone has. I and a number of Woodie owners as well as
owners of other classics and antiques have bought and use tires from Diamond
Back Classic Tire company located in Conway, S.C. ( up in the NE corner of
S.C.)

Toll Free: (888) 922-1642

Diamond Back Classics is a 4th generation family owned business whose owner
is Bill Chapman. Bill is in his 60's and is very personable and knowledgeable
and is glad to talk to you personally and make sound recommendations based
on his experience.

They are competitive with Coker, and a number of friends with other than
Woodies had recommended them to me. They vulcanize the Whitewalls on right there
in their factory.

Two good friends recommended them so highly that when I had to decide from
whom to buy, I went with them and have not been sorry.
They offer up to 3-1/2 inch whitewalls ( though the width may vary with the
wheel size being used ). A number of other friends and acquaintances told me
and I have now experienced that the white walls STAY WHITE and do not tend
to yellow as Cokers seem to have a tendency to do. Bill is very specific
about what not to use on them. for example, he does not recommend the use of
Bleche White ( which I had always used before ) or any other type of bleach.
Bill specifically recommended for my 48 Ford with 16 inch stock rims to use
Radials which I did, as have other friends. They look wonderful, don't yellow,
and as long as the wheels are not rusty or are in good condition, they just
plain do not leak.

Call them up and ask for Bill, though probably anybody there will give you
knowledgeable answers to any questions. They will send you a fact filled
brochure right away ( Coker told me up front that it would take 3 weeks or so to
send their brochure and it did.) I had periodically acquired Coker
brochures, but when I wasn't in the market for tires, I tossed the brochures. Bill
also told me that it would probably require 3 to 4 weeks before mine would
arrive, and mine arrived 16 days after I ordered them.

Diamond Back Classics advertises in Hemmings and several publications, but
they don't seem to be so well known. I personally endorse them highly and
obviously will order from them again. When one friend with a 1947 Sportsman
said he put Diamond Back Classics on and hadn't added any air in a year, I was a
bit sceptical. However, other than common sense monitoring, it is indeed
true. They look great and they do stay WHITE.

Vic nelson with the 1967 "Split Personality" near Daytona.



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[dougklink]

I just bought some whitewalls from Diamondback, and they say not to use any bleach products on them. Just an FYI, seems to be working for you though.

 

[azpaul50]

I just bought some whitewalls from Diamondback, and they say not to use any bleach products on them. Just an FYI, seems to be working for you though.

I don't know much specifically about Amphis but I do have experience with vintage replacement tires. This past 18 months, I replaced 11 tires on cars and bikes including a '56 Corvette, Nash Met, A '63 FLHF and a couple of vintage scooters. One year it is tires and the next it is batteries eating me out of house and home for my vintage collection. As for Coker, I can't quite place my finger on it but they seem to have changed in recent years. I've had this hobby since the late 70's. The Vette set and one 8" scooter tire seemed a little out of round. For the Met and Vette, the white side walls seem less able to keep clean and less resistant to grime. Using the same cleaners, neither new set achieve the look I used to get with the same level of effort. It is like they finish them differently? I don't know why or how that would be. Could it be that their existing stock is aging and they haven't done replacement runs for years in certain sizes? I'll eventually need new tires for the Amphi (right now I have bigger fish to fry in unraveling this mess I bought) and I'm leaning towards radials from another supplier. For some of my collection, Coker is my only source (all poly) but for other vehicles that don't have such a strict restoration standard (apparently like Amphis), I'll be seeking other sources. :032:

 

[Ron Green]

azpaul50: regarding the out of round feeling, if your vehicles are setting in one location for an extended amount of time over inflate by a few pounds above the recommended maximum PSI on the sidewall. I have been doing this for years with no problems. Just leave some air out when getting ready to use for the season. Many times this eliminates flat spotting.

Vic: I have sent you a few email's dating back to early June. Are you not receiving them?

 

[SplitPersonality]

Re: Tires, wide whitewalls, radial ...

Someone sent an e-mail in the message with the first paragraph to azpaul50
titled Re: Tires, etc.....

The second paragraph read: Vic - I have sent you a few e-mails dating back
to June. Are you not receiving them ?

I guess there is some easy way to identify who the sender is, but I do not
know how. Was this query intended for Vic Nelson ? Who is asking this
question ? It is possible that some filter in my system is blocking the e-mails
in question, but I am getting other e-mails from Amhicarlovers and am unaware
that any Amphicarlover messages are being blocked..



**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

 

[Ron Green]

Vic,

Check out the email above your post.

In the past few weeks I have sent you a few email's directly (not through this list). I had a media event pop up and was hoping you may consider covering it as it was in your area. You always received and responded to my direct email before so I assumed all was ok on your end?

I posted here since the other method (email) isn't working. Next time I will call.

Ron Green

 

[mike_israel]

Re: Tires, wide whitewalls, radial ...

Vic,
Looks like it came from Ron Greene.

Mike



----- Original Message ----
From: SplitPersonality <>
To: amphicar770@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, July 7, 2008 2:19:08 PM
Subject: RE: [General Amphicar Discussion-t-20077] Re: Tires, wide whitewalls, radial ...


Someone sent an e-mail in the message with the first paragraph to azpaul50
titled Re: Tires, etc.....

The second paragraph read: Vic - I have sent you a few e-mails dating back
to June. Are you not receiving them ?

I guess there is some easy way to identify who the sender is, but I do not
know how. Was this query intended for Vic Nelson ? Who is asking this
question ? It is possible that some filter in my system is blocking the e-mails
in question, but I am getting other e-mails from Amhicarlovers and am unaware
that any Amphicarlover messages are being blocked..



**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)

 

[azpaul50]

The emails were sent to me (azpaul50) and I haven't been able to reply being currently in car collector overload. I'm trying to follow the Amphi discussion along with some personal advice from members and find that I'm not keeping up. My focus is on this dang Amphi and the current problems we're trying to solve. I would venture an observation that I'm a serial thinker and just confuse myself with parallel thoughts? :002: Meanwhile, I'm seeing great help and advise on other Amphi subjects I'm sure I'll run into later but can't really join in the discussion right now...too busy. I'm also on the AMCA board along with a Panhead board all feeding my email. I'm purposely staying off the Hoosier Met board just to reduce the traffic going into my single email account. I sincerely apologize for any confusion.

 

[Canadian four amphs]

I HAVE USED BOTH DIMOND BACK, and B F Goodrich WWW 13 on Amphicars and am happy with both. Th BFs have a little wider WWW and I think look better but it is up to the indavidual.
The Bf are aval,at Universal Vintage Tire.(PE) just a few blocks from Ron And I have had him pick them up and bring them to me.
Dimond Backs are Aval in Canada at Classic Tire Mart, and Have got some from there for my T bird.
GORD
Canadian 4 Amphs