New Boots.

[antijam]

So it was off with the 15 year old Goodyear Eagles today.....



...and on with new Goodrich Radial T/A's.


Annoying in a way since the tread on the Goodyears was practically unworn but I noticed the one was starting to go out of shape and changing was sensible to avoid potential full failure.
All I have to do now is wash off the blue on the RWL's and refit the Rally wheel trims.

 

[Chuffer]

So it was off with the 15 year old Goodyear Eagles today.....

View attachment 21672

...and on with new Goodrich Radial T/A's.

View attachment 21673
Annoying in a way since the tread on the Goodyears was practically unworn but I noticed the one was starting to go out of shape and changing was sensible to avoid potential full failure.
All I have to do now is wash off the blue on the RWL's and refit the Rally wheel trims.

Fifteen years old !!!! Ye gods that was an accident waiting to happen . I bet the rubber was as hard as a tin drum . A lot of classic car owners fall into the trap of thinking that because their rarely driven cars have lots of tread on the tyres they must be fine . I changed mine at 8 years old as didn`t want risk any longer . What a difference it made to the ride and handling .

 

[CaptainK]

Fifteen years old !!!! Ye gods that was an accident waiting to happen . I bet the rubber was as hard as a tin drum . A lot of classic car owners fall into the trap of thinking that because their rarely driven cars have lots of tread on the tyres they must be fine . I changed mine at 8 years old as didn`t want risk any longer . What a difference it made to the ride and handling .

I imported my Vette from the States and it came with what looked like good tyres with a good amount of tread on them (BF Goodrich RWL ones). Drove the car and it was a bit scary to be honest. Soon got swapped out for the new alloys and tyres - so much better afterwards. In hindsight, I should have checked the date of those old tyres. Hey hum.

 

[Chuffer]

I imported my Vette from the States and it came with what looked like good tyres with a good amount of tread on them (BF Goodrich RWL ones). Drove the car and it was a bit scary to be honest. Soon got swapped out for the new alloys and tyres - so much better afterwards. In hindsight, I should have checked the date of those old tyres. Hey hum.

I was following another club member up the A43 at some speed a couple of years ago in his newly acquired C3 with what turned out to be aging tyres when he suffered a blow out on the off side front tyre whilst in the outside lane . Could have ended badly but fortunately no crash and minimal damage done . A timely warning to all though .

 

[Roscobbc]

These issues seem to be more prevalent with American tyres rather than UK, European or 'known' far Eastern and Japanese tyres.

 

[antijam]

The early C3's were fitted with bias ply tyres. I imagine most owners - like me - will by now be driving on radials. The fitter of my new ones inflated them to 35 psi saying that given the size and weight of the car he thought that a sensible pressure. I had previously been running the old radials at the pressure originally recommended for the bias ply's of 24 psi. and driving home with 35 psi in the tyres I was bouncing around like a pea in a bucket. It seems generally accepted that radial tyres as an alternative to bias ply's should usually run at a higher pressure, but I'm wondering what pressure other C3 drivers on radials are finding gives good balance of comfort, grip and wear?

 

[Chuffer]

These issues seem to be more prevalent with American tyres rather than UK, European or 'known' far Eastern and Japanese tyres.

Goodrich is owned by Michelin so I have no idea where they are made anymore . Probably China like everything else these days .

 

[Nassau65]

In my 65, I run 34 psi. Have always put 32-34 psi in all our “yanks”, sports or full size.

 

[Chuffer]

The early C3's were fitted with bias ply tyres. I imagine most owners - like me - will by now be driving on radials. The fitter of my new ones inflated them to 35 psi saying that given the size and weight of the car he thought that a sensible pressure. I had previously been running the old radials at the pressure originally recommended for the bias ply's of 24 psi. and driving home with 35 psi in the tyres I was bouncing around like a pea in a bucket. It seems generally accepted that radial tyres as an alternative to bias ply's should usually run at a higher pressure, but I'm wondering what pressure other C3 drivers on radials are finding gives good balance of comfort, grip and wear?

I have read quite a few articles debating this point in the past . My experimentation I now run my BF Goodrich TS`s at 28psi front and 30 psi rear . That`s with 255 x 15 ins front and 295 x 15 on the rear.

 

[Roscobbc]

When I was using 235/60/15 BFG's I would run them at 28 psi......any less seemed too soft and they'd squeal even louder around corners.......any higher and they'd behave like Antijam described. Oddly enough earlier today in the middle of changing shockers all round on my '68 (just not happy with the Koni's) I decided to thinspecting the rear tread of the 285/40/18's Toyo's I'm using on the rear......I was pleased to see minimal wear (I've done less than a couple of thousand miles on them)......but more importantly there is very even wear across the tread (using 32 psi). Fronts are 255/45/18, again on 32 psi.

 

[Forrest Gump]

The early C3's were fitted with bias ply tyres. I imagine most owners - like me - will by now be driving on radials. The fitter of my new ones inflated them to 35 psi saying that given the size and weight of the car he thought that a sensible pressure. I had previously been running the old radials at the pressure originally recommended for the bias ply's of 24 psi. and driving home with 35 psi in the tyres I was bouncing around like a pea in a bucket. It seems generally accepted that radial tyres as an alternative to bias ply's should usually run at a higher pressure, but I'm wondering what pressure other C3 drivers on radials are finding gives good balance of comfort, grip and wear?

I run 28psi in my 225/70/15’s. I‘m not surprised you don’t like yours at 35psi, I’ve tried higher pressures but the car becomes skittish and loses grip.

 

[Chuffer]

I run 28psi in my 225/70/15’s. I‘m not surprised you don’t like yours at 35psi, I’ve tried higher pressures but the car becomes skittish and loses grip.

The only time I inflate mine to 35 psi or a bit more is when I winterise the car and roll it back or forwards regularly to prevent flat spotting . Wouldn`t dream of driving on 35 psi .

 

[plastic orange]

I changed out the BFG's on the rear of my Minor (265/50 x 15) last year due to the frightening wet weather performance. They looked as new despite probably 300 + trips up the strip, but tread was as grippy as linoleum. They were nearly 20 years old though. I replaced them with Galaxy tyres from North Hants tyres, but I do wonder if they'll go the same way. My other Minor will soon be requiring rears, but my tyre of choice seems no longer available - Mickey Thompson 26 x 12 x15 - this was a great tyre. My C5 has a set of accelera tyres on it, and as I'd never heard of them I was looking to change, but their performance in all conditions seems really good, so I'll only change them when worn. Michelin tyres seem to suffer from sidewall cracking from what i hear, so If your car isn't used a lot, they may not be great for longevity. My old chevy belair runs coker white walls, and they are knocking on in years now, but still look great. Last time i priced them they were well over a grand for 4.

Pete

 

[Roscobbc]

I changed out the BFG's on the rear of my Minor (265/50 x 15) last year due to the frightening wet weather performance. They looked as new despite probably 300 + trips up the strip, but tread was as grippy as linoleum. They were nearly 20 years old though. I replaced them with Galaxy tyres from North Hants tyres, but I do wonder if they'll go the same way. My other Minor will soon be requiring rears, but my tyre of choice seems no longer available - Mickey Thompson 26 x 12 x15 - this was a great tyre. My C5 has a set of accelera tyres on it, and as I'd never heard of them I was looking to change, but their performance in all conditions seems really good, so I'll only change them when worn. Michelin tyres seem to suffer from sidewall cracking from what i hear, so If your car isn't used a lot, they may not be great for longevity. My old chevy belair runs coker white walls, and they are knocking on in years now, but still look great. Last time i priced them they were well over a grand for 4.

Pete

Interesting about the Acelera tyres - some reasonable reports about them...... interesting considering they are about a third of the price of similar 'branded' equivalents. Ironic that Mickey Thompson tyres were made in the UK by Avon yet only available from the 'States. Why not consider street legal track day tyres for the Moggie?

 

[Roscobbc]

Just checked-out Avon - they were bought out by Cooper in 1997 - only the bike tyres are currently made in the UK and that production finishes later this year......

 

[plastic orange]

Interesting about the Acelera tyres - some reasonable reports about them...... interesting considering they are about a third of the price of similar 'branded' equivalents. Ironic that Mickey Thompson tyres were made in the UK by Avon yet only available from the 'States. Why not consider street legal track day tyres for the Moggie?

The nearest size to my current tyres are 305/50 x15, but they are an inch taller, plus i've not seen this size listed in the UK. I can get 295/50's normal tyres from the likes of North Hants Tyres, but they won't be as grippy as the MT's. I checked track tyres in 15 inch, but they only make narrower ones from what i've found. I've probably got another year out of my tyres as I'm down to about 1500 miles a year these days in this car.

Pete.

 

[phild]

Interesting about the Acelera tyres - some reasonable reports about them...... interesting considering they are about a third of the price of similar 'branded' equivalents. Ironic that Mickey Thompson tyres were made in the UK by Avon yet only available from the 'States. Why not consider street legal track day tyres for the Moggie?

Regarding Accelera tyres. I bought a used car to which the seller had fitted a brand new set of these prior to sale. I did wonder about them but they turned out to be remarkably good especially in the wet.

 

[plastic orange]

Accelera tyres are made in Indonesia - where the rubber comes from. I'm probably like most folk in that I want the best tyres for my car, but personal recommendations are very valuable when it comes to it. However, what works on one car sometimes doesn't on another, and there is an element of snobbery involved here too.

Pete

 

[Roscobbc]

I'd be perfectly happy using street legal track day tyres on mine considering the very limited mileage I do........but the sizes available are somewhat limited.......