VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Best Tire for a 1932 Special Sedan?

Hello All,

I just purchased a 1932 Special Sedan and am need of a new set of tires. I have looked online and found 4 brands of white wall tires: Firestone, BF Goodrich, Lester, and Denman. Does anyone have any recommendations or experience on which tire is better, or which should be avoided? This is my first time buying an older style tire such as these.

Also, does anyone know of any issues with any of these tires fitting the side mount fenders buckets? All of these tires are listed as a 525/550-18 or 550-18 in size. From looks alone, the outer diameter sidewall tread (or lack there of) on the Lester tire appears that it would be easier to keep clean and looking good.

Thanks for the help,
Thomas

Glad you found what you were looking for. The San Jacinto Regions meeting will be held tonight at Traders Village in NW Houston area. Why not bring a few pictures with you? We can talk tires in person too.

I don't have any experience with those brands in the 18" size. The 21" Firestones fit the rims very easily but the 19" Firestones were a bearcat to install as they were apparently a tiny bit too small. I would opt for the made in USA tires versus the made in other countries. Vintage tires are made in China, Vietnam, New Zealand, South America as well as a few in the USA. If purchased from a reputable supplier then they should stand behind their product.

I use Wallace Wade in Dallas or Coker in Tennessee. Wallace is a Coker dealer. Have had good experience with both over the past 30 years.

I bought a set of 6 Lester whitewall tires for my '32 4 years ago and they may have 2,000 miles on them. The 4 on the ground are cracking all around the whitewall. The 2 in the fender wells still look like new. The only thing I can figure is that the flexing on the tire under load is cracking the rubber on the sidewall. I carry 35 lbs. of air pressure in them. They will not fit in the fender wells when aired up to 35. Consequently I have to leave them under inflated to carry them. This is just my experience with the tires. Maybe I am unlucky but I think all of these tires that are avialble for our antique autos are marginal in one way or another. I Have been running a set of Allstate tires on my '28 Touring that were on there when I bought it 7 years ago and I don't know how long they had been on there before and they still look great. My 2 cents.
Cleon

I also am going to have to replace the tires on my '32 coupe. The tires on it are Sears-Allstate. I have no idea how old they are but they are badly dry-rotted. My neighbor owns a Firestone store and I probably going to go through him. Does anyone know of any kind of rubber treatment to prevent the rot since most of us will never put enough miles on our cars to wear out the tread. By the way when they get old enough to dry-rot they get so hard they don't like to stop either - slid into an intersection last Friday from 25 mph.

I think you'll have less trouble with blackwall tires. I have also heard several reports of Firestone tires not fitting in the fender wells.

On my '48 I had 15 inch Firestone wide whites and it was difficult to keep them from yellowing. After they were half worn out, I bought new BF Goodrich wide whites. They have plain sidewalls without lettering and after several years they still look great. BUT,the performance when the pavement is wet is dangerous. I have to really slow down to take a corner to avoid sliding from both ends of the car even when I'm not going very fast.

When I was ready to buy tires for my 31 coupe that has duel side mounts, I had heard of guys buying 4.75/5.00 for there cars and finding out that the inflated tires will not fit into the wells. I bought a set of 4.75x 19 Goodyear white walls and I have no trouble getting them into the wells inflated. I had a real bad time with a set of Firestone tires for a 1969 station wagon. So needless to say I would not buy another set of those. Good luck with whatever you buy.

Goodyear is the only tire I know of that makes a 4.75 X 19 and not a 4.75 - 5.00 X 19 tire.

Thanks for everyones input on selecting a tire. I ended up going with the BF Goodrich Silvertown tires. They are a very nice looking whitewall tire, but as folks mentioned, a fair amount bigger in size than the originals. I had to deflate the spares to less than 10psi to get them in the fender buckets, but they look really nice on the car. Hopefully they will last a good while without cracking.

Thanks,
Thomas

Thomas,

Where did you buy the BF Goodrich tires? I'm told that almost all vintage tires are made by Coker using molds they have purchased from the original manufacturers. If you know, are your tires actually made by Goodrich or are they made by Coker using Goodrich molds?

I'm still shopping as I have at least a couple of months before I'm ready to put my '32 on the road.

James

That's the great thing about the Internet...you can go to Google and find just about anything....like the Coker web site. They sell the B.F. Goodrich tires. Go here:

http://store.coker.com/cat/2-bf-goodrich-silvertown/

:) :grin:

Thanks Junkyard Dog

I have been to Coker's site and looked at everything there. My real question is, are all these tires made by the same company just using the molds they purchased from the original manufacturer? My neighbor (and his father before him) has owned a Firestone store since 1956. He tells me he can't get tires for my '32 and told me Coker makes all the different brands. If that's true does it really matter what brand you buy since they're all made by the same company and not the company stamped on the tire?

I believe that all of the vintage tires are made by Coker since the original manufacturers haven't made them in decades.

:) :grin:

Actually many of the tires for antique vehicles are made for Coker using the original or reproduction molds. Others are made by other companies, some in China, New Zealand, India and other countries. There are a few others selling antique vehicle tires in addition to Coker. I use Coker or Wallace Wade (a Coker distributor) for my tires because they have given me good service over the years and I don't see a reason to change unless they do.

There are differences in name on the sidewall, tread pattern, circumference, treadwidth, etc. So even with Coker there are choices to be made that could effect performance, fit and finish.

If you are going to attend a swap meet, contact Coker and see if they will have a booth. If so, they will bring your order and you can pick it up at their trailer. The net result is that you save the cost of shipping. I have purchased two complete sets by using this method and saved about $75.00 shipping each time.

Another hint: If you are buying tires for a driver, order "blems", will also save you several bucks and no-one will notice.

Great info from all. My car in not a deluxe. It has the rear mounted spare so I don't have to deal with it not fitting in the sidemounts. I'm also getting some opinions that I should seriously consider blackwalls. What do you guys think? I assume my car would have come with blackwalls anyway.

Yes, your car originally came from the factory with blackwalls. Whitewall tires were aftermarket, and back then the tires were double whitewalls, not single whitewalls.

:) :grin:

I have a photograph of a 1931 Chevrolet dealer show room. There are several cars in the photograph. The Cabriolet is a six wheel and it has double white wall tires.

There are some judges that will take points off for white wall tires on the pre war vehicles.

I have the exact same photograph! Some of the cars on the show room floor do have double whitewall tires, but the tires were installed by the dealer to enhance the showroom display.

:) :grin:

So the car would not be deducted for white walls?

JYD,
HOW DO WE KNOW FOR A FACT THAT WW TIRES WERE DEALER INSTALLED? DO WE HAVE DOCUMENTATION?