Flat front tire - future plans for tires?

[Michael]

I recently attended an OEM Truck Tire Seminar at Michelin and spent some quality time with various people at Michelin in sales/marketing department. It was a 3 day event and I had the opportunity to tour several tire manufacturing plants and get some time out on their proving grounds/test tracks. At one of the dinners I brought up how Michelin is missing out on the classic car market by slowly discontinuing sizes that are available for older specialty vehicles. The one guy I was talking to was surprisingly sympathetic since he drives old Porches and there is a similar downtrend of tires that fit their cars as well.

I'm sure it'll go nowhere, but I did give him a list of the two sizes we need to bring back in the Pilot A/S. Michelin also makes BF Goodrich tires so I mentioned that the Radial TA has the correct size rear and would just need to bring back the 195/60 R14 for the fronts.

Nice, I could go for some BFG whitle letters for a change.

[Chris4099]

Just to throw in my 2 cents. In 15 years of ownership, I've never had matching tires. And in those 15 years, only a handful of times people have noticed the mismatch. Those people: DeLorean owners looking to replace their current tires! So ya, not the end of the world.

Also, I had to urgently replace my rear tires a few years back and couldn't get the correct size without having to wait on shipping (not good since I was traveling at the time). I ended up getting a set that were 10mm narrower then stock. I figured there's been so much improvement with traction since 81, the narrower tire would still perform better then when the car was new. Sure enough, never had a problem with traction in even spirited driving.

So if you have to have matching tires, try to do it with narrower rear tires. Going bigger in the front risks rubbing and will throw the speedometer off.

[jackb]

Mine had new tires when I bought it 2 yrs ago. Falken Ziex tires, matching front and rears. I wanted white letters so got one of those tire pens and painted the letters, came out pretty nice.

Haven't waxed my DPI coilovers yet...

I have Falken Zeix tires as well. I think 912's?

[peternikkiskinner]

Just in the process of getting new tires for VIN 4273. She arrives in the Port of Auckland on the 17th and has to undergo a Structural Inspection and Border Security Inspection to ensure there are no stowaways, seeds and other nasties. Anyhow... the next stage is a Warrant of Fitness and Registration before being able to drive on the roads in New Zealand.

My D is still running the original NCT tires which will most certainly fail and who would want to drive on 37 year old tyres, madness! I managed to get some Kuhmo KL 11 for the rear and will probably fit Goodyear Triplemax Assurance 2 in the front. Choices are very limited in New Zealand particularly in the rear size. Not keen on the Linglong brand who do both sizes but the Hercules HP4000 is not a bad tire for the rear, non for the front though....... You have more choices in the US!

[DMC-81]

Just in the process of getting new tires for VIN 4273. She arrives in the Port of Auckland on the 17th and has to undergo a Structural Inspection and Border Security Inspection to ensure there are no stowaways, seeds and other nasties. Anyhow... the next stage is a Warrant of Fitness and Registration before being able to drive on the roads in New Zealand.

My D is still running the original NCT tires which will most certainly fail and who would want to drive on 37 year old tyres, madness! I managed to get some Kuhmo KL 11 for the rear and will probably fit Goodyear Triplemax Assurance 2 in the front. Choices are very limited in New Zealand particularly in the rear size. Not keen on the Linglong brand who do both sizes but the Hercules HP4000 is not a bad tire for the rear, non for the front though....... You have more choices in the US!

Nice. I hope your car arrives safe and sound. Yeah, driving around regularly on original NCTs is not wise, but it's very cool that they are still on your car. Before removing them, I'd at least clean them up and photograph them on the car. Plus, if they are in reasonably good condition and you have cool dry storage, you may consider hanging on to them for a bit.

I acquired my set to make entering concours a possibility. After all, I wondered how many want or have a full set of NCTs these days, and I imagined they get more scarce every year.

[opethmike]

I just drive around on the wheels. Tires are a crutch, and only add weight.

[Ron]

I just drive around on the wheels. Tires are a crutch, and only add weight.

...let me guess, you swap the fronts to the back to better distribute the remaining weight?

[Spittybug]

Tires are for roads. We don't need roads, right?

Doc.

[Michael]

I just drive around on the wheels. Tires are a crutch, and only add weight.

Not advisable to still be on original wheels.

[peternikkiskinner]

Thank you for the suggestion. I will do that.

Nice. I hope your car arrives safe and sound. Yeah, driving around regularly on original NCTs is not wise, but it's very cool that they are still on your car. Before removing them, I'd at least clean them up and photograph them on the car. Plus, if they are in reasonably good condition and you have cool dry storage, you may consider hanging on to them for a bit.

I acquired my set to make entering concours a possibility. After all, I wondered how many want or have a full set of NCTs these days, and I imagined they get more scarce every year.