Blitz Tyres

[Scott Hamilton]

I am looking at tyres for my blitz restoration and was wondering about this type that I found available in the US from universal tires and wallace wade.

They are 16 x 10.5.

Has anyone use these tyres for their vehicle restoration???

https://www.universaltire.com/truck-...rectional.html

http://www.stausaonline.com/tires/sta-ndcc/

[motto]

Specialty Tyres of America (STA) are a producer of quality tyres and you should have no trouble with them at all.I have STA 9.00-16 bar treads on my Dodge Weapons Carrier and am quite happy with them.

Unless you have unusually deep pockets the only problem you will have is the cost. They are not cheap to begin with and the cost of getting them to Australia you may find prohibitive. Depending how you do it that exercise could easily cost you $200 a tyre. Do your homework.

David

[Ganmain Tony]

I have bought some... have not put them on the road yet but have fitted them to the rims.

I was helped by another MLU'er and he has them on his Fordson WOT2.

[r.morrison]

Hey Scott: I'm probably the last guy to buy those puppies to my memory. I bought mine from Summit Racing Equipment in California. They had the best prices and stock. I did this within the last 8 months. Wallace Wade was out of stock. California had 2 and Kentucky had 2. They shipped the whole lot up to Washington State for $30.00 each. I went over and picked them up and paid the taxes at the Canadian Border. If I remember it was approx. $1800.00 CDN for the lot, which is $450.00 a tyre. I did buy the tubes off of Wallace Wade though. Can't remember the price.
I have them mounted on my HUP and they work fine. I checked Summit's latest Catalogue and web site and they don't have them listed. So you'll probably have to go to Wallace Wade and see what they've got to offer. I can make a couple of phone calls for you if need be. Hope this helps.....Robert

[Tony Smith]

Bit of history on these tyres in this thread:

http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2421

from around page 4 or 5.

[Lynn Eades]

Ganmain Tony, I don't want to start a barney, but I think you should be swapping your front wheels from side to side, unless you are going to be doing a lot of 4wd'ing.

[Dianaa]

Tony

When did you buy the tyres from Universal Tire?

I bought some 9.00 16s off them about 4 years ago but when I tried to buy more a little later they refused to sell to Australia. Something to do with Antique Tyres being the Au Distributor, who didn't carry the pattern I wanted and were about twice the price for the bar tread.

Others with 101 Land Rovers have had the same experience.

Isn't there a bloke in SEQ who imported a container load of 9.00 16 for CMPs? I'll get the contact if anyone needs.

Diana

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Can people let me know if I am going to have the same trouble sourcing a supplier of 34 x 7 tyres for my Chevy MCP? The modern equivalent is 700 x 20

I suppose the next question is the possibility of converting from suicide rims to split rims - the type that are bolted together. I have heard that some tyre fitters are starting to refuse to work with suicide rims. Yes, I know they did earn their nickname too.

Some more details of the tyre taken from an old relic sitting on the truck then looked up on the internet:

700 x 20 (34 x 7) B.F.Goodrich
Brand B.F. GOODRICH
Construction CROSS-PLY - 8 PLY POLYESTER
Max. Load 1980 lbs @ 42 psi
Overall Diameter 889 mm
Section Width 175 mm
Tread Width 124 mm
Tube Type / Tubeless TUBE TYPE
Weight 13 kg

Kind Regards
Lionel

[Ganmain Tony]

I was hoping Jack Neville might have commented on this thread.

I got mine back in Nov 2012 and had to wait a bit until a run of them were made (by Wallace Wade).

We tried to get them direct but were told we had to get them off his specific dealer in Sydney (I cant remember their name - sorry).

I think they were about $420 to my door... not cheap - but compare that price to a 4WD tyre (a decent one)... I didnt think it was too bad.

Lynn, I dunno, I might swap em when the Wallabies beat the All Blacks next time... that means I'll be swapping them shortly..

[cliff]

Originally Posted by Ganmain Tony

Lynn, I dunno, I might swap em when the Wallabies beat the All Blacks next time... that means I'll be swapping them shortly..

HaHa you will not have to swap the tyres for years yet Tony! The Wallabies beating the All Blacks LOL

[Lynn Eades]

First answer:....And if by a quirk of fate it happens, you'll only get to do it once.
Second answer: The tyres will be worn out by then.
Third answer: Tony, do you mean this set (of tyres) or the next set?
Where is the smiley for "rolling on the ground laughing"? (ROFL)

[Jacques Reed]

Originally Posted by Scott Hamilton

I am looking at tyres for my blitz restoration and was wondering about this type that I found available in the US from universal tires and wallace wade.

They are 16 x 10.5.

Has anyone use these tyres for their vehicle restoration???

https://www.universaltire.com/truck-...rectional.html


http://www.stausaonline.com/tires/sta-ndcc/

Hi Scott,

They may fit just fine based on other restorers experience.

Just as a matter of interest though, I have been told many times that WW2 US 16" rims are a slightly different size to British rims. Often the tyres are embossed "To fit British Wheels Only" No doubt the subject has been thrashed to death somewhere on this forum.

Also the beads on British tyres are very substantial and are called square bead tyres. Found this out removing civvie 8.25" x 16" tyres originally from my Blitz. They smaller civvie tyre beads bend backwards away from the rim and become giant Chinese finger puzzles! The Simex info attached shows the cross-section of the military tyre very well.

I saw this firsthand too from the person I bought my first Blitz. He wound up using a rotary rasp to trim a bit of the bead off the 16" American military tyres he purchased as they would not go on the Blitz rim under any circumstance. He was an experienced restorer too so he tried everything before he got desperate.

If you want to use 9.00 x 16" tyres MRF (Madras Rubber Factory) from India produce a bar tread design which I have seen used on an F15A. Apparently they went on nice and easy with just the usual rubber lubricant. They were just sourced from a local tyre dealer in SE Victoria who got them in for him.

A few years ago Simex produced the T24 16" tyre for Commonwealth militaries.
A local dealer who has since closed shop in Melbourne imported a container of them from Singapore. Perhaps that may be worth a chase to see if Simex can still source them.

Have attached some info of general interest. The cut away view is an original Dunlop 9.00 x16" Trak Grip being removed the usual way after 70 years of rust build up.

Cheers,

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Scott Hamilton

Universal tires have a distributor here in Australia - Antique Tyres

Scott, I've been dealing with Antique Tyres lately in relation to these 10.50 x 16 chevrons, and also 11.00 x 20 NDT. They're waiting on price info from the manufacturer STA. Indicative price for the 10.50 x 16 is around the $500 mark, depending on quantity. I'll keep you posted if you like and let you know before I order, in case you want to be included. Likewise anyone else who may be after these tyres.

Same applies to anyone interested in 11.00 x 20 NDT. They're likely to be considerably more expensive than NDCC because they're 14 ply instead of 12 ply, and because US demand is for NDCC. I've asked for price info on both and will decide from there. Personally I dislike NDCC on a blitz so I'll probably lash out on a set of NDTs, as it will be a once in a lifetime purchase for me. Either way they'll be hideously expensive.

http://www.stausaonline.com/tires/sta-ndcc/


I've also spent a lot of time chasing MRF tyres, who list 11.00 x 20 NDMS in 14 ply and 16 ply. These are the only other brand produced to my knowledge. In years gone by they could be had through Ag Tyres, who brought in the occasional set on special order, at very reasonable price. These would have simply been added to a container load of tractor tyres and whatnot. Unfortunately Ag Tyres are no longer MRF distributors, and I've drawn a complete blank with the current MRF distributor Australian Tyre Traders. They tell me it "may" be possible to arrange a special order, but only for a whole container load. In other words...piss off, we're not interested in helping you. I've tried bypassing them through tyre dealers but without success. If anyone knows of a source for these tyres please let me know.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Jacques Reed

Just as a matter of interest though, I have been told many times that WW2 US 16" rims are a slightly different size to British rims. Often the tyres are embossed "To fit British Wheels Only" No doubt the subject has been thrashed to death somewhere on this forum.

Indeed, see 9.00 X 16 U.S. versus British wheels, for example. From this we learned it is not so much the bead angle, but the considerable difference (0.25") in bead diameter which makes it hard to fit American sized tyres on British sized rims.

HTH,
Hanno

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by Tony Wheeler

I've also spent a lot of time chasing MRF tyres, who list 11.00 x 20 NDMS in 14 ply and 16 ply. These are the only other brand produced to my knowledge. In years gone by they could be had through Ag Tyres, who brought in the occasional set on special order, at very reasonable price. These would have simply been added to a container load of tractor tyres and whatnot. Unfortunately Ag Tyres are no longer MRF distributors, and I've drawn a complete blank with the current MRF distributor Australian Tyre Traders. They tell me it "may" be possible to arrange a special order, but only for a whole container load. In other words...piss off, we're not interested in helping you. I've tried bypassing them through tyre dealers but without success. If anyone knows of a source for these tyres please let me know.

See new 9.00-16 tyres for WD split rim wheels: MRF (did) produce(d) a 9.00-16 tyre for "to fit flat base rim only" (6" wide rim) which fits the British WD split rim without any modification to tyre or rim. I have seen them on the market here; sadly many were snapped up by Dodge WC owners, leading to many balancing problems because they are a sloppy fit on the American rims.

HTH,
Hanno

[Tony Wheeler]

Thanks Hanno, I checked that thread you mentioned but it's one I've read before. In fact I think I've read every MLU thread on tyres ever written in my quest for MRF tyres! A lot of the info is out of date because things change in the tyre business, esp. distributors.

It occurred to me during this process that we could use a dedicated thread in Parts/Sources/Prices specifically for tyres, to save searching through the multitude of old threads on the subject, generally to no avail. It's something everybody needs and it would be good to have a single thread being constantly updated as people chase tyres, assuming of course they provide feedback as to success or otherwise. I'm sure a lot of us are chasing the same dead end leads and making the same phone calls needlessly. In other words...retreading the same path and reinventing the tyre (audible groan).

[mlombard]

Hi Tony

did you track down any MRF tyres in the end, or did you go with another brand. And if so either way who supplied you please, and roughly at what price. I need x5 10.50 x 16 for British/CMP style split rims. Thanks

[Mike Kelly]

Originally Posted by mlombard

Hi Tony

did you track down any MRF tyres in the end, or did you go with another brand. And if so either way who supplied you please, and roughly at what price. I need x5 10.50 x 16 for British/CMP style split rims. Thanks

Matthew

AGTYRES in Dubbo NSW were the MRF importers .. I got my 9.00-13's from them for my C8

[motto]

It may be worth a call to Bruce Leslie of Leslie's Tyre Sales, Braybrook, Victoria.
Braybrook is a Melbourne suburb.
Bruce may not have what you want but will know where to look. He has helped me out on numerous occasions over the years.

David

[mlombard]

Rang a mob in Melbourne today who are MRF agents,, guy was helpful but not interested and admitted that they only bring in SOME MRF tyres, 'those that sell !'

[Mike Kelly]

What is the latest news regarding the availability of 900-16 tyres ? I need a set for my CS8 Morris Commercial project

[Mike Kelly]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-of-4-Cok...-/192003687023

how does one get these in Australia ?

Lots of Chinese suppliers

https://www.alibaba.com/products/F0/...------G/2.html

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

how does one get these in Australia ?

http://www.usatoaus.com/

or similar. There are several small exporters/importers that will bring LCL items into the major ports.

While imports for yourself are GST exempt under $1000, that does not apply when using these importers, as they conduct Customs clearance on the whole container contents which is usually well in excess of AU$1000. So if you bring in a consignment below AU$1000, you will have to pay GST, Duty and Customs fees.