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Old School Mud & Snow Tires And Vintage-look Radials

Discussion in 'Early Jeep Restoration and Research' started by maurywhurt, Dec 14, 2018.

  1. Jul 8, 2020
    maurywhurt

    maurywhurt Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Western North...
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    Dec 12, 2009
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    Actually the Y742S tires in the 7x15 size are (or maybe were) a light truck tire with a D load rating. I have a set on my CJ-5 and they are GREAT - I run them at about 27 psi. Here's my review just after installing them: Old School Mud & Snow Tires And Vintage-look Radials
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2020
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  2. Jul 28, 2020
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
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    This might be off topic because they aren’t “old school,” but they are tall and skinny. I just received shipment of my new tires, and the sizing is just about perfect for our old Jeeps. They are Falken Wildpeak A/Ts in the size of 235/85 R16. They measure just a hair over 31 1/2” tall, and the tread width is 7 1/2” wide. The tread itself is .540” deep, and .480” at the wear bar. They seem to get great reviews online, and they were $162/each shipped from amazon.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  3. Jul 28, 2020
    Admiral Cray

    Admiral Cray I want to do this again.. Staff Member

    Bainbridge...
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    Those valleys would be nice terrain to wheel around...
     
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  4. Jul 28, 2020
    bigbendhiker

    bigbendhiker Member

    U.S.
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    May 26, 2019
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    I probably missed it, but how wide are the wheels you're mounting those Falkens on? They look great. The tread looks like a good compromise between on and off road. I've got 255/85-16s on my Jeepster. I really like the 85 series tires.
     
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  5. Jul 28, 2020
    ITLKSEZ

    ITLKSEZ Hope for the best, prepare for the worst

    Liberty Lake, WA
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    16x7
     
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  6. Aug 3, 2020
    Randy Bridges

    Randy Bridges New Member

    Statesville, NC
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    Aug 3, 2020
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    I ran a set of the bias ply Armstrong Tru-Tracs for years and loved them, although they were noisy. I could sling the CJ sideways and it would just bounce and bounce but never offered to turn over. They were pretty rough riding until I put them on an Autodynamics Tire Matcher. It was an electronic tire truer. It measured the rolling radius of the tire by putting it under a load, and then two buffing wheels buffed the outside edges of the tire tread (about 1") on the inside and outside of the tread, until the rolling radius was within specs. I could not believe it. After "ruining" my tires by cutting about 1/4" off the tread in places around the tires, I drove down the road and I thought "This rides like a Cadillac". The best move I ever made. I sure wish I could get another set. Nothing like them. I didn't remember that they ever had a radial version.
     
  7. Aug 4, 2020
    W2SNO

    W2SNO New Member

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    Ah Yes, the company that provided that machine was based in Tampa Florida.
    Many of the Pep Boys locations referred to it as a 4 PLANE balance.
    It used a 36 grit tunsten carbide rasp, not a grinding wheel like the ones used in a tire plant.

    The machine used a simple cone to center the tire/wheel assembly rather than a collet. So it was actually decreasing the life of the tire, and making it less round since it was not centered on the grinder the same way it would have centered on the lugs of the car.

    They were taken off the market due to comsumer complaints that they paid fora service they did not receive.
    There were also tens of thousands of tires that were ruined by that machine and fraudulently returned to the manufacturer.

    I think it was the Florida Attorney General's Office and the Better Business Bureau that put them out of business.

    PS - Cadillacs didn't ride very well back then either.
     
  8. Aug 4, 2020
    Randy Bridges

    Randy Bridges New Member

    Statesville, NC
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    Aug 3, 2020
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    .

    Although the process you describe sounds similar, Autodynamics was out of Orangeburg, South Carolina. I was an automotive equipment dealer and sold many of the Tire Matchers to tire shops, garages, and new car dealerships. The tires actually lasted longer and the cars rode amazingly well. I loved my Tru-Tracs after servicing them. I always did all of the tires on my own vehicles with great results.

    We actually saved the sale of a brand new Chrysler New Yorker once when the dealership could not get rid of a vibration. We were his last hope. We "matched" the tires and the car rode super smoothly. He bought the Tire Matcher. I never had a return or a complaint, and we sold many machines just by leaving them with the customer for a trial. I wish I could locate one in working condition now that I could buy.
     
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  9. Aug 5, 2020
    teletech

    teletech Member

    Santa Cruz, CA
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    Aug 20, 2016
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    236
    I have seen folks use an old radial-arm saw set up with a carbide blade to do tire-shaving. Pivot the blade to the side and mount the saw on a platform that if fixed under the vehicle (say a chunk of plywood held down by a jack-stand pinned by the vehicle.
     
  10. Aug 5, 2020
    W2SNO

    W2SNO New Member

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    I am a big fan of the Armstrong Tru Trac and hoped that someday the Tru Trac and Gates Commando would re-appear on the market.

    If we need to talk about tire matching in depth after this post, we should probably create a separate post.

    I think you are right, and I may have been thinking AutoDynamics was in Tampa, but that probably was Jerry Gizowitz and the Company that manufactured the Chassis-O-Meter.
    I'm sure I still have the engineering drawings and test results for both.

    The Chrysler M Body New Yorker was a basketcase for vibration. I'm sure anything you did to reduce either radial runout or First Harmonic of Force Variation would have helped.
    The Matching machine can be quite effective on narrow, high aspect ration tires like Jeep tires (Or the skinny Arriva tires on the M Body) but did not work by the time the 245/50R16 tires on the F car Camaro were introduced. You had to remove too much rubber to optimize the footprint and lower Radial Force Variation. Longer treadwear? Um. no. Maybe less irregular.

    I've never used a radial arm saw to modify tires, but that is an interesting idea. My concern would be that it creates a flat tread, and most tires are designed to be flat only under load, so there is a slight radius.

    I have a tire truing machine that shaves tires, but it was designed for bias ply Medium Commercial truck tires so the pantograph mechanism for the rotary cutting blade operates on too small a radius for Jeep Tires.
    Custom pantograph arms can be used so modern radial tires can be reduced in diameter to match used worn tires on All Wheel Drive vehicles to avoid viscous coupling damage. (I think Tire Rack has this service)
     
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  11. Aug 6, 2020
    Keys5a

    Keys5a Sponsor

    Florida Keys
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    I'm waiting for the Gates Commando to come back too. I have a baja bug that needs them! I shared a set back in the day between my Jeep and baja bugs and loved them. They rotted out before the tread wore down.
    -Donny
     
  12. Aug 13, 2020
    jeep2003

    jeep2003 Well-Known Member

    Upstate NY
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    Nankang Mudstar M/T good looking classic mud tire
     

    Attached Files:

  13. Aug 14, 2020
    jeepermc

    jeepermc Active Member

    Western WA
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    terras stacked.jpg Widened KH.jpg Terra tires.jpg

    My cousin (CARTER) just picked these up this week. I've got a set myself and my wheels and most of the other wheels I have seen these on have been widened firestone type wheels... This is the first set of widened Kelsey Hayes R1 wheels I've stumbled across. Pretty cool!
     
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  14. Aug 14, 2020
    Boyink

    Boyink Super Moderator Staff Member

    Tulsa, OK
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    Man those bring back memories. If you didn't run paddles on your dune buggy in the 70s it was Terra tires...
     
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  15. Aug 14, 2020
    sgogpn

    sgogpn From the top of Lions Back... 2022 Sponsor

    Glendale, AZ.
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    Yea Mitch! Those Terras and the Desert Dogs were the shiznit back in the day!

    Mike
     
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  16. Aug 20, 2020
    jeepermc

    jeepermc Active Member

    Western WA
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    100% agree Mike. These are basically just wide versions of the desert dog. lol
     
  17. Dec 26, 2020
    timsresort

    timsresort Active Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    South Lake Tahoe CA
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    I still have a set of terras. We took the 2A to KOH and ran around with them all week.
    [​IMG]
     
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  18. Dec 26, 2020
    Mr Vaughan

    Mr Vaughan

    check out my super traxion look alikes - though they are a bit older, made in the 90's
     
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  19. Jan 2, 2021
    maurywhurt

    maurywhurt Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Western North...
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  20. Mar 26, 2021
    Puddle Jumper

    Puddle Jumper Rattle Can Master Painter

    Camas, WA
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    Have any of you seen these tires, my dad has had them since the late 70's, he has 6 of them, I plan on using them this summer, mostly for show since I don't really know how safe they would be do drive on. :D

     
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