Hot Rods Dirt track tire wannabe....or alternatives..

I'm in the process of putting a set of 52 spoke wires on the 33 and have been looking at the "Name Brand" manufacturer of traditional dirt track tires and have read a lot of comments concerning balancing, wobble, etc., that seems to occur often. So, what are the alternatives if I want 15x5 and 16x7 with consistent thread patterns? To date I've found the Firestone winter force tire that will give me the 185/65-R15 and a 265/75-R16, 24.5"/30.5" heights and give an aggressive look toward a dirt track tire.....Ok, I need your thoughts...

 

Get out the popcorn! I'm looking at the same tires for a glass phaeton highboy project I'm putting together, I may buff the winter force logo of the side walls if I go with these.

 

Who are you trying to fool? Yourself, or the hot rodding public?

That tire won't fool anybody who cares about "correctness", but it might be OK for you. Do what makes you happy.

 

I'm going for the look without having more than $800 of pain in the ass tires that will also fool the public....so, if there are better alternatives, be helpful please...


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Yea, I've wondered about that....I read on the Towel City website that they also buff or trim the sidewalls to get the smooth look of old tires....guess you just chuck um up in a big damn lathe??


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Instead of wanna be's...
http://www.americanraceronline.com/tires/late-model-dirt/

 

For a dirt track look, I don't think that the front and rear tires treads have to match. Actually I think it looks better if they don't match. The rear tires look best with a more aggressive tread than the front tires. Those Winterforce tires look good for the rear, but I would look for something that looks more like a rib for the front.
Getting anal, the Coker dirt track tires have a diagonal tread.....which is a later design. Old dirt track tires had a perpendicular tread. Don't know why Coker chose the later tread style.

 

First place I went...but with the narrow rims, can't use them....I looked a lot at all the brand name dirt track tires, either way too wide or way too expensive....therefore the search for alternatives....


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Sorry, I missed the 7" rim width.

 

These are my Towel City tires.

I had mine cut as cheaters but they can cut whatever sipe you want including the f'stone dirt track cut. They are a good looking tire and I have drag raced them on my Olds with no issues. These are 8 inchers, the narrowest I believe they offer. Hope it is helpful.

 

True winter tires like those are softer and will wear out much faster in summer use.

 

And those are nice tires, around $250 each with the grooves....still, I'd like front/rear to match.....




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I have two excellent tires like these: $500.00 here in Gilbert, shipping cost extra

 

xx2

 

A few asked so here is a side shot of the Towel City Cheater on my car. These are 16" diameter, 8 inch wide tires mounted on 8 inch pin set knock off salt flats.

 

Sorry but those Winterforce don't look anything like a dirt track tire to me

 

I think those Firestone winter force tires look great.
A friend of mine found some made by Yokahoma that looked great on a fenderless Hot Rod too.
I can't remember the style name though, sorry.

What I have done is go on Tirerack.com and do the tire size search, then look at the treads and brands shown.

If I stumble across something, I'll let you know.
Glenn

 

A friend of mine found some made by Yokahoma that looked great on a fenderless Hot Rod too.

....maybe it's the Ice Guard IG20? I like it also, looks like the side walls are very straight when mounted and the squares seem to look better...need to check sizes....
Thanks for the lead.....yep...just checked, small ones available but not the larger ones....



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Gotta ask....I thought of the Towel City cheaters, but I just don't think slicks are good on wires......


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I've been thinking about asking Towel City to groove the Traditional Cheater Slick with the addition of the dirt track tread pattern.

 

Are your samples car or truck tires? If the latter, they might be too stiff / have a harsh ride on a car. I'd pick the pattern on the left sample for looks. Those newer, wavy, asymmetrical, tread patterns don't look vintage at all. Gary

 

I live in the North where a lot of OT cars have winter tires. I bought a nice OT car with Firestone Blizzack winter tires. Found them to be quite noisy. Never heard the engine on that car until the tires were replaced.

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I've also found these BF Goodrich which have a side groove that reminds me of the cheaters and dirt tires....and they have the size range I need for big and little...yes, I hear you about the noise and load range....

Winter Slalom


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Started looking at the load ranges....of course the modern cars don't match the 2240 lbs of the 33 so they will be stiff if fully inflated to 44psi ( iaw BFG specs), tires support ~1500 front, ~1900 rear....


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Are you aware that they didn't run the big block tread pattern in the fronts "back in the day"? I can't see why you are trying to match the front and rear treads. Nobody wants a big dirt track pattern on the front.

 

Nope, wasn't aware that they didn't do that.......


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Did you read post #8 on this thread?

 

Pretty much ignoring the negative comments, was listening to those actually helping....


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Guess you didn't read or understand it.