Blitz Tyres

[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,

[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 K]

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