9.00-13 Tyres

[Jim Price]

I found a distributor of MRF Tyres in Sparks, Nevada but they will not sell me the 9.00 x 13 tire as they are not Department of Transportation-approved.

As for a production run with the original mold owned by Specialty Tire, I could only come up with orders for 28, far below the 100 tire run they require.

Anybody out there with any suggestions?

[cletrac (RIP)]

I'd be in the market for five of them if the cost is reasonable.

[Jim Price]

I've been in contact with a wholesale tyre company in Australia and they will ship five each tyres and tubes to the US for $1,600. This price includes $600 for surface shipping. $320 each for each set of tyre and tube. Any takers or comments? (Other than ouch!)

[Lang]

Jim,

If they can find someone to buy at that price, I am going into the tyre export game. They obviously don't want the business.

You can see in my message above what the Australian price is from the importers - well under $200 per tyre/tube/rustband unit.

Lang

[Jim Price]

Lang:
The tyre cost is $171 each with the tube at $29 each. There were no rustbands available for this size tyre. The surface shipping is the killer at $600 total for the five sets or $120 per tyre.......

Jim

[rob love]

Did Wallace ever get back to you with the style of tread on the molds he owns?

Shame we could only get to the 28 mark. Maybe some better form of advertising the possibility of these tires has to take place. For instance, the possibility could be listed in each of the Canadian clubs newsletters. That might scrounge up most of the balance needed.

[Jim Price]

Rob:
No, Wallace never did get back to me. However, somewhere lately I came across a reference that led me to suspect that the mold had been previously owned by United Tire. I believe they went belly-up a few years back.
I'll give him a call tomorrow and ask if he could reduce the number to 50 and see if he's got any info on what the tread looks like.
Regards,
Jim

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

One question - does the shipping price go down for quantity purchase?

[rob love]

Even with a reduced shipping price, the tires will not be allowed into Canada unless they have the DOT certification on the sidewall. One could try and BS customs, saying they are an implement tire, but you could later get caught up when you go to get your vehicle safetied before licensing it.

I am waiting with anticipation to find out more information about the design of the mold. What kind of tread pattern geberally was on the united tires? I remember seeing jeep tires with United's name on them years back.

[Bob Carriere]

When we brought over 22 tires from Wallace across at Prescott the Custom officer never even went outside to check what they were...... he wanted to know if it was for resale or personal use...and if manufactured in the USA....... 22 tires...personal use...!!!! so we explained the use on 1940 vehicles and tires shared between 4 users.....

Now the Wallace tires where tested and certified in the States and DOT stamped .......

The biggest concern and risk of using non DOT tires comes about when you have an accident and some wise policemen or investigator notices the flaw....

.....for example the last big accident in Europe when a C60/F60 rearended a Dodge WC........ I would not want to be the driver of the CMP if he had bad or inappropriately certified tires......

I would not be difficult to "snow" a custom officer with a 9:00x13 tire odd size and declare that it is for agricultural use..... I have this "ditchwitch" which needs tires badly....... but you may be only fooling yourself in the long run.

The UPS store in upper NY where I keep a mail box was so full of various racing slick, motorcycle tires, huge 4x4 tires stacked to the ceiling it made Canadian tire store look like a convenience store...... all destined for Canadian buyers....... the only cost at custom is PST&GST......

I enquired about bringing back a huge BBQ I had seen on sale at Lowe's... I was told that as long as it was manufactured in the USA... only PST&GST applies...... with the dollar hovering at par now is the time to get tires and stuff.

BooBee

[rob love]

Customs is about as consistant as my ex-wifes cooking. And they do that intentionally. You got through smooth, but every so many entries gets checked a little further. So while you will get through 9 times out of 10, once you get refused, it will be much harder to ever get them through after that. I believe an Ontario dealer found that out once with several hundred M151 tires he was trying to bring up from the US.

I know when I went to safety my M38A1 a couple years ago the sharp eyed mechanic caught that the tires did not show the DOT markings. I had to trade around with some of my trailers which did have the marks on them.

I am after these for my Bofors, which is kind of an implement. It will spend very few miles on the road. I would prefer the old chevron tread, but would be happy with a road tread, as long as the tires are fresh. I would hate to blow a tire in the middle of a parade.

[Jim Price]

I spoke with Wallace this morning and he advised that Specialty Tire is cleaning the molds for the 9.00 x 13 to see if any repairs need to be done.

He did say that the mold was originally owned by United Tire which Wallace thought might have been located in Rexdale, Ontario. He remembers seeing the molds and thought that they had the chevron design.

He estimated that the D.O.T. process would only take a couple of weeks as the tires would be classified as off-road tires.

He also thought that there was a chance that Specialty might make a run of less than 100 but said that he needed to talk with them about the status of the mold. He had no best guess as to the cost per tire. He was pleased to hear that I'd come up with tentative orders for 28 tires. He took my number and said he'd get back to me.

[rob love]

I never thought the words "chevron design" would make me smile, but it did.

Good work. I guess it's now up to us in North America to spread the word.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Jim

I am wondering what the designation DOT approved for "off road" will mean or what restrcition it will imply...???

for example some tires are marked for...."Agricultural use only" or "max. speed of 35 kph".......

does it mean that you cannot drive on a city street at legal limits...??

......"off road" use only might explain the ease of obtaining approval from DOT.......

That being said......... how come we see farm equipment being driven on paved roads.... at a good speed....

......legally in Ontario such farm vehicles are not licensed, not subject to road safety inspection/certification and the driver does not need a driver's license........ but my farm insurance does provide me with $1 million liability insurance.......

.. in fact in my area the COOP is driving a modified International truck crop sprayer with extra large terra grip threads at a darn good clip 70+kph and I have a hard time beleiving the special tires are certified for highway use...

We do live in an interesting time.....??

Would be nice to see a staff car...circa 1940...painted sand color.... and sporting special rims with brand new 9:00x13 chevron tires......hihihi

Boob

[hrpearce]

Only $1Mill Bob, because the judges out here are so generous with the insurance companys money our minimum farm liability is $10Mill.

[Jim Price]

Bob:
Wallace said that the 10.50 x 16 tires had the off-road classification but didn't define what that meant only it didn't take long for D.O.T. to complete. Also, he did say that these 9.00 x 13 tires were not a priority but that they were looking seriously at having them made.
Regards,
Jim