Availability 9.00x20 10ply road tyres?

[dodgenut]

Hi all

I'll soon be on the lookout for some new tyres, road tread rather than bar grip. So far I've located imports of a make I've not heard of before. I'd prefer to find some from a recognised maker, such as Firestone or Dunlop, do such things even exist now or am I stuck with using some oddball make from the far east???

thanks, Rick

[Lang]

Rick,

900X20 was the standard size tyre for all your Commers, Bedfords, Leylands etc from the 50's right up until the 90's for those vehicles in the 8 ton class.

A lot of these mid-size trucks still use them. I would be very surprised if you could not walk into any truck tyre sales place and get them off the shelf or at least have them brought in within 24 hours.


Lang

[Lang]

Rick,

Another thought.

Don't get too excited about "oddball makes from the far East". Bridgestone from Japan (a Dunlop partner) and Hankook from Korea are up with the world's best.

Many forum members swear by Indian MRF.

I presume these are going on a WW2 military vehicle so with the number of miles you do and the loads you carry, both you and I will be dead and buried before even "Flying Elephant" brand from Shanghai are worn out or fail. Don't forget even the lowliest tyres must be branded and meet the minimum standards of almost every country in which they are sold.

If "Flying Elephant" are half the price of Dunlop and the tread pattern is eye pleasing I would be fitting them. You are not hauling 65 tons behind a Kenworth at 100kph from London to Glasgow on a daily basis.

Lang

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Lang

If "Flying Elephant" are half the price of Dunlop and the tread pattern is eye pleasing I would be fitting them. You are not hauling 65 tons behind a Kenworth at 100kph from London to Glasgow on a daily basis.

Rick,

I agree with Lang, the Chinese "Flying Elephant" brand tyres are worth the money. A friend of mine had them fitted to his Austin K6 about 7 years ago, it weighs about 8 tons, they wear well and the tread pattern is very similar to Dunlop Trakgrip except the grooves are narrower.

[Grant Bowker]

Firestone's USA web site still lists some 900R20, 1000R20 and 1100R20 tires in varying degrees of on-off road tread pattern. On the other hand, their partner companies Dayton and Bridgestone don't list these sizes as available. Goodyear USA also lists similar size tires as being available. I have no idea of costs for these tires.
Neither Coker Tire, Universal Tire nor Specialty Tires of America (all are sellers to the "vintage" market, STA makes the much discussed directional 1050-16 inch tires) list 900-20, 1000-20 or 1100-20 tires so I wonder if this means that they think that the market is still adequately served by the "normal" tire makers.