9.00-13 Tyres

[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.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Jim Price

Andrew:
The Roadtrac does look very similar to the sand tyres used in Africa. However, it appears that although they are included in MRF's trye range, they are not included in MRF's export line as they did not show up when doing a search.

Regards,
Jim

The Road Trak is listed in their export lines under Off-the-road/earthmoving tyres. Unfortunately, it is not available in a size to suit us.

[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]

All:
I called Wallace Wade this am and spoke with Chris. I asked him if he could get me a picture of the tread design of the tire mold that Specialty Tire that they (or Wallace) purchased from the factory in Canada. I also asked if he could find out if Specialty would make a run of a lesser number of tires, 50 instead of the 100 Wallace originally told me.

Chris said he'd call me back on the tread design but that Wallace would be the one to answer my question on the reduced quantity. Wallace is out of town and won't be back until next Tuesday. Will let you all know what I find out from Chris when I hear back from him.

Regards,
Jim

[Jim Price]

All:
Checked with the tire company in Australia and was advised that there is no volume discount on the shipping cost. It remains at $120 USD per tire.

Regards,
Jim

PS No return call from Chris at Wallace Wade on the tread design; will follow up on Friday if I don't hear anything tomorrow.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Rob

In my previous conversation with Wallace, a real nice guy if you can get a hold of him, the costs associated with the delays to obtain DOT certification are probably driving the cost way high...... that was the major cause of the delays on the 10:50x16....... I was told the first small batch for destruction testing and certification did not go well so more had to be run...... he is also at the mercy of the producer who will fit these short runs when his prduction permits.... the retooling for a few tires gets to be expensive......

....but I must say the tires we got look good and have all the necessary DOT stamping and numbers on them........

Too bad more interest could not be stirred up for a 100 tires..... I believe the same problem is happening to the tentative production of 18 inch Gamma Goat tires that he proposes to produce.

Only time will tell.

BooB

[rob love]

So are these 10.50 X 16 tires now a stocked item by him, or was it a one time run? They certainly are a great looking tire.

Does anyone know if he has the molds for the 9X16 chevron tires? Now that should be a hot seller up here in Canada.

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Rob

My recollection from conversation with Wallace was that the intitial run of a few hundred tires went by so fast that he requested an additional batch. It implies that most of the original batch he had ordered we sold and shipped directly from the manufacturer in Indiana Pa to buyers. The second run is probably not yet exhausted but is the real profit run for him now that certification cost and start up as now been covered.

The big question is if the 2nd run gets exhausted, will he still have enough demand to run a 3rd run. The market place for such tires is finite. I for one do not expect to ever wear out these new tires even if I drove with the brakes on......

I am not sure of what other molds he may have acquired ....but competing with the regular bar thread 9:00x16, new and used and other assorted Mudder and Michelin block thread tires ...it may not be a financially feasible project.

It is ironic that Wallace from Texas acquired the molds from a Toronto source and has the tires made in Pennsylvania to be exported back to Canada.

At least we got them!!!!

As for the elusive 9:00 x 13.... the only way the price might.... and I say might .....drop..... is if the hobbiest got together..... money upfront in trust... ordered a special run and bought out the total run from Wallace.......
His risk at that point is nil and the total cost would only reflect tooling, use of the molds and certification...... mark up would be minimal. Organizing such a venture requires commitment and commitment from everyone concerned. I don't think the hobby is there yet!!!!

Boob

[Alex van de Wetering]

Jim,

I have followed this thread with interest over the past few weeks. Having recently purchased a Chev C8, I also followed numurous links for new tyres. LWD parts still have Alliance tyres in stock and given the hard-to-get nature of the 9.00x13 tyres I thought it was a good idea to include the tyres in the purchase, because you can never be sure when others are available...and so I did. So, for me personally joining the list for having 100 tyres made, is too late. And I just haven't got the cash to buy another 4 tyres.

I agree with Rob Love that placing an ad, maybe on Milweb, might get you the numbers needed to have 100 tyres produced. You think there ought to be enough people with Canadian or British 8 cwts and Bofors to get to a 100tyres order. Finding a clever way to get a number of the tyres to Europe, might get people over here interested.

Tony Smith also mentioned "Victor tyres" once in the other 9.00x13 thread. Any idea if those are still available?

Alex

[Jim Price]

Alex:
Thought I saw a set of four tyres and rims in the bed of your truck! Nice find!

I looked up Victor Tire and the one I found is Quigdao Victor Tire Co. They do have an off-the-road tire, E7, which does have a chevron design. The sizes it is made in are not listed so I've emailed them to find out. Thanks for the reference to Tony's post!

Regards,
Jim

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Alex van de Wetering

Tony Smith also mentioned "Victor tyres" once in the other 9.00x13 thread. Any idea if those are still available?

Alex

Hi, Alex. Thanks for reminding me.
I spoke with the owner of these tyres, and he said they were on the Bofors when he bought it. He has no idea if they are still available.

[Mike Kelly]

This 900-13 thread just keeps popping up , again and again .

Owning two vehicles that demand this size means I have a keen interest . Not that the said cars are used much .. sad to say .

This is conjecture to some degree, but I believe the Olympic moulds were shipped up to Indonesia some years back . The Olympic factory here in Melbourne , was still producing small batches of them, until at least 10 years ago. Around 8 years ago, I managed to buy 3 new ones from a tyre dealer in NSW , they advertised them in 'THE LAND' paper . They smell brand new , of recent manufacure ( when I got them ), no doubt at all . Somebody.. emailed me pics of the exact same tyre, with 'Made in Indonesia' on the sidewall . Mine are marked 'Made in Australia'.

Olympic .. dont know . Do they still exist now .

We are a tiny market .. the tyre makers really dont give a toss .

Mike

[Anthony Main]

The 900x13 Olympic's that I've got on my F8 are made in Indonesia!
I thinkTrelleborg's Implement Tyre changed to 9.5X13, with a speed
rating of 50 KPH.

[Jim Price]

Anthony:
How did your F8 come by its 900 x 13 Olympics?

Regards,
Jim

[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

[cletrac (RIP)]

I was always under the impression that "agricultural use only" just meant that some taxes didn't apply. I don't have to pat PST on anything labeled like that. They aren't meant for high speed but around 50 mph I doubt if there's any tire that would give trouble unless severely overloaded and we all know that a farmer would never do that.

[cletrac (RIP)]

I was in Winnipeg yesterday so stopped in at Kroy Tire and picked up five used Goodyear 9.75 x 13 aircraft tires for my C8. They're the same diameter and width as the originals but with just four radial grooves for tread. They're 12 ply and rated for 197 mph so I doubt that the 216 will get them into dangerous territory speed wise. Until someone gets some others into North America these are the only option available. When I talked to them last winter they had 32 available but after I got mine there's only 15 left. I can't imagine what they were bought for as I've never seen any other wide 13 inch rims on anything. They charged me $85 each for them. Here's a link to their website.
http://kroytire.com/

[Mike Kelly]

David

Looking at your new tyres, you should/could possibly cut some more grooves into them.. whatever pattern you choose . The diamond pattern would look nice, something like the old one next to your new tyre . Some people do it by hand with a little angle grinder , but you would need a steady hand .. Are there machines that do it ?

Mike

[Lang]

Mike et al,

There are hand grooving machines available (two on UK ebay from a dealer at the moment). They come with various width blades which can be set for any depth. I have used them and it is very satisfying seeing a new tyre appear from an old one (although if you are just going over the old groves on a worn tyre care must be taken not to go into the fabric.)

You can do one large tyre in about 15 minutes depending on the number of grooves.

Lang

[david moore]

Jim
I'm in for 4 from Wallace Wade subject to the tread pattern being OK

David Moore
Kingston ON

[Jim Price]

David:
Have noted that you're in for 4 from Wallace Wade, subject to the tread pattern being ok. Will contact Wallace later this week for an update on the tires.

Regards,
Jim

[rob love]

Any further word on this project? I have a friend with a museum who wants 25 of the tires as long as the pattern is chevron. That should help a long way towards the goal of 100.

[Jim Price]

Rob:
Nothing at the moment. However, with your friend putting in for 25, I'll certainly give Wallace a call on Monday. By the way, I'll need a name and location of your friend before I do.

Regards,
Jim