Tires for Model T--4.50 x21 Lucas olympic

[DickC]

Has anyone had experience with this tire? I need 4 tires and the price of these is really low. Sometimes low price means other "things" are low about the product.

[Colin Knowles]

I have them on a roadster now for 2 years. About 1200 miles on them and they look new. So far, good tire.

[DickC]

Colin--Someone said that the tires are not rubber but a synthetic that wears well but does not grip as well. Stopping etc. Dick C.

[TWrenn]

If they don't grip as well just keep it under 90 around curves and corners!

[DickC]

Tim, have you used these tires?

[varmint]

DickC,
About four years ago I purchased some "440/450-21 LUCAS Olympic Tread Blackwall" tires, including a spare. They came straight from Lucas Classic Tires, wrapped in plastic and labeled, "Made in Vietnam". None of they hold any air because that is the job of the inner tube . I also purchased five inner tubes from Lucas at the time. To the best of my recollection, they are rubber. Our T does not drive so I cannot speak to handling.

Lucas tires

0204171720-00b.jpg (41.1 KiB) Viewed 3333 times

tire mounted

Sorry for the poor lighting from the garage.
Vern

[Steve Jelf]

None of they hold any air because that is the job of the inner tube .

Yes, and some tubes are better than others. I have found the Hartford tubes (China) quite satisfactory. I'm avoiding Custom Classic (India) because of the splitting problem. I think that's probably what caused my blowout a couple of years ago. I searched along both sides of the road and never did find that tire.

[Allan]

Is there a reason why one would consider buying Made in Viet Nam tyres over USA produced items? I understood that there are USA made 21" tyres available. Buying Vietnamese made tyres from the suppliers responsible for the rubbish beaded edge tyres they have produced for us, is not something I would encourage with my patronage.

Allan from down under.

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

Colin--Someone said that the tires are not rubber but a synthetic that wears well but does not grip as well. Stopping etc. Dick C.

I'm pretty sure that all tires are made from synthetic rubber.

[varmint]

I just checked mine and could not find any marking "Rubber, Polyester, nor Nylon".

South east Asia was the only place where rubber trees grew until they were imported in South America. So, buying them "Made in Vietnam" would make sense.

Instead of speculating, I say call Lucas in California at 800-952-4333

[DickC]

This is what I know so far. The Lucas tires (olympic) are nylon cord vs the more expensive tires are polyester. The nylon cord tires ride a little harder but are strong and give as good a service as the polyester. It is recommended that polyester tires be pressurized to 60 to 65 pounds. The olympic tires are usually a lower pressure for ride -- 40 t0 45 pounds. I think I will get reasonable service from the olympic tires and ordered them yesterday. Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. Dick C.

[Allan]

FWIW I was told nylon cord tyres are a bit cheaper, but with that lower price comes the fact that nylon cord tyres develop flat spots more readily when not used regularly, like many T's. It takes a few miles to get the tyres warm enough to work out the flat spots. On a model T they may not even be noticed.

Allan from down under.

[2nighthawks]

I have a set of Sears Allstate 4:50 x 21"s (Nylon whitewalls) on my '29 Briggs Model A Town Sedan which I drive regularly around town, and I never even give any thought to the "flat spot" thing at all, because if they do in fact develop "flat spots", I certainly never feel them. It might be noted that these tires were still totally wrapped in the factory paper wrappings since new, however, the very reputable seller advised me that while these tires were purchased new in the '80's, they not only had the original factory wrappings, but they had remained in dark storage since new. For what it's worth,.....harold

P.S. Again, "FWIW", as a "teenager", I remember when my Dad put a set of Nylon Sears Allstate tires on our '51 Pontiac in about 1955, you could definitely feel the flat spots for maybe the first two or three blocks from home, and then they rounded out just fine. Dad never considered it a problem and again, that was back in the '50's when Nylon tires were a pretty new thing, and I'm sure they probably got better as tire technology improve over the years,,,,???

[Dennis_Brown]

I remember nylon knobby tires we had on the back of a 49 Plymouth. I do not know about flat spots which we would not have noticed in the snow, but I do not think they ever wore out as I remember seeing them around the place years later.

[2nighthawks]

Just thought of something else that might be worth considering, and maybe someone else has had experience with the tires I'm about to mention:

About 10 years ago, I bought a very nice, driver grade, '27 Model T depot hack from the family of the late Pete Cosner (R.I.P.) of the Long Beach CA Model T Club. The tires on that depot hack still had good tread, but they looked terrible due to extensive sidewall cracking. The manufacturer name was INSA, which I believe were made in Agrentina, and what I think is noteworthy is the fact that several "T" guys advised me,...."don't get rid of those INSA tires as they are nylon casing tires, and as bad as they look, those tires are probably stronger an would probably outlast many of the brands you could buy new today". Well, this part I'm embarrassed to admit, but as I don't drive the car very much, or very fast, or very far, and they are still on that depot hack today! Not sure what this all mean,.....but "FWIW",....there it it,.....harold

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

This is what I know so far. The Lucas tires (olympic) are nylon cord vs the more expensive tires are polyester. The nylon cord tires ride a little harder but are strong and give as good a service as the polyester. It is recommended that polyester tires be pressurized to 60 to 65 pounds. The olympic tires are usually a lower pressure for ride -- 40 t0 45 pounds. I think I will get reasonable service from the olympic tires and ordered them yesterday. Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. Dick C.

I'm pretty sure the 60 - 65 PSI recommendation is for 30 x 3-1/2 clincher tires. For 4.50 x 21 tires I wouldn't even do the 40 - 45 PSI. I stick with 35 PSI.

[Gonenorth]

The INSA tires on one of my '26 cars say "Made in Chile" . I've heard that they tend to wear out faster than some of the other brands. But, I can't verify that since I haven't driven them much at all.

[2nighthawks]

Gonenorth - Yup! Chile,.....don't know why I said Argentina (???) If I'd just said "South America" that probably would have been better as I at least wouldn't have been "wrong", .... Thanx for the correction, ....harold

[Steve Jelf]

Jerry is correct. High pressure is for clinchers. Maybe I'm overdoing it a bit, but I blow my 30 x 3½ clinchers up to 70 psi and 30 x 3 to 65 psi. For balloon tires 35 psi is good.

[ewdysar]

Jerry is correct. High pressure is for clinchers. Maybe I'm overdoing it a bit, but I blow my 30 x 3½ clinchers up to 70 psi and 30 x 3 to 65 psi. For balloon tires 35 psi is good.

My father told me to use 20psi per inch, so 3.5” is 70# and 3” is 60#. So, your tires and mine are kept right around the same pressure. Later tires, like the 21s are closer to modern pressures as you said.

Eric