Where to buy afordable wide white's?

[lvin4jc]

Wow! Wide whitewall tires are expensive! I practiced with a grinder on my thin white throw-a-ways and it was just o k, not great looking. So is there a place that has reasonably priced whitewall tires out there?

- Joe -

 

[rainman]

I haven't found one!!

 

[Blue Eyed Devil]

http://www.lucasclassictires.com/

These guys are a little less expensive than Coker and a better company to deal with IMO. If you're looking for "cheap" tires then it ain't gonna happen. Tires are a HUGE part of the look for any vehicle, so if there is one place to pony up the "cosmetic" bucks, that is it. Gotta pay to play...

 

[donsrods]

Tires in general are not as cheap as they once were, even for our daily drivers. My Son Don was just telling me he had trouble finding regular whitewalls for his daily driver because tire dealers are starting to carry onlly blackwalls. They had to order the whitewalls in special for him. I hope whitewalls don't go away as I will be needing a set for my daily in the next few months.

As for wide whites, I watched a guy at Billetproof a couple of years ago who went around with a tire grinding machine and was doing peoples tires for them right there on the spot. They came out pretty good looking too.

In about 1964 I worked at a Ford dealership and every week a guy would come in with one of those machines and create whitewalls on the used cars for sale on the lot. Cars with whitewalls were worth more and sold better, so they had the blackwalls turned into whitewalls. But I hadn't seen one of those machines until Billetproof. I think he charged the guy something like $125 for all 4, if I recall.

Don

 

[Old Iron]

Tires in general are not as cheap as they once were, even for our daily drivers. My Son Don was just telling me he had trouble finding regular whitewalls for his daily driver because tire dealers are starting to carry onlly blackwalls. They had to order the whitewalls in special for him. I hope whitewalls don't go away as I will be needing a set for my daily in the next few months.

As for wide whites, I watched a guy at Billetproof a couple of years ago who went around with a tire grinding machine and was doing peoples tires for them right there on the spot. They came out pretty good looking too.

In about 1964 I worked at a Ford dealership and every week a guy would come in with one of those machines and create whitewalls on the used cars for sale on the lot. Cars with whitewalls were worth more and sold better, so they had the blackwalls turned into whitewalls. But I hadn't seen one of those machines until Billetproof. I think he charged the guy something like $125 for all 4, if I recall.

Don

I worked for Don Pippin's Tire Shop when I was 16, back in 69 and would grind a groove in the side wall of black wall tires to whatever width, inlay white, red, yellow what ever color rubber customer wanted, then put them on a vulcanizing plate to melt the rubber into the tire.
Is this something similar to what this other guy would do on site Don ?

 

[LOWANDRATY]

Try this place for wide whites

www.dbtires.com
they make whites in any size, they add the white to tires.

 

[Whatever]

I've taken my time and made " wide whites " . Not perfect but real close. Cars not perfect either so they blended perfectly ........... Whatever

 

[dmw56]

Inexpensive www tire. Hmmm, I don't think they make those anymore!

 

[Sam_Fear]

After you grind them, finish them with a belt sander and a fine grit belt - might want a dust mask. It'll smooth them out, but you'll still have the edge problem.

Bad looking grind-yer-owns will look great at 35mph, so just drive the snot out of it!

 

[donsrods]

I worked for Don Pippin's Tire Shop when I was 16, back in 69 and would grind a groove in the side wall of black wall tires to whatever width, inlay white, red, yellow what ever color rubber customer wanted, then put them on a vulcanizing plate to melt the rubber into the tire.
Is this something similar to what this other guy would do on site Don ?

No, what he did was just grind away the black rubber exposing the white that is underneath. His machine spun the tire and the grinder was fixed so it cut accurately. Kinda like what guys do at home with a grinder, but more precise.

Don

 

[51chevpu]

grind em....do a search on utube and there's a guy that does a demo

 

[donsrods]

Tires for a hot rod are a major hit, no denying that, but they also last for years and years because of the limited miles we put on them. When I redid my 27 a few years ago it still had the original tires on the back and they were about 18 years old, with lots of tread left. But there was no way I was going to trust 18 year old tires again, so they went in the dumpster.

My point is, if you spread the cost over getting a lot of years out of them, they end up being pretty reasonable actually. When I need tires for my daily it will probably set me back $5 -$600, and I will only get a few years out of those, if I am lucky.

Don