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MG TD TF 1500 - Original Tires

I was looking on line to see if there were Original Bias ply tires still out there for the TD (trying to do my restoration as close as I can to factory).

These came up through Summit Racing. They are Coker tires but with Summit the cost is less and the shipping is free.

I know radial tires ride better and give better performance, but any significant negatives to running bias ply? TD is driven mostly on club events.

https://www.summitracing.com/nv/search/product-line/coker-excelsior-tires/tire-size/5-50-15
Bruce Cunha

Blockley also has suitable bias ply / crossply tyres as well as radials. blockleytyre.com
On the other forum, see "12 minutes of pure magic" - the car is running on bias ply / cross ply tyres.
Dave H
Dave Hill

In general the handling, safety, ride and everything about bias ply is terrible compared to radials. Unless you are showing in AACA or something radials would be vastly better. Unless of course someone found or duplicated the original Dunlap molds, etc. George
George Butz III

The whole world of judging - on various different levels of professionality - is so arcane that I do not understand it. I have heard of any cars deemed "unauthentic" or with "unoriginal" features (like Mark II cars), that ARE demonstrably original, so the judge falls short in his knowledge of the specific model. Yet I see cars with wood dashes and chrome valve covers win regularly over cars with rexine and silver paint!

At NEMGT GOF meetings, slavish originality comes, intelligently, second to safety, and I assume a car would not be marked down for having Michelin 165x15 radials, rather than Dunlop 5.50x15 bias-ply tires.

If you are competing at stratospheric levels of originality you could have two sets of rims, one with "driving" tires, the other with "show" tires. But I agree with what is said above - I would NEVER regularly drive a T-series car on bias-ply tires, when the handling and safely of a car on radials is probably improved by a factor of 2.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

I totally agree that radials are better and safer (where there is a choice) - I always use them myself.
Dave H
Dave Hill

Hi Bruce,

If you are buying Coker Tires through Summit or Coker directly, I would suggest you call first and make sure the tires are reasonably "fresh". Both sources have been known to sell tires that are up to 16 to 24 months old (and about 25% of their lifespan is already gone).

Before buying any tire for an older car, I would email Simon at Longstone Tyres and discuss your car tire purchase with him. They are less expensive than Coker and have fast shipping. Regards, Bill
WHT

Two more comments:

Simon is at simon@longstonetyres.co.uk

Michelin only manufactures classic tires several times per year. I emailed them last year and they said they were making new ones from first of the year into spring. This could be a good time to check on new tires. Regards, Bill
WHT

The only advantage from a practical standpoint that I can think of (in my personal experience only) is that Bias Ply tires don't age out like radials do. The rubber does harden and lose its grip, but they don't become explosive after only a few years. I have 50 year old bias plies on some farm equipment and also on an old pickup truck that have chunks of rubber coming off but still hold air. A radial would have exploded 40 years prior. Not that you should be running around on old hard tires of course...
Steve Simmons

I lost first place to a Triumph TR 3 because the Triumph had “authentic” aftermarket no name bias ply tires, and my TD had Michelin 165x15 radials. The judge actually told me I should switch to bias ply, because that’s what the car should have, and I would be amazed at how much better the car would drive. He also told me that MGs should never have twin SUs. He knew, because his 1976 MGB which he bought new has one carb. I guess I should have just acknowledged his expertise.
Unfortunately, I am not aware of anything available that would duplicate the original Dunlop bias ply tires. I have a set on the TF, they were on the car when we bought it n 1988. They were old then, and are much older now. Not safe for highway use. The rubber is so hard, it is like driving on plastic tires, no grip on the road at all. I tried to stop for a yellow light at about 35 mph. I couldn’t stop. I just can’t bear to replace them, so the car does not get driven very far or very fast.
Be well,
David.
D. Sander

LOL, Steve, I thought I was the only one with ancient tires on some of my farm equipment! Of course, they don't get run on the turnpike either, grin. PJ
PJ Jennings

My experience:
The problem is not radial vs cross-ply. It is modern rubber vs rubber from the 50s. My old Michelin or Kleber radials do very well (talking about up till 40 years old). My modern radials loose chunks, explode after some years. Not the same rubber, that's all.
Marcel Schaepman

Crossply tyres have a much stiffer and stronger wall than radials. As rubber ages it loses flexibility and forms cracks - this is far more important in a radial than a crossply, hence an aged radial will fail more rapidly than a crossply.
Dave H
Dave Hill

My old tire story is that a customer had his car with me for an engine rebuild and getting back on the road a few years ago. He refused to replace the old, almost-new-looking radials, even when I pointed out that they had been made in the "German Democratic Republic" (which went belly-up in 1990 - and the tires were MUCH older than that).

Once on the road he constantly complaineed about poor handling, and I constantly told him to get new tires. He finally did, and called me up 10 minutes later to tell me that the handling, stopping and cornering were transformed.

With the new radials he could take one particular corner at over 45, whereas with the Russkie tires he had needed to slow down to 20 so that he would not skid out.

Don't use old tires for many reasons, especially safety.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

Bought 5.90 x 15 Dunlop Road Speed cross ply tires for the TF1500 from
Antique Tyre Supplies in UK together with tubes. Of course, originally TFs had 5.50 x15 Dunlops however they have not been available for some time.

Now there are not any 5.90 x 15 Dunlops available either.

I must say I am very impressed with the English made Dunlops. No problems
at all.

If both the front end and rear end units are rebuilt well, these tyres are perfectly adequate for most uses.

Cheers
Rob Grantham

Rob Grantham

Bias ply tires and ability to hold air comment. Friend bought a barn find that has been off the road since 1961. Pumped up the tires, they held air just fine.

Yep, old bias ply tires.

But does not mean I am buying anytime soon.

Off topic here: Replaced 7 year old radials on my 1999 MB CLK320 on Thursday, the ride and road noise were remarkably reduced, had the same experience when I replaced the 10 year old ones in 2012.

Peter
P G Gilvarry

Great information. I also have farm equipment with very old tires. The ones on our 1973 John Deere Backhoe appear to be original. They have bad tears in the outer rubber and are worn to where they don't grip as well.

So it is time to replace them. Found a used pair that have great tread, but are also at least 10 years old. For this type of equipment, that is not a problem.


Thanks for the other tire reference I will check with them and also check on if Michelin has made any.

One note on Summit. They offer free shipping or I can pick them up at their store. That is about 45 minutes from my home, but I would be able to check to get the newest dates.


I did not see a price difference over shipping them for free or picking them up at the store. Something I will have to discuss with them. Seems if I pick them up, they should be less as it is saving them money for shipping.
Bruce Cunha

Bruce shipping to you directly doesn’t necessarily make shipping cheaper. The retail stores are fed product from one or several regional warehouses. Your order is likely also filled and shipped shipped from the same regional warehouse and not the retail outlet.
W A Chasser

Good Point Bill. Not much less to ship to a home address as to their store. Some companies have their own trucks for shipping. Probably not Summit as they only have a few retail stores.
Bruce Cunha

This thread was discussed between 19/01/2019 and 22/01/2019

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