Tires, tires, tires...

Just to follow up a bit on what I spoke of earlier...

I just had my new set of shoes installed on Black Tooth and thought I'd give you my initial impression... (Sorry for the kinda foggy fotos... the sun was setting...)



The rears are the Pro Meter 205/60x13s and are a non-directional tire and the "feel" is good and comfy. I have not pressed them as yet...



The fronts are the $32 dollar Achilles from Tire-easy.com which in CA ran me almost 100 bucks with all the fees and taxes and shipping. They are 175/60x13s and I am IMPRESSED!

1. They appear to be the perfect "fit" for the 2" lowered front end, for clearance as well as the arc of the fender-well.

2. I have experienced absolutely NO vibration at 65 mph... haven't had it higher yet. They balanced easily...

3. The price was great anyway... and would be even better for those out of this state.





As for a long term test for wear... that may take years. This time I threw out what LOOKED like perfectly good tires with lots of tread left... but had aged to the point they were cracking and out of round or bands breaking down that they could not be balanced, no matter what we tried! (Hunter Road Balancer)

I'll leave that wear and traction test to Jeff Van Dyke here who drives his Achilles tire-d X on a daily basis. He's running 185/60x13s all around.

Just a refresher... Tires-easy sells Federal and Achilles tires sized at 185/60x13 and also an Achilles (China) at 175/60x13. The Pro-Meter 205/60s (Indonesia) I purchased off Ebay for about $160 shipped for the pair out of Nebraska. Both these folks shipped FAST and I believe Tires-easy gives a bit of a discount if shipped directly to one of their preferred installers. Costs to install went up a bit for me ($68) but I have had exceptional service from these folks with care and balancing that it is a pleasure to support them.

Tires

Thanks for the info, I'll need new tires in the spring after I get the CD91s refinished. Was thinking of those two tires and not sure if I should trust the Achilles. Give us an update after a few months of driving. Thanks....

Tony,

Do you know if they have anything in 15" that will fit our X's?? I don't need new tires yet but I'm just curious to what is available in addition to the Federals I'm running on now without doing a search.

Mike

Achilles felt good in the rain the other day, very wet and wet leaves every where too (slick as snot). I'm at around 1,500 miles on 'em so far. I've got to put the car away soon though, no more winters!!! I don't want to know how they are in the snow.

Thanks for the update Jeff... So far...

we don't have any indication its gonna snow here anytime soon... Just as long as I keep a set of BRAND NEW chains in all my cars. Capitalizing by using the "Murphy's Law" philosophy... I have managed to keep most of Southern California "snow-free" for the last 25 years!

My dearest friend Mike...

15 inch tires can be FOUND everywhere and its an easy search. I spent quite a lot of time searching for various sizes of 13's and have posted my results and where to get them.

You can use those venders as well... but since you have the WHEELS I want and the TIRES come easy to ya... I ain't gonna search for those FOR ya!

OK... I did... just go to tires-easy.com or tirerack.com and input the size you want. There are about 10 different tires for just about any size you want for 15 inch rims... from 50 bucks each to hundreds apiece. They are literally falling from the sky... HA!

Me too WIlly... but like I said many times before...

All the major U.S. manufacturers are going overseas and the overseas manufacturers now have facilities in the U.S.

Michelin's and Dunlop's are two... now in the U.S. and I found Goodyear's made in Chile.

I swear by my Michelin's on my Pilot and they are made in Turkey.

So... Whatareyagonna do? Fergitaboutit...

I'm having difficulty clicking off 2500 miles a year on each of my 4 cars... for various reasons. I will probably throw these out in 5 or 7 years with 10,000 miles on them...

I thought the Nexens were all the rage :laugh:

They were, along with Federals... and just a few...

years ago I hadn't heard of either.

I think it was Herzel Frenkel here in Israel that said his Nexen's were the only tire he could find to fit his car. Up until then I certainly had never heard of them. I remember we found Federals at about the same time.

Now I see Nexen's on some new cars and can only assume they came standard. Except for the lousy luck we had with balancing Sumitumo's and some had with the other two... TireRack either doesn't carry them anymore or they have stopped production. I haven't been able to find Sumitumo's in our sizes anywhere.

I have a feeling though that these are the LAST 13" tires I'll be buying as going to Toyo's or slicks with UTOQ ratings of 60 or 100, plus the rare possibility of rain here... would push me towards 15's and some nice aftermarket wheels.

Re-thinking this again... with as few miles and fair weather driving that I do, soft-rated, DOT approved racing tires might just be the right thing for me!

Glad I don't haveta worry about making this decision for quite some time now...