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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Tire mounting in Denver area?

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Tire mounting in Denver area? -- page: 1 2     Tim I 09-09-2010 @ 2:05 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 72 Joined: Apr 2010 I need to replace the cracked, rotten tires on my '38 coupe and am thinking about ordering some tires from Coker. Is there anyone who can recommend someplace to mount and balance the tires and tubes in the Denver area? Thanks. Tim supereal 09-09-2010 @ 2:46 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Mounting and balancing the tires of your car with the wide bolt circle will require a shop with an adapter for that purpose, probably one that has been in business for a very long time. If you are a Club member, look in the roster to get phone numbers of those near you who may be able to steer you to a place that can do the job. ford38v8 09-09-2010 @ 5:19 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2758 Joined: Oct 2009 Tim, The '36-'39 wide bolt pattern wheels require an adapter similar to a VW adapter. This would be a simple donut disc with lugs to fit your wheels, and center hole like a modern wheel, so it can be spin balanced. If you are a machinist, it is an easy task, or you may contract it out to a local machinist, or, there is an advertiser in the V8 Times that sells them for $80 including shipping. For the hassle, I'd say that's a decent price. Have the disc balanced first, and balance holes drilled if needed. Mount each bare wheel using all 5 lug nuts, locate and mark the heavy point on the wheel, then go for the tire mount, using plenty of talc on the tubes to prevent abrasion. The heavy point on the tire can then be put opposite the heavy point of the wheel for a good start on the balance. Remember, balance weights are larger now due to lead being outlawed for the purpose. Mount the weights on the inside of the wheel, not the outside. Coker tire makes most of the tires used in the hobby. Their 6.00x16 Firestone is correct for your car and gives good service. I've never had any problems but some have had to exchange a tire on occasion due to excessive off balance. If this happens to you, they do stand behind their product. You may keep in mind that most tire shops labor force matches the low pay they receive, and the above instructions will go unheeded without personal supervision. Good luck on that. Alan trjford8 09-09-2010 @ 8:24 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 4214 Joined: Oct 2009 Tim, in the Denver area you might contact Bert's Model A Store. One of the guys who works there is a V-8er and may be able to refer you to a shop. silverchief 09-11-2010 @ 9:37 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 521 Joined: Oct 2009 Tim, If you order tires from Coker, be absolutely sure they are correct for your car and what you ordered before mounting them. CharlieStephens 09-11-2010 @ 10:21 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 888 Joined: Oct 2009 Try contacting the local chapter of the Early Ford V8 club and asking who their members are using. Question for supereal. I mount my tires using tire irons. Is there a special adapter I should be using (don't bother to answer, I am not serious)? Charlie Stephens This message was edited by CharlieStephens on 9-11-10 @ 10:25 AM supereal 09-11-2010 @ 11:18 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Charlie: I remember doing that before my knees got too creaky to get close to the job! I suspect it still works, even if I don't. On the serious side, we have had some problems with some Coker items, such as being too out of round to balance, even when repositioned on the rim several times, and with tubes that leak right out of the box. They did replace these, of course, but it slowed down the project and produced some shipping costs. I didn't appreciate their telling me it was our fault, as we didn't know how to mount the tires. The advice above about careful inspection before mounting is a good one. Spin balancing is a "must", thus the need for the adapter, as you know. The shop we use made one from an old hub and drum for the wide circle rims. They have been in the business for 75 years. sturgis 39 09-11-2010 @ 9:54 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 74 Joined: Nov 2009 THE RED DOT GOES BY THE VALVE STEM. MOST PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE RED DOT IS FOR. MY TIRES WERE BALANCED ON THE CAR BY A LOCAL GARAGE. THIS REQUIRED NO ADDITIONAL ADAPTERS. supereal 09-12-2010 @ 10:11 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 You are lucky to find a shop that still does on-car balancing. Some of the truck shops are able to do that. The red dot is useful if the tire is round. The problem we had was because two of the tires were not circular, probably due to poor construction where the plies were spliced. The usual "fix" is to match the high spot with a low place on the rim, if they are about the same. Some shops will opt to shave off the high spot, but that defeats the advantage of new tires. Stroker 09-12-2010 @ 1:06 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1460 Joined: Oct 2009 Alan, et al: I use an ancient balancer that came from our local alignment shop when the owner retired. It came with a number of plates, one of which was a 36-39 "wide-five" pattern. The owner agreed to teach me the fine art of using the old machine as long as I would let him use it to balance his own tires for the rest of his life (Frank lived to the ripe old age of 88) One thing in the course of his long term mentoring was that you need to get the static balance right, and then work on the dynamic balance. As a crude example of the difference, consider a tricycle crank and wheel assembly. It is normally in static balance, as the pedals are of the same weight. Spin that wheel, and the dynamic unbalance will cause the fork to oscillate. The same applies to installing wheel weights. In order to compensate for this effect, it is often necessary to install weights 180 degrees from each other with one on the inside, and one on the outside, regardless of where the "heavy spot" is. Sooo...not meaning to sound overly "Mitch*llish",I would question being able to get a good balance job by only placing the weights on the inside, however cosmetically desireable that might be. I might add that most low speed modern balancers-(today,OSHA would never allow mine in a workplace), really only do a "radial" balance, as they have no provision for mapping the "wobble" produced by two unbalanced forces on opposite sides of the casing.

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