Unless you are interested in competing in the concourse class at car
shows, where points will be deducted for non-original tires I can think
of no reason to fit Michelin X redlines (or Commanders for that matter)
to your car when modern redlines are available at about the same price,
albeit ridiculously high all. The Michelins were a poor tire in the 70's
and are a horrendous tire now. They are hard, narrow, give poor wet
traction, need a tube to be safe, squeal in slow cornering...they're
just a junk tire, so why go there?
Diamond Back Classics, in South Carolina
http://www.widewhitewalltires.com/redline.htm sells Dunlop D40s with a
nice redline on 205-70/15s as well as 215-70/15s (which are on my car)
for
TR6s at about the same price as the Coker Tires and I think they look
great, and handle very well also. They may redline other brands of tires
if you object to the Dunlop D40's, which are not really performance
tires but handle so much better than the Michelins it's like going from
a cheap bias-ply tire to a good radial.
There are other companies that cut in redlines on modern tires, but I've
only dealt with Diamond Back.
I'll email a photo of the redlines on my car if anyone is interested.
My $.02,
Jim Davis
Fortson, GA
CF38690UO
Don,
I just removed my 5 mich x's, one was no inner tube model, that was a
surprise, to restore the steel rims. But I also noticed the cracking on
the inside of the tires as I removed them.
I just watched a segment on ABC news about old tires, and a guy in a
classic LBC had a blowout and nearly killed his wife with the car
flipping over. He said he babied these tires with no dry rot, but they
still exploded. The big reason for this is age, the tires will break
down no matter what, so shelf life should be no more than 6 yrs, and
because the tire manufactures are so powerful, Congress can not pass an
expiration date bill for tires.
In other words, don't trust the old ones, and if you're doing a frame
off, do the tires as well. Besides, the car will look like new with new
rubber, just make sure the manufacture date is stated when you buy them.
That's what I decided, and since I'm into my 6 for 10K now, whats
another 600 bucks for safety.
Gene Hart
1973 Triumph TR6 CF10918U and soon to be O, thanks J. Esposito
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