Grey tire tread thickness

[TWrenn]

Does anyone have any idea of how thick the "tread" is on the smooth grey tires? I know it's a truly dumb question as it would require dissecting an otherwise good tire but I'm inferring I guess at least how long they lasted til the cords start to show through!

[signsup]

And, you would have to destroy your used tire as well to measure how much tread was left before the cords. Would one presume the tread thickness is the same as a treaded tire of the same make, just does not have the treads cut into them? If a treaded tire came with 10/32nds of tread, then could one presume 10/32nds of solid rubber before cords?
But as I said, even if we knew 10/32nds new, how would we check what was left?

[Dan Haynes]

I can't help you with "tread" thickness, but I can tell you they wear faster due to the smooth tread. The gaps in regular tread act like hinges, allowing the tread blocks to roll along the road surface, while smooth tires scrunch up and pull, causing the surface to scrub against the road.

[TWrenn]

I can't help you with "tread" thickness, but I can tell you they wear faster due to the smooth tread. The gaps in regular tread act like hinges, allowing the tread blocks to roll along the road surface, while smooth tires scrunch up and pull, causing the surface to scrub against the road.

Yeh I was thinking the same thing, and out here they just love to tar and chip our county roads, which overall we're grateful for, in Ohio we're spoiled with some pretty darned good "back country roads" compared to some states and even some Ohio counties for that matter. The trade off is the rough surface really does wear the tires quicker. And I'm afraid the smoothies will be eaten alive! Per my other thread, i'm leaning on giving em a try just for the heck of it! I like a challenge.

[Allan]

Tim, i had to chuckle. Tread on a smoothie? A bloke in Victoria has smoothies on his 1913 roadster, and he has done a lot of miles on them. How much of that was on dirt roads I do not know.

Allan from down under.

[Norman Kling]

Don't know anything about them, but would suggest you might order some new tires to have on hand,just in case.
Norm

[Dan Haynes]

Tim -
My car had black Firestones on a set of red Buffalo wires on it when someone on this forum posted that Universal had 30 x 3-1/2 smooth gray blems cheap. I called Universal that day and got five on their way. The car was in Burbank in a movie at that time and I was 350 miles north of there, so I put the gray tires on a different set of black Buffalo wheels that were intended for another car. When the car was back home, I swapped out the tires and wheels. Holy smoke, did I ever love the difference! Those gray tires were so much better than I thought they would be. They roll silently compared with the Firestones. I only have a few hundred miles on them, I put them on in August and yes, anything but smooth asphalt bites chunks out of them. Gravel eats them alive but dirt roads seem to have no real effect. I like the looks so well I'll keep the gray tires on it unless I'm doing a long road trip. It is easy to swap out Buffalo wheels with the single nut/hub cap - I can put the black Firestones back on the car in less than half an hour. I don't know what I'll do when the gray smoothies are filed off to the cords. Man, I can't afford to pay full boat for those gray jobs with such a short service life.

[TWrenn]

Tim, i had to chuckle. Tread on a smoothie? A bloke in Victoria has smoothies on his 1913 roadster, and he has done a lot of miles on them. How much of that was on dirt roads I do not know.

Allan from down under.

Allan, Now I AM chuckling!! (slapping forehead!)....yeh, "tread" on a smoothie! Well, y'all knew what I was after anyway I think. And I think a week of cabin fever is gettin to me!!

[TWrenn]

Tim -
My car had black Firestones on a set of red Buffalo wires on it when someone on this forum posted that Universal had 30 x 3-1/2 smooth gray blems cheap. I called Universal that day and got five on their way. The car was in Burbank in a movie at that time and I was 350 miles north of there, so I put the gray tires on a different set of black Buffalo wheels that were intended for another car. When the car was back home, I swapped out the tires and wheels. Holy smoke, did I ever love the difference! Those gray tires were so much better than I thought they would be. They roll silently compared with the Firestones. I only have a few hundred miles on them, I put them on in August and yes, anything but smooth asphalt bites chunks out of them. Gravel eats them alive but dirt roads seem to have no real effect. I like the looks so well I'll keep the gray tires on it unless I'm doing a long road trip. It is easy to swap out Buffalo wheels with the single nut/hub cap - I can put the black Firestones back on the car in less than half an hour. I don't know what I'll do when the gray smoothies are filed off to the cords. Man, I can't afford to pay full boat for those gray jobs with such a short service life.

Thanks Dan...good thoughts. And yeh, my first experience with smoothies was actually on my former '12 Touring that had black smoothies. Like you said, so smooth and quiet I couldn't believe it. That's why I also like the white ribbed, they're second in line with quiet factor. Coker still advertises blems, but don't buy 'em all out before I get enough spare change to order Clara a set for the future!! I doubt they'll have 'em in 2025 when she will really need 'em.

[Rich P. Bingham]

Re/ tire prices - 60 years ago, Montgomery Ward was still selling Riverside 30x3-1/2" tires. After a year of scrounging Hoover wagon survivor tires, I was finally flush enough to buy a set. They cost me about $40 per each, perhaps tubes included, I don't recall. I would have liked Firestones, but the sticker price was north of $50, and for me, that was a deal-breaker. Fast forward to 2024, and the inflation calculator informs me my $40 tires cost $368 today. It's a fair question whether the quality is at par, but economically speaking, we may have become accustomed to cheaper tires, but we're not really hurt yet, so long as tires for our Ts are available at all !

Post script, i bought a set of smooth grey "blems", and while I don't have enough miles yet to vouch for their wearability, so far, I think they're great !

[Allan]

Rich, it is a fair question about whether the Quality is on par with your earlier tyres. The answer is a definite NO! The 1970's Olympic tyres and tubes I have on all my T's bar one, are out of sight way better quality. The tube even hold air!

Allan from down under.

[Rich P. Bingham]

So true Allan ! We know the quality is sorely lacking. It's been posted here before, but my friend Rich Eagle ended up with those Riversides I bought. About the same time, he bought a set of Firestones. Up until a couple of years ago, he was still running on both sets.

[frontyboy]

A few years back I worked with Corky Coker to get smooth gray tires available. I used the 1st set on my 1905 Cadillac. We had to get orders for 250 tires which I did over a period of time.

The smooth grays are still on my 1 cylinder Cadillac which is now in Australia. I ran a set of grays on my 1912 T touring and that was neatly 10 years back and still going strong. I presently have a set on my 1905 2 cylinder Reo. I don't baby them I drive my cars and to date have seen no cord wear thru.

I'm sure tread tires are better in the long run but I like the look of the smooth grays. Sadly there will not be any smooth grays anymore. Cocker speciated them out and no more to be made.

frontyboy.

[frontyboy]

WTB: 30x3-1/2 smooth gray tires. I will buy 1 or any amount that you might have, new or used.

just want spares for my cars that are running smooth grays.

Just a note to the scammers, don't waste my time, I require a photo of the tire side wall with the manufacture date. So scammers don't waste my time.

frontyboy.