Blockley woes

[Oldav8tor]

I love Blockley tubes ---- they are great quality. I just ordered one to make up an extra spare tire to keep in my trailer. I decided to do this after getting a flat mid-way thru the 5 day MTFCI national tour. Unfortunatly, shipping costs from England to the US have increased dramatically since I ordered the first batch for my car. A 30 x 3.5 tube costs $45 but shipping now costs $52! It might have been cheaper if I had ordered more than one but I don't know. I bit the bullet and ordered one but it is getting out of hand.

I had planned to buy Blockley tire when it became time to replace my Universal T-Drivers but am re-thinking that now. I have over 10,000 miles on my T-drivers which I think is reasonable mileage for a Model T tire. I'd be curious to know what others have experienced with the tires available to us today.

[Steve Jelf]

Wards Riversides and Blockleys were about the same price last time I checked. But the shipping from England is considerably more than from Long Beach. Two or three years ago there was an effort to find a U.S. distributor for Blockleys. I guess nothing came of that.

[TWrenn]

Given the cost to ship blockley tubes altho Ive never held one in my hand I would stick my neck out and say the Hartford tube would be equal enough quality and less cost not to mention supporting our local vendors. I'm on my second set of white tires using the same Hartford tubes with no issues. Worth considering.

[Tyler Searle]

Hope you have better luck with universal t drivers than I did. Zero miles and all cracked.

[Allan]

I can understand supporting the local vendors, but in regards to tyres and tubes I have a different view. For too long the suppliers foisted inferior products on us for years. The products they had made were not of merchantable quality. Tubes are meant to be airtight. Tyres cracked up just standing. I too had a very poor experience with T Drivers. I bought a new set on a project car, and they were cracking up in the sidewalls before being run.

Blockley tyres have been made to fill the void created by these inferior products. They are a boon to us down under. Any T tyre has to travel to get to us, so there is not that much difference in shipping costs from the UK or USA. So a quality tyre from the UK is a far better choice than the alternative inferior quality tyre from the USA. We do have a supplier/stockist in Australia who stocks a wide range of Blockley's vintage racing tyres, so we are doubly fortunate. Again, I can understand why Blockley has not added another middleman in their supply chain just to get a stockist in USA.

Allan from down under.

[Art M]

I have no idea how many miles model T tires normally last. I bought a set of Universal driver tires (30 x 3.5) in 2018 for my 23 touring car. The tires now have over 11,000 miles on them. The fronts still have at least 1/3 life left and the rears have maybe 1,000 miles remaining.

I plan to buy Universal tires again, unless I learn my tire mileage is considered low.

Art Mirtes

[Allan]

Art, your 10 000 miles is very good. The 3000km I got out of mine, with cracking sidewalls, is vastly different. Perhaps this is indicative of poor specification/quality control by the makers/suppliers. How long did it take for you to accumulate that mileage?

Allan from down under.

[Art M]

Allan,
I bought and installed my Universal tires in April of 2018. I drive 1200 to 2000 miles per year on mostly asphalt roads that have few hills.

In my opinion, wheel alignment is critical. I prefer 1/32 toe-in on the front wheels .

Art

[RajoRacer]

Art - how did you achieve "In my opinion, wheel alignment is critical. I prefer 1/32 toe-in on the front wheels" ? I don't have any means to measure that close !

[Oldav8tor]

FWIW - The Universal T Drivers on my car were installed in July of 2019 - as of last week I have 10543 miles on them. The fronts are probably good for a few thousand more, the left rear maybe 1000, the right rear ready for replacement. After two flat tires in the garage back in 2020-21, I first tried installing brass stems (the ones available from the vendors) on my Hartford tubes. I had the tire shop do it. Results were mixed, with one seeming OK and the other losing air due to poor bonding at the base. I didn't have a lot of confidence in them. I should have ordered tubes with brass stems from the start. That's when I ordered the Blockleys.

One thing I think may have helped with my tire life is being balanced. I added 6 oz of balance beads to each tube. I know there are folks that say it doesn't matter in slow cars like ours but it certainly doesn't hurt!

A friend of mine gave me a Blockley tire that had a rim cut from a bad rim. I was surprised when I compared it to a T-Driver how much smaller in diameter it was. That shot my idea of getting two Blockleys for the rear and leaving the good T-drivers on the front for awhile. Front wheels are Hayes, rear Ford - no swapping without a lot of messing around.

A friend of mine tried to work out an arrangement with Blockley to act as a US dealer. Apparently Blockley wasn't interested. I think they need to do something to lower the cost of getting their tires here or the US market may dry up.

[AndyClary]

I’m happy with my Blockley tires. 4 tires and tubes totaled about 1300 with shipping and 60 bucks for customs. So they’ve never been cheap. Not to bash but I was not happy with the wear of the new Wards Riverside. Bald on one side with full tread on the other like they were in the mold crooked. I was happy with the universal, they are just so darn big. I’m only running clinchers on one car so I should be good for a while.


Andy

[Hudson29]

A friend of mine gave me a Blockley tire that had a rim cut from a bad rim. I was surprised when I compared it to a T-Driver how much smaller in diameter it was.

What are the dimensions of the two tires? Is this mounted and inflated or no? I need a smaller tire to fit my carrier and had thought the Blockleys would be on larger side.

Paul

[Oldav8tor]

I'll get some measurements tomorrow. I have an unmounted T-Driver and the aforementioned Blockley

[Original Smith]

I think Blockley tires are ugly, and the tubes are of good quality to a point. I prefer to use USA old stock valve stems which are correct for most T's.
At least, the Lucas tubes you can still cut the valve stem off. The brass valve stems Blockley uses were never used on Model T tubes ever. Why can't they supply tubes with just a hole for the valve stem as the old days?

[Steve Jelf]

Why can't they supply tubes with just a hole for the valve stem as the old days?

Because today most people don't have 100-year-old valve stems, or even know about them.

Don't you wish somebody would make a tyre with this kind of tread today?

[Allan]

Steve, that diamond tread pattern looks vaguely familiar. Where might I have seen something closely resembling that just recently?

Allan from down under.

[Kevin Pharis]

I think Blockley tires are ugly

I too had my opinion of the tread pattern… but when my set of Blockley tires was delivered, I was amazed by the overall mold quality and sidewall design. The tread pattern has grown on me, especially given that the tires drive wonderfully, even on wet pavement!

[Allan]

For Paul, i measured the spare Blockley I have, mounted on a standard 23" clincher rim. At 60 lbs pressure, the O?D of the tyre is 31 & 3/8" and the width is 4 & 1/16"

Allan from down under.

[Allan]

Original, if you buy Michelin tubes you get a screw on brass valve stem to fit. You should be able to tap that thread into an original Schraeder 888 stem and the job is done.

Allan from down under.

[Hudson29]

For Paul, i measured the spare Blockley I have, mounted on a standard 23" clincher rim. At 60 lbs pressure, the O?D of the tyre is 31 & 3/8" and the width is 4 & 1/16"

Allan from down under.

I just to make sure I understand, this is a 30 X 3 1/2? I was confused because I had read elsewhere that that size mounts on a 24" rim and the 30 X 3 mounts on a 23" rim.

Sometimes Model T matters can get very confusing!

Paul

[Russ T Fender]

You have it backwards. 30X3 is a 24” and 30X3-1/2 is a 23”. The formula is double the width and deduct that from the diameter.

[Hudson29]

I just checked the OD of an inflated Ward's Riverside and found it to be about the same as the Blockley. Thanks for the measurement.

Paul

[kmatt2]

A note about the 30 “ X 3 1/2 “ tire size. Some time after the USA entered WW I in April 1917 the tire size 30” X 3 1/2 “ Oversize became the standard to bridge the 30” and 32” tire sizes with just one tire. This is why the inflated 30 “ X 3 1/2 “ tire ( oversize ) now measures around 31 1/2 inch’s diameter.

[DanTreace]

A note about the 30 “ X 3 1/2 “ tire size. Some time after the USA entered WW I in April 1917 the tire size 30” X 3 1/2 “ Oversize became the standard to bridge the 30” and 32” tire sizes with just one tire. This is why the inflated 30 “ X 3 1/2 “ tire ( oversize ) now measures around 31 1/2 inch’s diameter.

The tire industry consolidated tire sizes and the clincher tires sizes were back then 30x3, 30x31/2 and 31x4.

So as happens tire companies made market for Ford owners in later years to embrace “oversized” clincher tires for more mileage vs cost, the oversized was readily accepted then.

The oversize Ford clinchers today represent that, as they are really 31x4, and fit the 23” rim.

Blockley tire

[John Codman]

I can understand supporting the local vendors, but in regards to tyres and tubes I have a different view. For too long the suppliers foisted inferior products on us for years. The products they had made were not of merchantable quality. Tubes are meant to be airtight. Tyres cracked up just standing. I too had a very poor experience with T Drivers. I bought a new set on a project car, and they were cracking up in the sidewalls before being run.

Blockley tyres have been made to fill the void created by these inferior products. They are a boon to us down under. Any T tyre has to travel to get to us, so there is not that much difference in shipping costs from the UK or USA. So a quality tyre from the UK is a far better choice than the alternative inferior quality tyre from the USA. We do have a supplier/stockist in Australia who stocks a wide range of Blockley's vintage racing tyres, so we are doubly fortunate. Again, I can understand why Blockley has not added another middleman in their supply chain just to get a stockist in USA.

Allan from down under.

I can think of a very good reason why Blockley should add a middleman. The USA is easily the largest market for their Model T tires. I'm not paying $52 shipping for a $45 Tube, so I'm not a potential Blockley customer.

[Steve Jelf]

I'm not paying $52 shipping for a $45 Tube, so I'm not a potential Blockley customer.

That's why I haven't bought any Blockley tubes. I would rather pay $21.50 for a Hartford tube (with domestic shipping) and install my own valve stems. The tyres are a different story. If I buy two Blockleys that cost me approximately the same as two Wards Riversides, the only practical differnce is the cost of shipping from London versus Long Beach. Here we don't have to pay the British VAT, and buying only two at a time there is no import fee. It seems to me like a pretty sweet deal.

[Nunsio1]

Hey Dan, Thanks for using my C Cab ( nice photo ) in your explanation of Blockley's. They are working good for me so far!!!!!
John Monticciolo
Oscoda, Mich

[Hudson29]

"The tire industry consolidated tire sizes and the clincher tires sizes were back then 30x3, 30x31/2 and 31x4.

So as happens tire companies made market for Ford owners in later years to embrace “oversized” clincher tires for more mileage vs cost, the oversized was readily accepted then.

The oversize Ford clinchers today represent that, as they are really 31x4, and fit the 23” rim."

This really has me confused. That Samson 30 X 3 1/2 that was tucked up inside my spare tire cover was much smaller than the modern Riverside I tried to make fir in the carrier. Would that mean it would have to have been made prior to April of 1917?

Paul

[Allan]

Paul, with no wire in the bead, clincher tyres will shrink if not fitted to a rim. I battled a set of 5 new old stock Olympic tyres to get them to fit onto rims. They had shrunk in circumference at the bead by almost 3".
I am not surprised your old Samson appeared smaller.

Allan from down under.