Need tire recommendations

[KimDobbins]

I’m going to buy 4 30x3.5 Blackwell tires. I’m considering wards riverside, Firestone and blockley. Please let me know your experiences pro or con. Thanks

[bdtutton]

I put Firestones on my 14 Touring car because they are a little more aggressive and I sometimes drive off road and I did not want to get stuck in a little bit of wet grass or a little mud. I have put thousands of miles on them and they show little wear. The only downside is a little bit of a howl when you are on a smooth road rolling 35mph or so. I wanted the white tires, but there were none available when I was replacing them.

[Allan]

I have fitted 3 sets of Blockleys now. I love the old fashioned diamond tread pattern and the brass stems on their tubes, that hold air in! They are supple and so easy to fit that i' have no fear volunteering to teach novices how to do it.

Allan from down under.

[Jeff5015]

...i' have no fear volunteering to teach novices how to do it.

How about a video changing clinchers?

Jeff

[Ed Fuller]

Earlier this year I put a set of new Firestone tires and Blockley tubes on my Touring. I’m happy with the tires and I like how they look on the car. The Blockley tubes and shipping from the UK were not cheap but I feel they were worth it.

[popeyet]

The Wards Riverside tire on the wheel is not as beefy as the Firestone tires. The Firestone's seem to be larger even though the size call out is the same.

[Steve Jelf]

Quality of the product depends on standards the importer demands. The country of origin is irrelevant. I believe all clincher tires are currently made in Vietnam. There are two kinds. 1 Blockley; 2 All the others. Wards, Firestone, and all the other clinchers imported by Coker and Lucas are essentially the same tire (materials and workmanship) with different names and appearances. Why are Firestones so expensive? Because you're paying for the name, not any difference in materials and workmanship. Blockleys (also made in Vietnam) have a better reputation because of the standards specified by the Blockley company.

When I was buying new tires in the spring of 2023, the price of a Blockley tyre was only about $7 more than the price of a Wards Riverside. Of course, shipping from London was more costly than from Long Beach. If Blockleys last 20% longer than Wards, that will more than pay for the difference in shipping. I bought two Blockleys at a time to keep the weight down and avoid import taxes. I bought two, waited for them to be delivered, and bought two more. This was to avoid anybody in London getting confused and combining the two orders in a shipment heavy enough to incur import taxes. In both cases I placed the order about 8:00 AM GMT on Tuesday morning and the tires were on my front porch here in Kansas on Thursday afternoon. Would I do the same thing again? You betcha, Red Ryder.

I should add a little about tubes. For years I have bought rubber stem tubes, cut off the stems, and installed my own metal stems. This has worked well with the Hartford tubes sold by Coker. Yes, I hear Blockley tubes are to die for, but as long as the Hartford approach works for me and costs a lot less, I'll stick with that.

[RecklessKelly]

While searching for similar tires for my Maxwell I found Riversides from Lucas Tire were the best deal.

[Allan]

Best deal, by price only?

Allan from down under.

[Playswithbrass]

Steve Jelfs is absolutely correct. Products are made to the specifications of the company putting in the manufacturing order. It follows that if you don’t want to pay too much for your tubes and tires, you will opt for the product made with cheaper materials and to a lower quality.

[jiminbartow]

Of your choices, I would choose Firestone. Not only is it a good tire, it is more historically correct, since Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone were best of friends and went camping together along with Thomas Edison.

[Allan]

Jeff, at my age I find it difficult do ONE thing at a time. To do stuff, talk about it as I go, and somehow run a camera at the same time, is waaay beyond my capabilities. I have posted photos of how I do it previously, but do not know how to point you to those posts.

Allan from down under.

[Steve Jelf]

Actually the best choice depends on how the tires will be used. The absolute cheapest initial investment will be Riversides. Longer lasting and therefore less costly in the long run will be Blockleys. If an authentic original appearance is more important than durability or cost, Firestones may be worth the extra expense.

Whenever the subject of tire quality comes up, some people assume that their favorite brand from decades ago was the same as tires wearing the same brand today. It wasn't.

[Original Smith]

I agree with Steve. I like the Firestones the best, especially the tread pattern. I have four of them on my 1925 with over 10,000 miles, and there is little evidence of any wear. I don't like Blockley tubes at all. The valve stems are too large, and they are vulcanized to the tube which is incorrect.

[Art M]

10,000 miles on tires and showing little wear is incredible. If this is typical, my next tires might be Firestones even though they are priced higher than other brands.

Art Mirtes

[Art M]

I just happen to see the tires were are on a 25. What are the size of the tires. They might not be 30x3.5

Art Mirtes

[Wingnut]

I'm currently swapping out wood wheels for wires, I have older Firestones on now 440/450X21. Was considering demounting them and putting on the wires. the tread depth is from 6-4/32. But also may go new, are the Lucas tires any good, has anyone an experience with them . They sell for $149.95 @ Snyders, which is about half of Firestone. We drive paved roads with a bit of gravel thrown in. I would like an opinion , thanks. By the way the woods, rims, and tires, if I get new, will be for sale. Wingnut

[Steve Jelf]

What are the size of the tires. They might not be 30x3.5

Don't they have the size on them?

[Allan]

21" tyres for later T's may well be US made, depending on brand. Plus, i believe they are considered suitable for use on automobiles, and as such, have to meet standards of constrauction/longevity. This is not so with beaded edge tyres, so for a long time we have had substandard stuff not suitable for purpose. This is what lead to the entry of Blockley into the market, with a product made to a standard, not a price.

As noted, the best deal is not just the best price.

Allan from down under.

[KimDobbins]

Thanks for all your comments. Blockley won't give me a shipping price, Firestone tires are out of stock in California and are about $125 per tire more then wards riversides, so im going to go with the riversides.

[NealW]

Thanks for all your comments. Blockley won't give me a shipping price, Firestone tires are out of stock in California and are about $125 per tire more then wards riversides, so im going to go with the riversides.

Kim,

I have installed two sets of Riversides and one set of Blockley tires. My observation was that the Riversides seemed to be harder to install due to the ribbing going up on the sides of the tires. Setting the tires out in the sun to warm them up to get them a bit more pliable may help. If you have one, or preferably two Sioux tire clamps, they will also help with the installation.

Neal

[Steve Jelf]

The clamps are just for mounting tires with the rim or wheel off the car, aren't they? I've never carried them on a trip.

Neal, in the photo your car is in front of the Wright home and cycle shop, isn't it?

[NealW]

The clamps are just for mounting tires with the rim or wheel off the car, aren't they? I've never carried them on a trip.

Neal, in the photo your car is in front of the Wright home and cycle shop, isn't it?

Steve, I've only used the Sioux clamps for installing tires on the wheels removed, because it was when I was restoring our 1911 touring car. I think that they still could be used if installing tires while the wheel was on the car. I've seen those clamps referred to as "bead breakers" but I believe that they really intended to be used as clamps. They work well and are moved around the wheel as the tire is leveraged over the rim. That's why having two is really helpful to hold in place both ends of portion of the tire on the wheel. Previously I had used C clamps or parallel clamps, which for me didn't work as well. I now keep both of my Sioux clamps in the car in case I need to fix a flat.

If you are asking about the photo of the T in front of the Wright shop from my blog, it is actually one of the Greenfield village 'new' 1914 touring cars giving rides. I took that picture at GV in 2018. It was that visit that made me realize that I wanted to get a Model T.

[Mark Chaffin]

After hearing the hype about Blockley tires, I had to order a set for the Ranch Doodle bug project. With the exchange rate and shipping it was expensive. About $1,600 for five tires, tubes and rim liners (450-21 size). The tires are no doubt better quality. Much thicker sidewall and tread. The tubes much thicker as well. I've mounted many tires over the years. These were much more of a challenge due to their construction. They are also DOT approved! Well worth the money and effort.

[Dan McEachern]

Kim- if you want Firestones, get the Coker stock number from their website, go to Summit Racing and search that number- the tires should come up.
Summit has free shipping on orders over $100.00 Try it................Dan

[Loftfield]

Blockley for sure. Couple thousand on the front tires with no signs of wear, tubes are at least twice as thick as anything else. One issue, Blockleys are so good (thick and substantial) that it is nearly impossible to get a flap inside. I gave up, no flaps, and no problems.

[Loftfield]

Blockley for sure. Couple thousand on the front tires with no signs of wear, tubes are at least twice as thick as anything else. One issue, Blockleys are so good (thick and substantial) that it is nearly impossible to get a flap inside. I gave up, no flaps, and no problems.

[Steve Jelf]

One issue, Blockleys are so good (thick and substantial) that it is nearly impossible to get a flap inside.

Did Ford use flaps? Neither do I. I believe they're a superfluous extravagance if your rims are good enough. (Ford cars were sold with new rims.)

I paid no import tax on Blockleys. How? With separate purchases of two tires at a time. Two tires didn't weigh enough to incur the tax.

[Allan]

Steve, you might just have been fortunate. Who knows how much you will pay with the new regime of tariffs in place?

Allan from down under.

[KimDobbins]

I went with riversides, never could get blockly to call back about shipping.

[ThreePedalTapDancer]

I just bought a set of riversides too. I’m sure you will be happy with them.

[Steve Jelf]

...never could get blockly to call back about shipping.

It never occurred to me to deal with London by phone. Using email I wasn't tied to UK business hours. It worked fine.

[TXGOAT2]

I've run a VERY long way on Lucas 4.40/4.50 X21 tires. Well over 14,000 miles, and the tires were not new when I bought the car. I drive on bad gravel and fair to poor 2 lane secondary roads, often in very hot weather. I've worn 2 out of 6 tires to the cord, (rear) had one flat, and no blowouts. 4 out of the six tires are still in good condition, and should run several thousand more miles. My car is a '26 roadster. I run 26 PSI cold pressure. I have to drive 3 miles on coarse, loose crushed rock to reach the nearest pavement every time I drive the car. 3 miles out, 3 miles back. The car runs best on the open road at 42 MPH. I limit speed on decent dirt roads to 25-30 MPH.
In my experience, the Lucas tires are an excellent value.

[Allan]

21" straight sided tyres are considered usable on autos, and as such they must meet standards. Clincher tyres do not have to meet these standards and so we get the junk stuff the merchants sell
It took the entry of Blockley into the market to again make quality clincher tyres and tubes available. I can understand them being reticent about advising shipping charges up front as things are constantly changing. Now those same shipping charges will go up again as tariffs kick in.

Allan from down under.