Rear tire question, cheater slick or something else

Lurk king - Great tip on the 14'' M&H tires! There's hope for my pile of 14'' TTs after all.

 

I ran down the road in my freinds T bucket 90 miles in a horrible thunderstorm with Raider/M/T pie crust cheater slicks on the car. At first I figured we were never going to make it home but I have to say the cheater slicks performed flawlessly down the road and never even started to go sideways. I bought a set and didnt want whitewalls either and Raider made them blackwall on both sides for me. I am very happy with them.

 

I have had 15x10 hurst slicks on my nova for three years now. It's a street car that sees a lot of highway use. Used them in the rain and have had no issues with separation or any quality things either. I didn't even balance them either.

 

15x10 on 8" bells. 5.90x15" with cragars on the front.


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Thanks for the info, I'm loving the look of the Hurst tires for sure, Towle city has some good looking ones also that I'm leaning towards. I need to take some measurements .........

 

Ok so here is what I am up against, my daughter REALLY REALLY wants to drive it to school occasionally, I want something that has the pie crust mod 60's vibe to it, but want it to be safe at the sametime. What would you guys out there who have or running cheater slicks, vs. a drag radial or other tire recommend?

 

I would recommend something like a Hurst tire,which is a recapped modern radial.Handling will be stable and predictable,not like the M/T ET Streets that I have on my O/T 66 Mustang.They would probably freak her out with their very quirky handling.


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It seems that I have heard conflicting reports on the cheater slicks as far as seperation? Is it just a fluke or is this a real world concern? I don't want to drop 4 to 600 on tires and have them come apart?


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i used the towell city pie crusts on my t-bucket and zero issues and they wore very nicely. i'll be buying another set in the near future for my latest project.

those 14's from MH look great too... hope they bring out a 15 soon.

 

Here's the bottom line, if you want a Pie Crust style tire on the car and you want it to be safe for all to drive, call the folks at Towel City and have them make up a set with the additional grooves like on this page here: http://towelcityracingtires.com/Pie_Crust_Cheater_Slicks.html

All the years I've been here I've never read of anyone having issues with the Towel City Tires.

 

I haven't had my Hurst slicks long enough to say how they wear, but I have many friends locally who have had them on for years, and I can't even see much sign of wear. Hurst is only about 15 miles from me, so it wasn't much of a question who I'd go with on my Falcon. I didn't even have them balanced, as I wanted to run them awhile before doing so. But after a few runs down the highway at 70 mph+ I doubt I will balance them, as they feel smooth.
If I was planning on more foul weather driving, I would have had Steve at Hurst cut a pattern on the slicks when I ordered them. I only had the two grooves cut to keep from getting hassled by any police officers that might be over zealous.
The M&H I have on the Austin seem to wear very well, even though they feel like a softer rubber than the Hurst. I've got 5,000+ miles on mine now, with a dozen passes down the strip, and some tire heating burnouts, and they still look almost new. They also are the best rain tire traction of any tire I've ever owned! I've intentionally taken the Austin out in the rain to see how they hooked up, and it was almost as good as dry streets!

 

Which M&H tires are you referring to?

 

If you go back a page or 2 you can see pics that where posted of the Austin wearing the M&H 's


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The M&H I am using on the Austin are their "Drag Radials" They are not the M&H DOZT approved slicks that have very little tread, and a wrinkle sidewall.
The Drag Radial is a nice heavy sidewall, and also a great compound, with enough tread to do more than just get to the track and run. M&H doesn't recommend their "Street-Strip" tire for everyday driving, as it's very thin and lightweight. Just wont hold up to a 55-70 mph cruise for hours.

 

I have had good luck with these Hoosier Drag Radials. These are 315/60-15. They have been on the car for 5 seasons now, and the 2 cheater grooves finally disappeared the end of last year. Of all the drag radials I looked at, these were closest to the look of the old style slicks. I am looking to buy slicks for my 57 Corvette project and keep going back on forth on the Hurst or Firestone Piecrust slicks (love the look), but not sure I want to give up the ride of the radials. These hook up good, ride good, balanced good, and wore well. One thing they don’t do is rain. Good luck with your search.

 

I have not decided which way to go yet, been busy getting the damn thing running right! Got it pretty much ironed out, so I hope with in a week to change out the wheels and tires, it's killing me to bring it where it needs to look right. It's not bad, but I think it will look a lot better with some skinnys up front and some cheaters out back.. I may be wrong but I think that's what it needs.....

 

You are in the same boat as many of us. Here is another thread on front tires, and a few good pictures of the Hurst slicks on the rear of his Corvettes. "form over function"

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=819045

 

I'd like to run the blackwall version of these but I don't see them on their site. This page is from their '07 catalog.

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Blue

 

So this is the week I order the rear wheels and tires, I am still not sure on which way to go. So I am open to opinions. What wheels tire combo would look best on this thing? Is there another way to go with a straight axle car, other than cheaters and steelies out back?

 

Try some ET III's all around.They look more like the original Torq Thrusts than the current American Racing TT's do.With some 5.90 silver town repros up front,and a set of 8" in back,it would be looking tough as nails.


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What are silver towns? Are they those BF Goodrich tires?

 

These are ET Classic 5 on my Falcon. I bought the set of 4 at a swap meet for the price of one new ET 5. Had to repaint the centers, as someone polished the gray off them. Not sure what a "ET III" is, as I don't see that model on their web site.

 

As to the question of how they wear; they wear like iron. After many burnouts, and trips down the strip, I still haven't worn the casting marks off the surface of my Hurst tires. They're harder compound than my M&H drag radials, so don't hook up as well, but they're probably the last rear tires the Falcon will ever need.

 

Having been in the bar ditch with the 48 three times when I was running wide tires with little tread I'll pass on wide tires with no tread to speak of.
All three times were within fifteen miles of the house too so that concept of "I only drive it locally" doesn't really fly. Some time or another 99% of us have either been caught in a sudden storm or will get caught in a sudden storm if we drive a vehicle enough.

Those tires look cool on the trailer queens though.

 

A word of caution, make sure that whatever you run, it bears a DOT brand, somewhere. I have been pulled over, numerous times, in my off-road rig (100% legal), and the CHP officer did indeed crawl around under it to find the DOT brand on the tires (which were all on the inside). It does happen, and it has happened to lots of people I know. It is just CHP here, and just the young ones. Older CHP and local PD don't give a crap, and are more likely to just want to chat and check out your ride.

 

The tires won't be wide by pro street/drag car I'm thinking 10.5 at most as the dart doesn't have the biggest wheel well on it to start with..

 

I got caught in the rain once with my 55 Chevy, 2 miles from home, and I was just plain lucky that I ended up in the break down lane , and the rumble strip straightened the car out. Could have had a total different outcome. And this was at 35 mph and it was just like driving on black ice. Zero control. Scary, to say the least.
And the DOT info is 100% correct. Been stopped twice and both times the cops asked me if they were DOT approved
( and they did check to make sure they were). That being said, my new Hoosiers were dropped off by UPS today. And the next time I am caught in the rain, I'll park the car and call AAA.

 

You really need to get over the Pie-Crust Tire thing on this car and put some REAL tires on it since it will be driven not only by you but others, ... "Think Safety".

As I told you much earlier in this thread, put a G-60-15 or similar tire on it and be done.

 

That's what I'm thinking.. That's why I have not bought them yet.....

 

These are my" rain tires". They are General 31-10.50-15's. They are currently on my 57 Corvette project. Do they look as good as the piecrust slicks...no way. But they are a decent looking tire, fill up the wheel wells and work good in the rain.